The Team: Southeast Missouri ended the season 3-8 overall and 1-6 in the Ohio Valley Conference with wins over Southern Illinois, Illinois State and Tennessee-Martin and losses to Marshall, Western Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky, Tennessee Tech, Murray State, Eastern Illinois, Southwest Missouri and Tennessee State. The Indians won two of their first three games but went 1-7 the rest of the way.

The Coach: Tim Billings, an assistant at Marshall the past 10 seasons, was 3-8 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.

Season Finale: The Indians dropped a 51-33 decision to Tennessee State at Adelphia Coliseum in Nashville. Bobby Brune took over for Rashad West in the first quarter after an ankle injury ended West's day. Brune completed 18-28 passes for 213 yards and three TD's. Wide receiver Leslie Weaver, playing his final game for Southeast, had nine catches for 126 yards and two touchdowns. Tennessee State rolled up rolled up 531 yards including 297 passing yards to claim the win.

West Ties School Record: West's 47 pass attempts in the Southwest Missouri game tied 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.

Joe Williams Sets New Tackle Record: Senior defensive safety Joe Williams established a new Southeast record for tackles in a season with 147. Williams led the OVC in tackles and ranked second nationally in the latest NCAA stats. The final NCAA defensive statistics will be released later this week.

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 125 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 ranked second in the OVC and 28th nationally in kickoff returns. The Indians are 4th in punt returns and rank 27th nationally in net punting. Punter Jason Witczak led the OVC in punting and Curtis Cooper leads the OVC in kickoff returns with Corey Chester third in kickoff returns. Cooper also ranks fourth in punt returns.

Southeast was 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: Injuries played a role in the 2000 football season. Defensive lineman Chad Gwilliam was injured in pre-season drills and missed the entire season. Quarterback Rashad West was injured in the Southern Illinois game, missed three games and never really was completely healthy the rest of the season. Defensive back Isaac Huddleston missed two games with a concussion, running back Iven Brown broke his leg and missed the final two games of the season and numerous other players missed games with injuries. Freshman Ricky Farmer missed the final two games of the season with a knee injury. He was forced into action for the first time on October 7 at Tennessee Tech and responded with 20 tackles and national "Newcomer of the Week" honors. He played in four games and recorded 55 tackles, an average of 13.8 per game, before being injured in the first quarter of the Eastern Illinois 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 high 20 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 41.06 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 14-15 in PAT's.

Corey Mathis 16th Nationally in Tackles for Losses: Corey Mathis has a total of 19 tackles for losses of 58 yards to rank third in the OVC and 16th nationally. Mathis is tied for second in OVC sacks with seven for losses of 28 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 finished the season 112-197 for 1,363 yards to give him career totals of 289-500 for 3,627 yards. Brune is currently ranked fifth in the OVC in passing and fourth passing efficiency. He ranks sixth in total offense. Brune has a passing efficiency of 125.99 and has 1,344 yards in total offense for an average of 122.15 yards per game.

Weaver over 1,500 Yards Receiving: Senior wide receiver Leslie Weaver has 46 catches for 699 yards this season to push his career totals to 123 catches for 1,771 yards. The 699 yards receiving is the most for a Southeast receiver since 1992 when Glenn Krupa led the nation with 77 catches for 773 yards.

Multiple Receivers: A total of 14 Southeast players had catches this season. Leslie Weaver led the way with 46 while Corey Chester had 34, Curtis Cooper 30 and Tarik Simpson 23. Others with receptions included, 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.

Southeast Loses 16 Seniors: Saturday's game at Adelphia Coliseum in Nashville was 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.