COLLEGE: SOUTHEAST'S DEFENSE TAKES SHOT TO THE KNEE

Southeast Missouri State University's banged-up defensive line took another hit Saturday when James Jennette suffered a knee injury early in the second quarter of the Indians' 31-6 loss at Tennessee Tech.

Jennette, considered the Indians' top defensive lineman, had already missed several games this year with a broken hand. The 315-pounder stayed down on the artificial surface of Tucker Stadium for several minutes before hobbling off the field with the aid of two Southeast trainers.

Jennette, who did not play the rest of the game, spent most of the second half walking with the aid of crutches on the sideline. The severity of the injury was not immediately known.

"It hurts us not having James in there," said Southeast coach Tim Billings.

The Indians' defensive line had already been missing one of its regular starters for the past two games as end Charles Sorter is injured.

* True freshman middle linebacker Rick Farmer had a dazzling debut Saturday, but he wasn't the only young Southeast player to make his first collegiate start.

Another true freshman, 295-pound Eugene Amano, was in at right offensive guard while redshirt sophomore Tatum Kitchen got the nod at defensive end.

Kitchen, a Cape Girardeau Central High School product, was in on quite a few plays and was credited with four tackles according to unofficial pressbox statistics.

Farmer was in on a whole lot of plays as he was credited with a game-high 19 tackles. The Florida native had planned to be redshirted by Southeast and he had not seen any action prior to Saturday. But, with the Indians' defense struggling and also riddled by injuries, Billings decided to give Farmer a shot and he responded in a big way.

"For a redshirt freshman, Rick really had a good game," Billings said. "He's going to be an excellent player."

* Even though the Indians suffered their third consecutive loss Saturday -- the other two defeats were by 24 points each -- Billings had to be encouraged by the improved play of his defense, which probably had its best performance of the season.

Southeast limited Tennessee Tech to 262 total yards. Granted, the Eagles are no offensive powerhouse, but after seeing his defense torched for nearly 600 yards last week against Eastern Kentucky, Billings had to be at least a little bit impressed.

The Eagles had only two real touchdown drives. Their other two touchdowns could not be blamed on Southeast's defense. One TD came after a six-yard drive set up by a fumble and the Eagles also returned an interception for a score. And a field goal was set up by a fumble.

"I thought our defense played well overall," said Billings.

* With Southeast having so many players banged up, this week's open date is probably coming at a good time.

The Indians, who fell to 2-4 overall and 0-3 in Ohio Valley Conference play with the loss to the Eagles, will return to action Oct. 21 when Murray State visits Houck Stadium for Southeast's homecoming game.

Among the several injured Indians who should return for the Murray State contest is quarterback Rashad West, who has missed the last two games with a bruised sternum. West has also been hobbled by a sprained ankle.

* The OVC race is definitely not progressing as expected this year, at least through the early stages of league play.

Western Kentucky, Tennessee Tech and Eastern Illinois the teams picked to finish fourth through sixth in a preseason poll of the conference's head coaches and sports information directors are the only three squads to have not yet suffered a league loss.

Western Kentucky is 4-0 to head the list, followed by Tennessee Tech at 3-0 and Eastern Illinois at 2-0.

Preseason title favorite Eastern Kentucky is 1-2 in OVC play following Saturday's 6-3 loss to Western Kentucky. Murray State, picked to finish second, is 1-1 after a 48-3 rout of Tennessee-Martin while two-time defending champion Tennessee State, which was tabbed for third, is 0-1 after falling to Eastern Illinois 33-19.

The bottom two spots in the league are holding true to form at this point. Southeast, picked to finish seventh in the eight-team conference, is 0-3. And Tennessee-Martin, tabbed for last once again, is 0-4.