Oct. 28, 2008

Game Notes

Date: Nov. 1, 2008
Kickoff: 1:00 p.m. (CDT)
Location: Houck Stadium, Cape Girardeau, Mo. (10,000)
Affiliations: Eastern Kentucky, FCS, Ohio Valley Conference, Southeast Missouri, FCS, Ohio Valley Conference
2007 Records: Eastern Kentucky 9-3, 8-0 (OVC), SE Missouri 3-8, 1-6 (OVC)
2008 Records: Eastern Kentucky 5-3, 4-1, SE Missouri 3-5, 1-3
Coaches: Dean Hood is 5-3 in his first year at EKU, Tony Samuel is 10-20 in his 3rd year at SE Missouri
WebCast: KFVS12.com, OVC Sports.TV
Radio: Southeast Radio Network anchored by K-103 FM in Cape Girardeau. Other network stations include Team 1380 in St. Louis, KSIM in Sikeston, KWOC in Poplar Bluff and KMAL in Malden. Erik Sean will do play-by-play with Rick Wieser offering analysis.
Internet: Southeast Radio Network broadcast can be heard over the internet at www.k103fm.com.

THE TEAMS: After an exciting 27-20 overtime victory over nationally ranked Tennessee State, the Redhawks are 3-5 overall and 1-3 in the OVC. The Redhawks have wins over Southwest Baptist, Indiana State and Tennessee State and losses to Missouri, Tennessee Tech, Missouri State, Jacksonville State and Eastern Illinois. Eastern Kentucky is 5-3 overall and 4-1 and in second place behind UT Martin in the OVC. The Colonels have won four straight OVC games after a loss to Tennessee State.

THE COACHES: Tony Samuel is 10-20 in his third season at Southeast. He is 44-77 in 11 years as a head coach including eight seasons at New Mexico State. He is 0-2 vs EKU. Dean Hood, a former assistant coach at Wake Forest, is 5-3 in his first year as head coach at EKU.

THE SERIES: Eastern Kentucky leads the series 16-2. The last Southeast win was in 2003 at Eastern Kentucky. The Redhawks have never beaten the Colonels at Houck Stadium.

LAST SEASON: The OVC championship Colonels beat the Redhawks 44-17 in Richmond, Ky.

SPECIAL PROMOTION: It will be Take A Kid to the Game day, and all children ages 14 and under will receive free admission. In its 13th year, the Take A Kid to the Game program is one of the national promotions of NCAA Football, the marketing arm of college football. Over 200 schools are participating in the program this football season. NCAA Football represents a coalition of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and the Conference Commissioners Association.

SPADA THIRD NATIONALLY IN PUNTING: After leading the nation for three straight weeks, junior punter Doug Spada has fallen to third nationally in punting with an average of 44.69 yards per punt. Robbie Deheze of Northern Arizona is this week's national leader with an average of 45.22 yards per punt while Brett Arnold of U Mass is second at 44.79. Spada was a pre-season all-OVC pick and was an honorable mention All-American and first team all-OVC selection last season when he averaged 42.5 yards per punt while converting 14-23 field goals and 21-23 PAT's. As a prep player in Shelby, North Carolina, he was MVP of the soccer team and trained for soccer in England with the prestigious Chelsea Football Club.

OVC WEEKLY HONORS: Linebacker Nick Stauffer and kicker/punter Doug Spada were voted Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player and Specialist of the Week . Stauffer paced the Southeast defense with a career-high 21 tackles in the 27-20 comeback victory over No. 19 Tennessee State Saturday. He also notched his first career interception and returned it 21 yards late in the third quarter to set up the Redhawks first touchdown drive. His career day included 14 solo tackles and two tackles for loss.
Through eight games, Stauffer ranks sixth nationally and second in the OVC with an average of 12.1 tackles per game. His 97 tackles include 46 solo stops, seven tackles for loss (-23 yards) and two sacks (-16 yards). In addition to his first career interception Saturday, he has also broken up three passes, recovered a fumble and forced another this season.
Spada drilled a 37-yard field to force overtime on the last play of regulation Saturday. He also converted a 26-yard field goal earlier in the game. Spada averaged 40 yards per punt on the afternoon and had one downed at the Tennessee State 1-yard line. He also had a 72-yard punt nullified by a Tennessee State penalty. He currently ranks third in the nation and leads the OVC with an average of 44.69 yards per punt.

HOLLOMAN RETURNS: Senior running back Timmy Holloman was reinstated prior to the Jacksonville State game and has played vs. JSU, Eastern Illinois and Tennessee State. Holloman, a preseason all-OVC choice, was suspended on Oct. 9, 2007. He had 44 yards rushing in 16 carries against the Gamecocks. Holloman had 23 carries for 84 yards vs. Eastern Illinois and 18 carries for 53 yards vs. Tennessee State. At the time of his suspension last season, he was leading the Redhawks in rushing with 131 yards per game to rank first in the OVC. In OVC games only, Holloman was leading the league with 151.5 yards per game. He also was leading the team in scoring with six touchdowns. Holloman had over 100 yards rushing in by the league's Sports Information Directors Sunday. The honors are career-firsts for both players.

HOLLOMAN CAREER RUSHING: Timmy Holloman currently has 2,177 career rushing yards to rank fourth in Southeast history. He has eight games with over 100 yards rushing and two games with over 200 yards rushing.

