Football Game Information Southeast Missouri State at Tennessee State

Date: Saturday, Nov. 18, 2000

Time: 1:30 p.m.

Location: Adelphia Coliseum, Nashville, Tenn. (67,000)

2000 Records: Tennessee State is 2-8 (1-5 OVC), Southeast Missouri 3-7 (1-5 OVC)

The Coaches: Tim Billings is 3-7 in his first year at Southeast James Reese is 2-8 in his first year at Tennessee State

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.

Follow the Indians on the internet at www.gosoutheast.com

The Teams: Southeast Missouri is 3-7 with wins over Southern Illinois, Illinois State and Tennessee Martin and losses to Marshall, Western Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky, Tennessee Tech, Murray State, Eastern Illinois and Southwest Missouri. Tennessee State is 2-8 overall and 1-5 in the OVC. The Tiger OVC win was over Tennessee-Martin. The winner of Saturday's game will finish fifth in the OVC while the loser will finish sixth.

Series Record: Southeast Missouri leads the series 5-4 but has not beaten the Tigers since 1996.

The Coaches: Tim Billings, an assistant at Marshall the past 10 seasons, is 3-7 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. James Reese is 2-8 in his first season as head coach at Tennessee State.

Last Season: Tennessee State, ranked number one in the nation, capped an unbeaten regular season with a hard earned 35-28 win over the Indians at Houck Stadium. Rashad West rushed the ball for 135 yards and one TD and completed 10-18 passes for 144 yards.

Last Week: Southeast lost a non-conference game at Southwest Missouri 24-7. The Bears rolled up 405 yards in total offense while holding Southeast to just 263 yards in total offense. Rashad West completed 23-47 passes for 185 yards and rushed the ball 17 times for 53 yards. He accounted for 64 of Southeast's 85 offensive plays. Tennessee State lost a wild 62-40 decision to Murray State.

West Ties School Record: West's 47 pass attempts in the SMS game ties the school record held by Jim Eustice who had 47 attempts vs. Northeast Missouri in 1989. The 48 passes by the team is a new school record breaking the old record of 47 against Northeast Missouri in 1989.

Powell Named Verizon Academic All-District VII: Senior defensive back Isaac Powell has been selected to the first team Verizon Academic All-District VII team. The selection makes Powell eligible to be selected to the Verizon Academic All-America team. He has a 3.523 grade point average in pre-medicine. Powell ranks fourth in the OVC in tackles with 119 and ranked 25th nationally in the latest NCAA defensive statistics.

"Special" Special Teams: One of the bright spots of the 2000 Indians has been play of the special teams. Southeast ranks second in the OVC and 22nd nationally in kickoff returns. The Indians are fourth in punt returns and net punting and rank 28th nationally in net punting. Punter Jason Witczak leads the OVC in punting and Curtis Cooper leads the OVC in kickoff returns with Corey Chester third in kickoff returns. Cooper also ranks fifth in punt returns.

Southeast is 2-1 vs. Gateway: The Indians were 2-1 against Gateway Conference schools with wins over Southern Illinois and Illinois State and a loss to Southwest Missouri State. Prior to this season, Southeast was 3-13 vs. Gateway teams since the Indians move to Division I-AA in 1991.

Brown Breaks Leg: Southeast running back Iven Brown suffered a broken leg in practice on Tuesday (11-7) and is lost for the rest of the season. Brown had 43 carries for 168 yards and one TD this season.

Injuries: Defensive tackle Jermaine Motley suffered a sprained knee in the Southwest Missouri game and is doubtful for the Tennessee State game. Standout freshman middle linebacker Ricky Farmer missed Southwest Missouri game with a knee sprain suffered in the first quarter of the game at Eastern Illinois. He is probable for the season finale next week at Tennessee State. In four games played this season, Farmer has 55 tackles for an average of 13.8 tackles per game.

Joe Williams 2nd Nationally in Tackles: Defensive safety Joe Williams leads the OVC and ranked second nationally in tackles in defensive stats released by the NCAA last week. He currently has 141 tackles for an average of 14.1 per game. Williams had 19 tackles against Western Kentucky and had a career high20 tackles against Southern Illinois.

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 leads the OVC in punting and ranks 12th nationally with an average of 41.4 yards per punt. Witczak has a long punt of 66 yards which is second best in the OVC. He is 4-7 in field goals and is 12-13 in PAT's.

Corey Mathis 16th Nationally in Tackles for Losses: Corey Mathis has a total of 18 tackles for losses of 47 yards to rank third in the OVC and 16th nationally. Mathis is tied for second in OVC sacks with six for losses 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 94-169 for 1,150 yards this season to give him career totals of 271-472 for 3,202 yards. Brune is currently ranked fifth in the OVC in passing and passing efficiency. He ranks sixth in total offense. Brune has a passing efficiency of 119.76 and has 1,180 yards in total offense for an average of 117 yards per game.

Weaver over 1,500 Yards Receiving: Senior wide receiver Leslie Weaver has 37 catches for 573 yards this season to push his career totals to 114 catches for 1,645 yards.

Multiple Receivers: A total of 14 Southeast players have had catches this season. Leslie Weaver leads the way with 37 while Corey Chester has 30, Curtis Cooper 26 and Tarik Simpson 23. Others with receptions include, Curtis Cooper, Ryan Roth, Andy Dunaway, Jake Hill, Iven Brown, Byron White, Charles McElroy, Mark Blissett, Marcus Patton., Jerl Huling and offensive lineman Jonathan Jensen who caught a deflected pass in the SIU game.

NATIONAL HONORS:

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

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

Final Game for 16 Seniors: Saturday's game at Adelphia Coliseum in Nashville will be the final game for 16 Southeast seniors including Corey Chester, Isaac Powell, Asim Thomas, Leslie Weaver, Rodney Woodall, Joe Williams, K.D. Koleosho, Jason Witczak, Andre Clarke, Kemirth Williams, Jay Eckert, David Fielder, Chris Evertsen, Demond Williams, Jonathan Irvin and Chad Gwilliam.

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.

Next Game: The Indians will open the 2001 season at Eastern Michigan on Sept. 1.