Turnovers dug too deep a hole for Southeast

Southeast nearly made a stirring comeback after making some big mistakes.

By Marty Mishow ~ Southeast Missourian

As stirring as Southeast Missouri State University's near-miracle comeback was Saturday night, coach Tim Billings acknowledged that his team might not have needed such an amazing rally had it not been for some early miscues that led to a big deficit.

Southeast lost a fumble on a kickoff during the first half and also early in the second half. Tennessee State converted both turnovers into touchdowns in building a 25-point lead, and the Tigers survived a frantic finish to prevail 38-36 in Nashville, Tenn.

"We made too many mistakes early in the game," Billings said.

That Southeast (2-7, 2-4 Ohio Valley Conference) did so much right during the final 26 minutes of the game to nearly pull off an improbable victory appeared to be of little consolation to most of the players immediately after the game.

"This team has a lot of heart and character. But a win is a win, and a loss is a loss," quarterback Andrew Goodenough said.

After TSU (4-5, 2-3) All-American tailback Charles Anthony -- who rushed for 248 yards -- broke off an 80-yard run with 11:34 left in the third quarter, Southeast trailed 38-13 and appeared on the verge of being totally run out of The Coliseum.

But Southeast dominated the rest of the game, scoring three straight touchdowns before the third quarter had ended to pull within 38-33 and then very nearly taking the lead twice.

Early in the final period, a drive stalled inside TSU's 5-yard line and Southeast had to settle for Derek Kutz's 20-yard field goal that made it 38-36.

A 36-yard run on a fake punt by Mike Miller again set Southeast up deep in TSU territory, but again the drive stalled and the normally reliable Kutz -- one of the top placekickers in the history of the program -- missed wide left on a 27-yard field-goal attempt with 4:29 remaining.

The Tigers then picked up three first downs and never let Southeast get the ball back as they hung on.

"It's disappointing to lose, but our guys showed so much heart," Billings said.

Southeast's running game, which has struggled much of the season, again had a hard time getting going as it managed just 73 yards.

Southeast was able to hurt TSU through the air, mainly in the second half, as Goodenough completed 30 of 54 passes for 292 yards and three touchdowns.

Oge Oge caught six passes for 70 yards, T.J. Milcic had five receptions for 80 yards, and Brian Matthews and Jamel Oliver both added five catches. Oge, Matthews and David Taufoou had the touchdown receptions. It was Taufoou's team-leading 11th touchdown of the season.

Southeast's other touchdown was by redshirt freshman Romae Rucker on an 85-yard kickoff return in the first half. It was Rucker's first return of any kind this year.

Kutz delivered three field goals, including a career-long 51-yarder early in the game that gave Southeast its only lead of the night at 3-0.

Defensively, end Adam Jones had a second straight strong game as he recorded both of Southeast's sacks and was unofficially credited with nine tackles, which tied linebacker Elijah Willis for team-high honors. Jones is now tied with Brandon Bohnert for the team sack lead at four apiece.

Justin Komondoreas had eight tackles while Reggie AuBuchon made seven tackles and intercepted his second pass of the season.