Southeast relegated to playing for pride

The team concentrates on a strong finish after winning just one of its first seven games.

By Marty Mishow ~ Southeast Missourian

Southeast Missouri State University's football team has basically been relegated to playing for pride and trying to finish as far up in the Ohio Valley Conference standings as possible.

Saturday's 28-13 loss at Murray State virtually eliminated Southeast (1-6, 1-3) from contention for the OVC title and, with four games remaining, also officially ended its hopes of a winning season.

Entering Saturday's 1 p.m. homecoming contest against Tennessee-Martin (2-6, 1-4), Southeast stands in eighth place among nine OVC teams, just ahead of the Skyhawks. UTM is coming off a 32-14 upset of Eastern Illinois.

Southeast coach Tim Billings said Monday he hopes his players have enough pride to want to finish the season strong -- and he believes they do.

"In this situation, your team is either going to fight, trying to get better, or fold up the tents," Billings said. "You really find out the character of your football team. I think we've got some good kids."

According to junior cornerback Kellin White, Southeast should have no problem giving its best effort the rest of the way even though its preseason goals have basically been extinguished.

"We've got four games left and we're not going to give up," White said.

Goodenough moves up list

Southeast senior quarterback Andrew Goodenough had his string of 300-yard passing games end at Murray State, as he threw for 263 yards.

But Goodenough still achieved quite a milestone as he has compiled just the sixth 2,000-yard passing season in Southeast history.

Goodenough has thrown for 2,006 yards while completing 62.6 percent (191 of 305), with nine touchdowns and nine interceptions. He leads the OVC in passing yardage per game while ranking second in the OVC and 11th nationally in total offense.

Jack Tomco set Southeast's single-season record when he threw for 3,132 yards in 2002.

Former Jackson High School star Jason Liley had a pair of 2,000-yard seasons, throwing for 2,580 in 1990 and 2,326 in 1992. He is Southeast's career passing leader with 6,179 yards.

Other 2,000-yard campaigns were turned in by Jim Eustice in 1989 (2,128) and Jeromy McDowell in 2001 (2,051).

Barring injury, Goodenough should finish at least second on Southeast's single-season list, and he still has a shot at ending up No. 1.

Noteworthy

Sophomore offensive guard Austin Russell is questionable this week after missing the Murray State game with an ankle injury. True freshman Francisco Perez started in Russell's place after also playing extensively the previous contest against Eastern Kentucky.

"Frank is doing a good job, but it's tough for a true freshman," Billings said.