Date: Saturday, Nov. 4, 2000

Time: 1:30 p.m.

Location: O'Brien Stadium (Charleston, Ill.) 10,000

2000 Records: Eastern Illinois 6-2 (4-1 OVC), Southeast Missouri 3-5 (1-4 OVC)

National Ranking: EIU was ranked 17th nationally last week

The Coaches: Tim Billings is 3-5 in his first year at Southeast Bob Spoo is 82-73-1 in his 14th season at Eastern Illinois

Radio: Southeast Radio Network anchored by K-103 FM in Cape Girardeau. Other network stations include KSIM in Sikeston and KWOC in Poplar Bluff. Erik Sean will do play-by-play with Mike Legg providing color.

Internet: Southeast Radio Network broadcast can be heard over the internet at www.k103fm.com.

Football Notes

The Teams: Southeast Missouri is 3-5 after a loss to Marshall, a road win over Southern Illinois, a home win over nationally ranked Illinois State and OVC losses to Western Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky, Tennessee Tech and Murray State. The Indians' win in the OVC was over Tennessee-Martin. Eastern Illinois is 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the OVC. The Panther losses are to Toledo and Western Kentucky.

Series Record: Eastern Illinois leads the series 4-3. The Panthers lead 3-1 since both teams have been in the OVC.

The Coaches: Tim Billings, an assistant at Marshall the past 10 seasons, is 3-5 in his first year as head coach at Southeast. He also served as an assistant at Missouri and Oklahoma. As an assistant, Billings coached in five I-AA title games and in four bowl games. Bob Spoo is 82-73-1 in his 14th season at EIU. He is 4-1 vs. Southeast.

Last Season: Southeast won 45-38 at Houck Stadium. The Indians had 568 yards in total offense as the teams combined for 1,056 yards in total offense. Rashad West led the Indians with 11-17 passing for 183 yards and one TD and rushed for two TD's.

Last Week: The Indians claimed their first OVC win of the season with a 34-14 win over Tennessee-Martin. Rashad West was 9-13 passing for 132 yards and one TD and he rushed the ball nine times for 87 yards and one TD. Freshman Marcus Patton had his best day of the season with 15 rushes for 81 yards and two TD's as the Indians had a seasonal high 409 yards in total offense. Eastern Illinois, ranked 17th nationally, was beaten by Western Kentucky, 34-12. The Panthers, who lead the OVC in passing offense and total offense, had five turnovers including three interceptions. Panther quarterback Tony Romo, who leads Division I-AA in passing efficiency, was 21-32 passing for 240 yards and two TD's.

Attendance Record: Despite a season low attendance of 3,850 for the Tennessee-Martin game, Southeast still established a new school record for home attendance, averaging 8,056 fans per game for the four-game home schedule.

Patton is OVC Newcomer of the Week: Freshman running back Marcus Patton was selected as the OVC Newcomer of the Week after his two touchdown performance on Saturday. He had 15 carries for 81 yards including TD runs of three and 14 yards.

Joe Williams Leads OVC in Tackles: Defensive safety Joe Williams leads the OVC in tackles with 112 tackles for an average of 14 per game. Williams had 19 tackles against Western Kentucky and had a career high 20 tackles against Southern Illinois. Isaac Powell ranks fifth in OVC tackles with 88 for an average of 11 per game.

Witczak Ranks 12th Nationally in Punting: Southeast punter Jason Witczak, who was selected as the I-AA national Special Teams Player of the Week after his punting performance against Illinois State, currently ranks second in OVC punting and ranks 12th nationally with an average of 42.0 yards per punt. Witczak has a long punt of 66 yards which is second best in the OVC. He is 3-5 in field goals and is 12-12 in PAT's.

Mathis Third in OVC in Tackles for Losses: Corey Mathis has a total of 15 tackles for losses of 38 yards to rank third in the OVC. He had two tackles for losses against Tennessee-Martin. Mathis ranks fifth in OVC sacks with five for a loss of 17 yards.

Brune Goes Over 3,000 Yards Passing: Junior quarterback Bobby Brune surpassed the 3,000 yard mark in career passing yards during the Murray State game. He is currently 81-150 for 983 yards this season to give him career totals of 198-453 for 3,035 yards. Brune is currently ranked sixth in the OVC in passing and fifth in total offense. He is fifth in passing efficiency. Brune has a passing efficiency of 114.75 and has 1,023 yards in total offense for an average of 128 yards per game.

West Moves Up: Rashad West ranks fourh in the OVC in total offense with an average of 133 yards per game.

Weaver over 1,500 Yards Receiving: Senior wide receiver Leslie Weaver has 25 catches for 452 yards this season to push his career totals to 110 catches for 1,613 yards. Weaver currently ranks fourth in the OVC in total receiving yards with 427, fourth in yards per game with 61.00 and fifth in receptions per game with 3.29

Personnel Changes: Kent Langston has been moved from defensive end to tight end on offense. David Fielder, last year's starter at center, was moved back to center and will start at center tonight. He had been starting at guard this season. Ryan Roth, who started a tight end in four of the first five games, was moved to defensive end during practice drills prior to the Tech game. True freshman Rick Farmer had hoped to redshirt this year, but was pressed into action in the Tech game as a starter at middle linebacker and responded with 19 tackles. He came back with ten tackles vs. Murray State and ten tackles vs. Tennessee-Martin. True Freshman Eugene Amano is the starter at left guard for the Indians.

Multiple Receivers: A total of 14 Southeast players have had catches this season. Leslie Weaver leads the way with 25 while Corey Chester has 24 and Tarik Simpson 20. Others with receptions include, Curtis Cooper, Ryan Roth, Jerl Huling, Andy Dunaway, Jake Hill, Iven Brown, Byron White, Charles McElroy, Mark Blissett, Marcus Patton. and offensive lineman Jonathan Jensen who caught a deflected pass in the SIU game.

Injury Update: Running back Iven Brown suffered a contusion to the outside of his left leg early in the Murray State game. He did not play against UTM but is probable this week. Defensive tackle James Jennette suffered a twisted knee in the Tech game and played only briefly in the Murray State game and did not play against UTM. He is probable this week. Defensive end Charlie Sorter and linebacker Sturg Cumberford remain sidelined with a shoulder injuries.

Southeast is 2-0 vs. Gateway: The Indians are 2-0 against Gateway Conference schools with wins over Southern Illinois and Illinois State. Southeast has one more Gateway foe on the schedule this season with a Nov. 11 game at Southwest Missouri. Prior to this season, Southeast was 3-13 vs. Gateway teams since the Indians move to Division I-AA in 1991.

Six Captains: The Southeast players have elected six captains, three on offense and three on defense. Offensive captains are quarterback Rashad West, offensive guard David Fielder and wide receiver Leslie Weaver. Defensive captains are safety Isaac Powell, defensive end Asim Thomas and strong safety Joe Williams.

NATIONAL HONORS:

9-16 -- Jason Witczak, Special Teams Player of the Week

10-9 -- Ricky Farmer, Newcomer of theWeek by Teamlink/CFAA

OVC HONORS:

9-11 - Bobby Brune, Offensive Player of the Week.

9-11 - Curtis Cooper, Newcomer of the Week.

9-18 - Jason Witczak, Specialist of the Week.

10-9 - Ricky Farmer, Newcomer of the Week.

10-30 - Marcus Patton, Newcomer of the Week.

Next Week: Southeast will play a non-conference game at Southwest Missouri.