MU wears game face for Southeast

Missouri is the country's sixth-ranked Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) team.

The Tigers have legitimate national championship aspirations.

Southeast Missouri State is picked to finish last in the Ohio Valley Conference of the Football Championship Subdivision (the former Division I-AA).

The Redhawks needed overtime to beat Southwest Baptist — a Division II squad that went 0-11 last year — in their season opener.

For the above reasons, most people assume the Tigers don't have to take the Redhawks seriously when the teams square off Saturday night in what is expected to be a monumental mismatch.

But MU coach Gary Pinkel quickly dismissed that line of thinking during a telephone interview.

"Don't ever think you can't get beat," said Pinkel, whose squad opened its season with a 52-42 win over previously 20th-ranked Illinois. "[Southeast] could beat us in a heartbeat.

"I think they're well coached. They do some good things. I know they're going to come in. ... They're excited about playing us."

Pinkel said it doesn't matter who MU is playing this week. The goal will be for the Tigers to improve.

"My focus in terms of how I am with anybody. ... They're on our schedule. That's our goal, to beat them," Pinkel said. "Then I focus on Mizzou, our preparation.

"It doesn't matter to me who we're playing, we want to get better."

After disposing of a strong Illinois team, the conventional thinking is that MU will cruise into Big 12 Conference play 4-0.

Following Saturday's game, the Tigers also will be heavily favored against Nevada and Buffalo.

Asked how difficult it will be for the MU coaches to get their players to not look past the next three weeks, Pinkel said: "First of all, we'll focus on this game. I don't even know who we're playing next week."

In comments made on the MU athletic Web site, all-Big 12 linebacker Sean Weatherspoon also followed the company line regarding Saturday's contest.

"They're going to be ready to play us, and we've just got to go out there and be focused and prepare just like it's the Big 12 Championship," Weatherspoon said. "We've seen what can happen with teams like Michigan last year, where teams like [Appalachian State] aren't supposed to beat teams like Michigan.

"That can happen, though, if you don't prepare the right way."

Southeast vs. FBS

Southeast is 1-12 alltime vs. Football Bowl Subdivision opponents, the lone victory being 24-14 at Middle Tennessee State in 2002.

Since 2000, Southeast has played at least one FBS team each season, but this will mark just the Redhawks' third game against a squad from a BCS conference.

The first two meetings weren't pretty. Southeast lost at Cincinnati (Big East) 59-3 last year and at Arkansas (Southeastern Conference) 63-7 in 2006.

For playing MU, Southeast's athletic department will receive $250,000. Southeast picked up $250,000 from Cincinnati and $300,000 from Arkansas.

Southeast is scheduled to play at Cincinnati next season for $275,000.

Southeast coach Tony Samuel said he realizes playing so-called 'money' games are necessary evils in the world of FCS football as those schools' athletic departments try to stay afloat financially.

"It's a necessity," Samuel said.

McCrary, Maclin reunite

MU sophomore All-American Jeremy Maclin is among the nation's most electrifying players.

Maclin and Southeast senior starting defensive tackle Brandon McCrary were teammates at Kirkwood High School in suburban St. Louis.

McCrary was a senior on the 2003 Kirkwood squad that featured then-sophomore Maclin.

McCrary said he has kept up with Maclin's college career, but because of their age difference the two are not particularly close.

"We know each other decent, but we don't really keep in touch," McCrary said.

Noteworthy

* Two players from the immediate Southeast Missourian coverage area — both walk-ons — are on the MU roster.

Tyron Reece is a redshirt senior wide receiver who attended Central High School while Grant Ressel is a redshirt freshman kicker/punter from Jackson.

Ressel is listed No. 2 at punter on the MU depth chart. He did not play in the season opener.

Reece is not listed on the depth chart. He has not seen any game action during his MU career.

* This will mark just the second football game between Southeast and MU. The first came in 1936, a 20-0 win by the Tigers.

Associated Press file