COACH'S CORNER: INDIANS ABLE TO ENJOY BUS RIDE HOME

Needless to say, the bus ride from Tennessee Tech was much more enjoyable than the week before.

Southeast Missouri State's 29-24 win over Tennessee Tech was, again, somewhat of a roller-coaster ride. Our players did a great job of handling adversity throughout the contest. They are playing 60 hard-nosed minutes of football each game and are growing into "expecting victory" rather than "hoping for victory."

You hear many sports figures use the word hopeful. Hope is a must in every person's life. However, winners take hope and forge it into expectation through their sacrifices, preparation and unselfish attitude.

We started the game with a huge punt block for a touchdown by K.D. Koleosho. It was something of a payback for last year's game against Tech and it was a big factor.

Riki Smith then broke a 50-yard run for a touchdown, accompanied by great downfield blocking. That gave us a 14-0 lead.

Tech came back with a bootleg screen for a 70-yard gain that was extremely well executed. Two plays later it was 14-7 and a possible blowout became a tightly contested football game.

The game was very physical, the most physical to date. Defensively, we withstood poor field position to hold Tech to only 210 yards of offense.

Troy Baglio, Jason DeWolf and Marcus McLellan all had good games. Joel Becker made a few big plays stepping up for an injured Brad Richardson. Andre Clark also stepped up as he started the game and played very well.

Offensively, we made the plays when we had to against a tough Tech defense. We had 249 yards of offense, which was down from the previous weeks, but we still scored 20 points with our offense. The other nine came from the blocked punt and a late safety.

Our last seven-play, 70-yard drive exemplified the continued hunger and fight in our players.

Corey Chester made a one-handed catch for a touchdown with two people hanging on him. Bobby Brune continues to play well. He was knocked around somewhat but kept on playing hard. Koleosho and Smith both ran well. Chester and Dante Bryant had good games receiving. Jesse Eaton played a physical game in the O-line.

In all, the victory was very satisfying and many players contributed.

We must now prepare for a wide-open, throw-it-everywhere Tennessee State, a team coming off a huge win at Eastern Kentucky. The Tigers will play at Houck Stadium Saturday in a 1 p.m. Ohio Valley Conference kickoff.

Tennessee State will be a big challenge for us. They have an outstanding quarterback in Leon Murray and a tremendous, dangerous receiver in Tyrone Butterfield. We must play solid defense and keep their offense off the field by controlling the ball and scoring to finish drives.

Our players look forward to the challenge and can use the help of a big, boisterous crowd for what should be an extremely entertaining game.

John Mumford is the head football coach at Southeast Missouri State University