ALL-TIME RUSHING LEADERS:
1. 3,392, Kelvin Anderson (1992-94)
2. 3,006, Walter Smallwood (1965-68)
3. 2,617, Ernest Edwards (1979-82)
4. 2,177, Timmy Holloman (2005-)

FIRST QUARTER WOES: The Redhawks have been outscored 76-0 in the first quarter this season. In the first half, opponents have outscored Southeast 156-47. In the second half, the Redhawks have outscored opponents 128-94.

IN THE NATIONAL STATS: Southeast ranks 13th in the nation in net punting with 35.36 yards per punt 12th in the nation (FCS) in kickoff returns with 23.98 yards per return.

CALVIN 14th IN INTERCEPTIONS: Junior Eddie Calvin picked off his fourth pass of the season at Jacksonville State and is tied for 14th nationally with 0.50 picks per game.

STAUFFER 6th NATIONALLY IN TACKLES: Senior linebacker Nick Stauffer is sixth nationally in tackles with 12.12 per game. He had a career high 21 tackles in the Tennessee State game and had 13 tackles in the Tennessee Tech, Missouri State and Eastern Illinois games. Ben Gugler is tied for 39th nationally in sacks with 0.62 per game.

OVC HONORS: Senior quarterback Houston Lillard and junior cornerback Eddie Calvin (were awarded the Ohio Valley Conference Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week Awards after the season opener against Southwest Baptist. Lillard was 27-39 passing for a career-high 387 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Southeast comeback. Calvin had three pass interceptions in the first half to keep the Redhawks in the game.
Sophomore running back Henry Harris, a transfer from the University of Memphis, has been chosen the OVC Newcomer of the Week twice and Nick Stauffer and Doug Spada were honored after the Tennessee State game.

NUMBER CHANGE: Junior college transfer Jason Brown who had been playing at offensive tackle has moved to tight end and will wear number 45. He is 6-2, 240, and will back up Brad Crader at tight end. Bradley Brown, who had been the starter at tight end, suffered a practice injury last week and is questionable for the EKU game.

CAPTAINS: The football team has elected five captains for the 2008 season. Quarterback Houston Lillard and wide receiver Michael Williamson will captain the offensive unit while the defensive captains will be linebacker Nick Stauffer, tackle Nick Ketelsleger and cornerback Kendall Magana.

REDHAWKS IN THE NFL: Four former Redhawks players are on NFL rosters. Eugene Amano is the starting left guard for the Tennessee Titans, Edgar Jones plays tight end for the Baltimore Ravens, Dimitri Patterson plays cornerback for the Kansas City Chiefs while Dan Connolly is an offensive lineman on the New England Patriots practice squad.

NEBRASKA CONNECTION: Eight Southeast coaches have ties to Nebraska. Head coach Tony Samuel played and coached at Nebraska. New outside linebackers coach Troy Dumas was an All-American linebacker for the Huskers, wide receivers coach Lorenzo Brinkley, defensive backs coach Kenny Wilhite, defensive coordinator Tim McGuire and offensive line coach Brian Boerboom all played for the Huskers. Running backs coach Chris Norris played under Tom Osborne when Samuel was an assistant in Lincoln and the father of offensive tackles/tight ends coach Justin Kramer had Samuel as a position coach.

FBS TRANSFERS: The Redhawks have two new FBS transfers. Running back Henry Harris is a transfer from the University of Memphis and Ashton Farmer is a transfer from Arkansas State. Both will be eligible this season.
Harris, 5-8, 185, played in four games at Memphis last season. As a prep star at Christian Brothers High School in Memphis, he rushed for 1,579 yards and 22 touchdowns as a senior.
Farmer, 6-7, 240, played basketball at Arkansas State the past two seasons. He played in 62 basketball games at ASU. Farmer was a prep football and basketball player at Charleston High School. He caught 39 passes for 658 yards as a high school senior.

REDHAWKS AGAIN HAVE ST. LOUIS RADIO STATION: The Southeast Missouri Football Radio Network will again include 1380 ESPN Radio in St. Louis. The network, operated by Mississippi River Radio will be anchored by 100,000-watt K-103 FM in Cape Girardeau. Other network stations include KSIM, Sikeston; KWOC, Poplar Bluff and KMAL, Malden. Erik Sean will be the play-by-play voice of Redhawks football with former quarterback Rick Wieser adding commentary for home games and Ron Hines, Sports Information Director, handling commentary on road games. Todd Bonacki will be a sideline reporter for home games.

REDHAWKS FOOTBALL WITH Tony Samuel: Samuel will have a weekly 30-minute television show on The Heartland's CW, WQWQ-TV. The show will air at 11:05 p.m. on Mondays and will be hosted by KFVS-TV sports director Todd Richards. The show will also be shown on Charter Cable Channel 11 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday's at 8 p.m. It will also be run on the KFVS-TV/Southeast Weather Channel (Charter Channel 113) on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights at 6:30 p.m.

KFVS 12 WEBCAST: All Southeast home games are WebCast on KFVS12.com. Randy Ray handles the play-by-play with Todd Richards adding color commentary.

OVC SPORTS.TV: All remaining Southeast home games will be video streamed on the Ohio Valley Conference's premium website, OVCSports.tv which can be accessed by logging on to the league's official website, OVCSports.com. Subscriptions are available on an annual, seasonal and per event basis.

NEXT WEEK: The Redhawks will play at Murray State in a 1 p.m. game. The next home game will be on Nov. 15 against Tennessee-Martin. The senior day game will begin at 1 p.m.