COVERING HILLS, VALLEYS: SOUTHEAST SEARCHES FOR TALENT, ANSWERS AFTER 4-7 YEAR

On the one hand, as Southeast Missouri State University football coach John Mumford has pointed out, the Indians fielded a relatively young team this season, with only nine seniors (including both specialists) starting most of the year.

But many of those seniors were among the Indians' better players -- and a few of them were the squad's very best performers.

Which means Mumford and his assistant coaches will have plenty of gaping holes to fill as they try to figure out how to improve on this recently completed 4-7 season.

"We have some really good people to replace," said Mumford. "I think we've got a good base coming back, but we lost some great players."

Among the 12 seniors were three all-star performers for the Indians who were arguably their most valuable players this season: defensive tackle Angel Rubio, safety Ronnie Smith and punter Justin Terrill.

Rubio, a preseason Division I-AA All-American, led the Indians with 114 tackles and 19 tackles for loss. He also tied with Marcus McClellan for the team lead in sacks with seven.

Smith was second in tackles with 90, he intercepted three passes and he scored three defensive touchdowns.

Terrill led the Ohio Valley Conference and ranked eighth nationally in punting with an average of 43.5 yards per boot.

"Talk about losing some big-play people," Mumford said. "Angel and Ronnie were responsible for so many big plays during the season. And Justin had a great year punting."

Other senior starters were quarterback Justin Martini, tailback Aaron Layne, defensive end Damon Hendrick, defensive backs Willie Davis and Michael Reece and kicker Eric Warren.

In addition, the other three seniors -- linebacker Steve Ledbetter, offensive lineman Dan Clauss and defensive back Andrew Joyce -- all either started some or were key reserves. Joyce was also the Indians' primary kick returner.

"We'll have about 11 to 15 scholarships to give," said Mumford. "We've got to fill some key areas. We'll hit the recruiting trail, look for some junior college guys, and I think there was one of the better high school crops in this area in a long time."

Of the season as a whole -- which ended with Saturday's 32-27 loss to Tennessee State -- Mumford said he was disappointed but saw plenty of progress toward the end.

"I'm disappointed, based on the expectations we had," he said. "In all honesty, I probably overestimated how long it would take for our offense to come together.

"But I think our offense really came along in the second half of the season. Our offensive line really came around. And we'll have most of our offensive guys back."

Even though the Indians won only one more game than last season's 3-8 squad and they finished worse off in the OVC (1-6 this year compared to 3-5 last season), they were much more competitive overall in 1997.

This season, the Indians were outscored 244-199 as opposed to 287-130 in '96.

Asked if he overestimated his overall talent this year, Mumford said, "I don't think so. The first thing I told the team (in August) was we do have better talent than in a while, but we have to come together as a team. I don't think we ever did that."

Now Mumford hopes he will have the opportunity to try and get the Indians to jell next season. He's in the final year of his contract and there has been plenty of speculation all season as to whether he will have his contract renewed.

Mumford said he has yet to hear from the Southeast administration on his job status but hopes things get resolved -- one way or another -- soon.

"I don't know any more (Monday) than I knew over the weekend," he said.

* Southeast finished in the top 25 nationally in two team statistics, net punting (fifth, 38.3 yards per attempt) and rushing defense (23rd, 108.6 yards per game).

The Indians wound up second in the eight-team OVC in rushing defense, fifth in total defense and seventh in total offense.

* Junior cornerback Fred Hambrick wound up tied for the OVC lead in interceptions with five.

Rubio was second in both tackles and tackles for loss and he and McClellan tied for third in sacks.

Hendrick tied for second in fumble recoveries with three.

* For the second straight season, junior fullback Britt Mirgaux led the Indians in rushing, with 492 yards on 98 carries.

Three other Indian running backs also had more than 300 yards: K.D. Koleosho (375), Layne (361) and Corey Williams (349).

Junior wide receiver Dante Bryant led the Indians in receiving for the second straight season with 43 catches for 599 yards. He was fourth in the OVC in receptions per game.

Mirgaux, Williams and Bryant all tied for the touchdown lead with five while Warren led in scoring with 34 points.

* Rubio, who drew plenty of attention from NFL scouts all season, could be in line to attend the big NFL combine in Indianapolis in the spring.

"Angel is getting a lot of looks and I think he'll have a chance to go to the combine," Mumford said.

Terrill also figures to get some looks from the NFL after his big season.

"He needs to work on his hang time and placement, but I think he'll get some looks," said Mumford.