COLLEGE FOOTBALL: SMS HAS MOTIVATION TO BEAT SE

It won't be a conference game, but the Southwest Missouri State football team still figures to have some extra motivation today when the Bears host Southeast Missouri State University's Indians in a 1 p.m. kickoff in Springfield, Mo.

Last year, the Indians were stumbling along with an 0-7 record when the Bears paid a visit to Cape Girardeau. While SMS might have been expecting to continue Southeast's misery, the Indians pulled off a 28-23 upset victory.

Today, the Bears will look to get back to the .500 mark overall and push the Indians further down from that level. SMS, which competes in the Gateway Conference, is 4-5 overall and 2-3 in league play. Southeast, an Ohio Valley Conference member, is 3-6 overall and 1-5 in the league.

SMS coach Randy Ball discounted the revenge factor but not the Bears' motivation for today's game.

"The bottom line is, we have some objectives we want to get accomplished," Ball said. "We want to have a winning year, and to do it, we have to win this ballgame. That's the main thing."

Southeast and SMS have had somewhat similar seasons in the respect that both teams have played a lot of squads tough but have more often than not come up short.

The Bears have lost to three nationally-ranked NCAA Division I-AA teams -- Youngstown State, Western Illinois and McNeese State -- by a total of 17 points, with the McNeese defeat coming in overtime. The Bears' other losses were to I-A Arkansas and Northern Iowa, another nationally ranked I-AA squad.

"We've both pretty much in the same boat," said Southeast coach Tim Billings. "A lot of the games they've lost, they've been in them, kind of like us. They've played some really good teams really tough."

Said Ball, "We're disappointed (in the season overall). We felt like we had a chance to have a better record than what we have. We've lost some tough games, but those things happen."

While the Bears' offensive has not been overwhelming as SMS has scored 202 points, the defense has been strong, allowing just 153 points.

Leading the offense is quarterback Austin Moherman, a transfer from Ohio State who has completed 137 of 244 passes (56 percent) for 1,642 yards. His favorite target is Jeff Hewitt with 42 receptions.

On the ground, Jason Ringena has rushed for 586 yards and is averaging 5.3 yards per carry.

Defensively, former North County High School standout P.J. Jones leads the way with 90 tackles from his linebacker spot.

Cape Girardeau Central High School product DeMarco Williams, a redshirt freshman linebacker, has contributed 20 tackles as a backup.

"Offensively, they've kind of been up and down like we have," said Billings of the Bears. "Defensively, they're very, very good. They've got a physical, strong front four, good linebackers and they're really solid in the secondary. Their strength is defense."

In last year's game against SMU, Southeast quarterback Rashad West burned the Bears for 173 yards passing and 97 yards rushing. He threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as the Indians pulled off the upset.

West has been hobbled by an ankle injury much of the season and has not been nearly as effective as he was in 1999, but Ball still looks for an extremely tough game.

"They look awfully good to me on tape," he said. "I expect a tough game, no doubt about it."

Billings expects the same thing, saying, "I think we match up with them pretty good. It should be a good game, and it's another rivalry game. It's one of the teams we have to compete with in state, with recruiting, so it's a big, key game."