COACH'S CORNER: SEMO WILL ATTEMPT TO BOUNCE BACK

It takes two halves of consistent execution to win a college football game. After making some noise in the second half, it was too little too late in Thursday's 43-25 opening loss to SIU.

The Salukis were more physical than we were where it counts, up front.

Our defense forced a turnover for a touchdown on the second play of the game to take a 7-0 lead. Joel Becker forced the fumble behind the line of scrimmage and Donovan LaViness scooped it up for a score.

With their backs against the wall in the first half, our defense played bend but don't break. Defensively, we did give up two long balls, one going for a touchdown.

Offensively, we could not get anything going in the run or pass game as SIU was tough at the line of scrimmage.

Until Thursday in the first half, our offense had shown to be more consistent and at times more explosive. We must calm down emotionally and simply carry over what we do in practice to the game field.

Playing college football in the trenches takes intense focus and communication, and is most of the time brutal in nature.

I believe every man has a true competitive need to measure himself physically against another man. There is no other legal venue to do this other than the line of scrimmage. It is not pleasant and it is not fun until one wins the majority of the individual battles that occur at the snap.

Until we become more physical up front from the first play until the last play, we will not realize the success we are capable of.

Our second half was more productive but could not overcome the first-half deficit. We did throw the ball more effectively, getting Corey Chester and redshirt freshman Jerl Huling untracked. We must get the run going and strive for offensive balance.

Two true freshmen played exceptionally well in the opener.

Demar Winston, who intercepted a two-point conversion pass, played well and will see more playing time. He is from Gateway Tech in St. Louis. Cedric Webb from East Prairie handled the long snapping and was excellent.

We practiced on Saturday for an hour and a half, cleaning up many little technical issues. I was very pleased with the focus and intensity. We had several players who were still hurting physically from Thursday strap on the pads and go.

Much has been stated that SIU was a must win considering the strength of our schedule. All I can say is there are 10 more games and I don't believe these young men believe everything they read or hear.

Illinois State, our next opponent who we will face Saturday night in Normal, Ill., is an excellent team, probably a top-five team nationally. They have great skill players and are more physical than SIU.

That aside, it's a chance to improve and a chance to measure up and win.

Many thanks to a great crowd of more than 9,000 fans who hung with us during Thursday's opener. Also, thanks to our maintenance and grounds crews for getting Houck Stadium in excellent shape.

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