Column: Epic 4Q meltdown exposes what SEMO FB really is

If something occurs once, well, stuff happens.

If the same thing occurs twice, well, that is a bit strange, but stuff CAN happen.

If the same thing occurs three times, particularly if it is consecutively, well, then that is what you are. And in the case of the Southeast Missouri State football team, it is abundantly clear what this team is. The Redhawks are a very bad defensive team that may even have psychological/confidence issues when the pressure of a game increases.

For the third consecutive week, SEMO held a double-digit lead in the final period of play, but due to inept offense, simply God-awful defense, and untimely lack of discipline, it blew that margin and lost, this time in mind-numbing fashion.

The Redhawks allowed a 30-6 lead to evaporate over the final 15 minutes and fell 38-33 at No. 23-ranked Central Arkansas on Saturday.

“There is nothing good to say,” 10th-year Redhawk coach Tom Matukewicz said afterward. “Obviously, it was pretty devastating. The locker room is devastated. I’m devastated.”

Losing by five in the closing minutes to a very good Bears team shouldn’t be “devastating.” But given HOW the Redhawks (1-4) lost on Saturday and given HOW each of the past three games (all losses) have unfolded, it is absolutely “devastating.”

SEMO led Southern Illinois three weeks ago 25-13 with 12:00-plus remaining and lost with 11 seconds left on the clock.

The Redhawks held a 38-24 advantage at Eastern Kentucky two weeks ago with 8:36 on the clock and found a way to lose with one second remaining.

But Saturday’s meltdown was the worst of them all.

SEMO led by 24 points against a team that had managed two field goals in its opening seven offensive series yet allowed Central Arkansas (4-2) to score touchdowns on each of its final five possessions.

From an offensive standpoint, the Redhawks scored touchdowns on four of their initial seven offensive series but could only manage a field goal in their final five drives.

And the worst part of all of this is, there is no indication that what ails Matukewicz’s team is going to be magically remedied in the next seven days.

SEMO had seven days to watch the SIU debacle, yet let it happen again.

Matukewicz, his staff, and his players had 14 days to analyze the Eastern Kentucky trainwreck, and on Saturday, it was worse. Far worse.

“It’s a complicated answer,” Matukewicz said of fixing his team, “if you just said one thing, it is our tackling.”

He’s certainly spot on in his assessment, the tackling has been atrocious. But I might add the top priority should be pass defense BEFORE the opposing receiver catches the ball.

It is crystal clear, that when the opposition HAS to throw, and everyone in the stadium KNOWS that it has to throw, the SEMO defense can do nothing to stop that from successfully happening.

Southern Illinois threw for 462 yards.

Eastern Kentucky totaled 532 yards of total offense.

Central Arkansas threw for 397 yards and racked up 497 total yards of offense.

In the fourth quarter alone, when everybody watching knew with certainty that the Bears had to throw the ball (they were down 24 points with 15 minutes remaining), the Central Arkansas quarterback completed 65 percent of his throws for 219 yards. In 15 minutes.

To compound matters, the Redhawks committed five penalties in the fourth quarter, two on one play with 29 seconds on the clock.

“If you look at all three games,” Matukewicz said, “in the fourth quarters, it was our (poor) tackling. Now, I thought we tackled better, so, I think that we are on that track, but you don’t just wake up one week and tackle better.”

IF there was a positive to the past three games, and this is a stretch, but it is true, none of the losses were in the Big South/OVC Football Association. So, technically, the opportunity for SEMO to win a league title and compete in the postseason remains as alive as it ever has been. However, envisioning this team miraculously fixing all that troubles it, quickly, and finding a way to beat Eastern Illinois (4-2) in seven days, and later UT Martin (5-1) on the road, as part of a six-game win streak, is difficult, to say the least.

“In December, we’re going to tell the world a story,” Matukewicz said. “We’re either going to say, ‘We started off 1-4 and couldn’t get it on track, and we had a bad season,’ or we are going to fix the things that are causing the problems and go and win six straight.”

Tom Davis is a freelance sports reporter for Semoball.com