Goodson reaches end zone for first time

MURRAY, Ky. -- For all the passes Ray Goodson had caught this season, the All-American tight end had not reached the end zone during Southeast Missouri State University's first six games.

That finally changed Saturday afternoon -- although Goodson was in no mood to celebrate after a 28-13 loss to Murray State bumped Southeast (1-6, 1-3) into eighth place among nine Ohio Valley Conference teams.

"We still got beat by 15 points," Goodson said. "It doesn't really matter."

With 5:31 left in the fourth quarter, Goodson took a pass over the middle from quarterback Andrew Goodenough and rambled 32 yards to the end zone for the final points of the contest.

Goodson finished with a season-low two receptions, for 36 yards, but he is still by far Southeast's leading receiver on the season with 42 catches. The senior also topped Southeast last year with 66 receptions.

A Jackson High School product, Goodson somewhat remarkably caught eight passes last week against Eastern Kentucky just 10 days after having arthroscopic knee surgery.

Statistically speaking

Southeast has by far the worst rushing attack in the OVC, averaging just 85.3 yards per game on the ground before Saturday.

That figure went down after Southeast rushed for only 46 net yards -- three sacks figured into that total -- against Murray State.

Southeast finished with 309 yards of total offense, by far its lowest output of the season since gaining just 250 yards against Southern Illinois in the opener. Southeast had been averaging 376.7 yards per game.

Quarterback Andrew Goodenough completed 21 of 36 passes for 263 yards and one touchdown, but he was intercepted once and also lost two fumbles.

Tailback David Taufoou was Southeast's leading receiver with six catches for 30 yards. Brian Matthews added five receptions, while Jamel Oliver and Oge Oge both caught three passes.

Defensively, Southeast allowed 481 yards -- but that represented the second-lowest yield of the season for the nation's worst statistical unit in total defense. The 28 points were the fewest an opponent has scored against Southeast this year.

According to unofficial press box statistics, safety Mike Miller was credited with 13 tackles, including two for loss. He also intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble. Safety Reggie AuBuchon was credited with 12 tackles. Justin Komondoreas recovered a fumble. Adam Jones and Fred Amano had sacks.

Punter David Simonhoff, second nationally, had another strong game as he averaged 45.4 yards on seven attempts, including a 74-yarder. It was his third punt of at least 70 yards this year.