Defense gets in final word vs. offense at Southeast Missouri State scrimmage

For the final act of the Southeast Missouri State football team's scrimmage Saturday, the offense and defense were pitted off in a goal-line drill.

The defense, which defensive coordinator Bryce Saia said struggles with consistency, was able to silence the offense and finish the day on a high note.

"They're resilient," Saia said about the Redhawks' defense. "I don't think it was a bad day. The offense that we're playing against makes us better. They're much improved and they're doing a lot of good things, so I appreciate the offense we're going against. It makes us better. But they're resilient. If something goes wrong, they answer the bell the very next play."

The offense scored six times during the nearly two-hour long scrimmage, but by no means dominated the defense. Preseason All-Ohio Valley Conference receiver Paul McRoberts had tree touchdown receptions and Tyler McLemore had a 39-yard touchdown reception. Brendan Stewart and Lennies McFerren each had a rushing touchdown.

"Well, we couldn't run the ball up inside, and that's a great place to start," first-year coach Tom Matukewicz said about the defense. "We're stout up inside, and our inside linebackers and our end, nose and tackle did a great job today. We've got to shore up the edges. They ran the ball on our edges. And we didn't get as many takeaways as we would like."

Southeast Missouri State wide receiver Paul McRoberts catches a pass in the end zone over cornerback Buck Wilson during a scrimmage Saturday at Houck Stadium. (Fred Lynch)

Senior cornerback Reggie Jennings was sidelined for the scrimmage with a hamstring injury, something he originally suffered over the summer but started bothering him again earlier last week. Junior free safety David Coley had a dislocated elbow and did not play either.

Health is one variable for the defense, but Saia explained that it's "normal camp stuff," and Matukewicz said if it had been a real game they would have suited up to play, but he wanted them to sit out to help their recovery.

"We're not that deep and we're not healthy right now, so with that comes inconsistency," Saia said. "You know, we're kind of a good-day, bad-day defense right now, so I'm hoping that's because we're not healthy."

The defense had four interceptions. Cornerbacks JJ Flye and Buck Wilson, free safety Josh Freeman and strong safety Eriq Moore each had one.

The offense ran for 216 yards and had 217 yards receiving Saturday.

Southeast Missouri State running back Tyson Estes tries to break through defenders Lloyd Laufili Time, left, and Lucas Melo during Saturday’s scrimmage at Houck Stadium. (Fred Lynch)

Flye and Wilson had a team-best five tackles and Garrett Roper had four.

"When the ball is in the air, in today's game you've got to watch all the PI's [pass interference], so our DBs are taught to go attack the ball first," Saia said, "and I think that's why we've always had a lot of interceptions in our package."

Wilson, a redshirt freshman who suffered a serious leg injury last season, said besides the scheme changes, the mentality of the defense also has changed.

"We have a whole new mentality," Wilson said. "Like we just get after the ball. Everyone runs to the ball now, like if you don't you're going to be out of the game. We just run to the ball. It's just the "go get it" mentality."

Jennings echoed a similar statement after watching his teammates Saturday, and noted he learned a few things while on the sidelines.

Southeast Missouri State quarterback Alex Niznak passes in the face of pressure from defensive end Selwyn Carrol during Saturday’s scrimmage.

"We've just got to work on being consistent, and no game's perfect but [we've] just got to try to get close to perfect," Jennings said. "I mean, like I said, life's full of ups and downs and the strong ones survive those ups and downs and make better plays when something bad happens."

Saia said he's installed 70 to 75 percent of the defense so far.

"Some of our special packages like the goal-line package, the nickel package -- that just got put in this week," Saia said. "That's why some of that was a little shaky."

Regardless of the ups and downs Saturday, Saia answered "Yes" without hesitation when asked if he'd feel comfortable sending the defense onto the field for a real game today.

"We've got to get healthy now, I mean, we're only as good as our players, right?" Saia said. "So we've got to get back healthy, but it's just pretty much every coach goes through it, every team goes through it at this point. We just went through a very physical first week of camp; we're a little banged up.

Southeast Missouri State defensive coordinator Bryce Saia watches Saturday’s scrimmage from the press box at Houck Stadium.

"But there's no question, I'm ready to throw them out there as far as the players and as far as this package. Me and coach Tuke have been running this three or four years on a bunch of different levels, so we're ready to roll. We will be ready to roll."

Quarterbacks

No. 3 quarterback Blake Jackson is transferring out of the program.

"Talked with him and talked with his dad and his passion is quarterback and it probably wasn't going to work out there," Matukewicz said. "And he's a long, long way from home. He's got an unbelievable family, and if he wasn't going to be the guy he was going to try to be a little bit closer to home, and we understand that. He spoke to the team and it was a good thing, not a negative thing."

Jackson, a native of Houston, played in eight games as a backup quarterback as a freshman in 2012. He ran for 119 yards and one touchdown on 30 carries. He also had 36 yards passing and a touchdown. He redshirted last season.

No. 1 quarterback senior Kyle Snyder completed 13 of 26 passes for 98 yards and one touchdown. Junior transfer and No. 2 quarterback Alex Niznak completed 6 of 14 passes with two interceptions. He threw for 96 yards and three touchdowns.

Freshman quarterback Anthony Cooper was 3 for 5 passing for 23 yards and one interception.