COACH'S CORNER: INDIANS HOPE TO REBOUND VS. MURRAY

The Indiana State football team came to Cape Girardeau last Saturday and left with a 21-14 victory.

I didn't say they beat us due to the fact that we played the perfect host and gave the game away. The Sycamores were given three touchdowns by way of great field position after a long kickoff return, a fumble recovery for a touchdown and an interception return for a touchdown.

We struggled offensively and played with inspiration on defense. This is difficult to elaborate on because we don't want to divide the team with comments or ridicule for one half and praise for the other half.

Our players must continue to support each other as well as the respective coaching staffs. It is way too early in the season, and a great deal of success can still happen.

I'm sure that many think our opening win over Truman State was shaky. It did give us the opportunity to test the faith and unity of our players and staff. We held together and won the ballgame.

The Indiana State game will serve as another test of faith and unity, this time coming after a loss, which is a much tougher test of adversity than our first game.

Our defense was of the bend-but-don't break variety against Indiana State. We gave up quite a few yards, more than 350, but that was to be expected since we were facing a triple option offense that is extremely hard to defend.

We were able to force six turnovers, with the defense scoring once as Jeremy Atwell returned a fumble for a touchdown.

Marcus McLellan and Troy Baglio up front both had outstanding defensive games. Marcus had 12 tackles, forced two fumbles and recovered a fumble. Troy had 13 tackles. Gabe Jenkins also had a very good game with nine tackles. Brian Hinton's field-goal block was a big play, as was Jeremy's fumble return.

Offensively, we missed a lot of opportunities to convert after turnovers. Our first down production was not good. We have to do a better job in that area and we also have to execute the little things a lot better.

Dante Bryant had a big game at wide receiver with five catches and Corey Williams scored his fourth touchdown of the season.

Our kickoff return men, Corey Chester and Isaac Powell, continue to provide us excellent field position with great returns. Corey has especially been a real weapon for us.

Murray State is coming to town this Saturday ranked No. 9 in the country. They have had impressive wins over Southern Illinois and nationally-ranked Western Kentucky.

The Racers are coming off an emotional win over Western Kentucky, they visit Cape this weekend and then travel to Division I Brigham Young. I think the Racers are exactly the team we need to play and challenge our team.

To have a chance of beating a team like the Racers, we have to continue to play solid defense, execute offensively on first down so we can have decent second and third down distances, and we need to avoid sacks.

A big crowd at Houck Stadium Saturday night would be greatly appreciated as the Indians go for the upset.

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