COLLEGE FOOTBALL: SE FUELS RACERS WITH 6 INTs

Southeast Missouri State University's football team broke a school record Saturday afternoon -- but it is not the kind of mark the Indians can be proud of.

Indian quarterbacks Rashad West and Bobby Brune combined to throw the most single-game interceptions in the history of Southeast football as Murray State picked off six passes to surpass the previous school mark of five interceptions, which came against Delta State in 1986.

Not surprisingly, Murray State took advantage of all the Southeast miscues -- the Indians also lost a fumble for a total of seven turnovers -- as the Racers posted a wild 38-28 victory at Houck Stadium.

A Southeast homecoming crowd of 10,028 -- the third-largest recorded gathering in the history of Houck Stadium -- saw the Indians fall to 2-5 overall and 0-4 in Ohio Valley Conference play with their fourth straight loss. The Racers are 4-4 overall and 2-2 in the OVC.

"At least we set a record today," said Southeast coach Tim Billings sarcastically. "We're moving the ball but we just have to get more consistent. It's hard to overcome those things (the turnovers)."

West, who has been injured much of the season and was seeing his first action since Sept. 23, did not start but split time with Brune. West was equally brilliant and brutal, rushing for three touchdowns and passing for 126 yards, but also tossing four interceptions, several of them coming at crucial moments.

Brune threw for 118 yards and had Southeast's only touchdown pass, but he was picked off twice, one being returned for a touchdown.

"Rashad's rustiness was part of it, and he and Bobby had some receivers run wrong routes," Billings said.

Teams have offensive show

As expected -- considering the squads ranked sixth and seventh in total defensive in the OVC before Saturday, with MSU allowing 400 yards per game and Southeast giving up 439 yards a contest -- both offenses chewed up yards in bunches.

The Racers finished with 441 yards, 270 coming from OVC passing leader Stewart Childress, a redshirt freshman who completed 24 of 38 attempts and tossed a pair of touchdowns. His favorite target was Michael Slater, who caught nine passes for 129 yards. MSU rushed for 171 yards, led by Garner Byars with 139 yards on 15 carries.

Southeast wound up with 421 yards, by far its highest output of the season; the Indians had not even broken 300 yards in any previous game this year.

The Indians rushed for a season-best 177 yards, led by West with 77 yards on 17 carries. True freshman Marcus Patton, continuing to see more and more playing time, added 59 yards on 10 attempts.

West completed 11 of 19 passes while Brune was 7-for-12. Tarik Simpson was their favorite target, with four receptions for 64 yards. Patton, Jerl Huling and Andy Dunaway all caught three passes.

"That's basically the best we've moved the ball all year," said Billings. "I never felt like they really stopped us, but we just had way too many turnovers."

Early mistake costs Indians

A Southeast mistake burned the Indians right off the bat. After stopping the Racers on the game's opening possession, the Indians took over in great field position at their own 49-yard line. But on first down, Brune was hit by Terrel Black just as he was about to throw and the ball popped in the air. Anthony Johnson caught what was ruled a pass in stride and raced 40 yards for a touchdown and an early 7-0 MSU lead.

On Southeast's second possession, the Indians drove inside the MSU 20 but West was intercepted by a diving Tyrone Graham.

The Racers went up 14-0 late in the first quarter as Childress hit Terrance Tillman with a 7-yard TD pass.

Southeast finally got on the board early in the second period as Brune hit Leslie Weaver for a 48-yard touchdown, making it 14-7.

The Indians then took advantage of a Racer turnover as Kermith Williams recovered a fumble at the MSU 39, which led to West's 11-yard TD run that made it 14-14 with still more than nine minutes left before halftime.

MSU answered with a scoring drive capped by Tim Linville's 2-yard run for a 21-14 lead with 4:34 left in the half.

Then came one of the pivotal sequences of the game. After Southeast stopped a Racer drive, it looked like the Indians would enter the locker room down by just seven points. But, with under a minute left, West was intercepted by Jai Williams at the Southeast 36 and he returned it to the 10. With eight seconds left, Greg Miller's 27-yard field goal put the Racers up 24-14 at the break.

Indians start second half strong

On the first possession of the second half, the Indians put together their best drive of the game, marching 74 yards. West's 1-yard run pulled Southeast to within 24-21.

MSU came back with a 76-yard drive, capped by a 15-yard Childress to Mario Riley pass that put the Racers back up by 10 at 31-21 midway through the third quarter.

Then Southeast was driving again inside the Racers' 20 but West was picked off by Beau Guest.

The Racers might have iced the contest early in the final period as they had a second-and-goal inside the Southeast 1-yard line. But a Linville fumble was recovered by Joe Williams, keeping the Indians down by just 10.

Then came another of the game's pivotal sequences. Brune drove the Indians to the MSU 9, where they faced fourth-and-two. A chip-shot field goal would have cut Southeast's deficit to one score, but Billings elected to go for a first down and possible touchdown. Brune had to field a snap that rolled to him and he was stopped up the middle for no gain.

"They hadn't stopped us yet," said Billings in explaining his decision to not kick the field goal. "I think Bobby could have made it but he got a bad snap."

Southeast did pull within 31-28 with 4:16 left as a 1-yard West sneak capped a 66-yard drive.

But the Racers basically sealed the win with 2:29 remaining as Byars broke loose for a 65-yard TD scamper, and Southeast's last hope was dashed out by a David Kilkenny interception of West.

"It was wild, a back and forth game," said MSU coach Joe Pannunzio. "It was a gut check for us, after last week (a 48-7 loss to Eastern Illinois). It's a good win for us, but I'm impressed by what coach Billings is doing here."