Eastern Illinois defense shuts down Redhawks' running game

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- The Eastern Illinois defense was aware of the task that it faced with the Southeast Missouri State football team and junior running back Tremane McCullough's ability to move the football on the ground.

The Redhawks entered Saturday's game -- a 33-28 loss to the Panthers -- coming off a season-high of 274 yards rushing and McCullough a career-high 220 yards rushing, which garnered him weekly accolades from the Ohio Valley Conference and on a national level.

"I was studying him pretty hard for the whole week," EIU linebacker Kamu Grungier-Hill said. "So I kind of got a grip with what he is about. I kind of tracked him down and talked to my coach about it. They cooked up a good game plan for us."

Southeast was held to a season-low 117 yards rushing, and McCullough finished with 30 yards on 17 carries.

EIU entered the game second to last in the OVC in rushing defense, allowing an average of 226.2 yards per game but also was the top pass defense in the league.

"That's what we talked about all week, we have to get back to being that violent style of defense," EIU coach Kim Dameron said. "Fast, furious. I want the offense to think there's 13 or 14 of us out there. We gave up some things in the second half, they pushed the ball down the field a little bit more. But the thing I was proud of, because these guys had run the football, they had 117 yards total. If we can hold people to 117 yards rushing on the day, we are going to have a chance to win."

McCullough said he was "very frustrated" early by the EIU defense, which stopped him at the line of scrimmage several times. He had 5 yards on nine carries at halftime.

"They had a couple of blitzes in there and he was getting hit in the backfield, but at the end of the day we lost the line of scrimmage," Southeast coach Tom Matukewicz said. "I wish that would never, ever, ever happen, but it did."

Quarterback Dante Vandeven rushed for a career-high 55 yards on nine touches. He completed 20 of 32 passes for 217 yards and two touchdowns and threw an interception on the Redhawks' second drive of the game.

"They ran a lot of cover 3 on film, and this game, they kind of mixed it up and did different stuff with the coverage," Vandeven said of Southeast's early offensive struggles. "They clouded to Paul [McRoberts] a lot, kind of blocking him in, and they blitzed a ton, which really put our linemen in a really tight spot. But they did really good as the game progressed, and down towards the end there, that's really the key to the game is what our O-linemen did with blocking blitzes and picking them up."

'Fresh' start for Williams

Southeast Missouri State true freshman Stephon Williams (33) made his career start against Eastern Illinois Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015 in Charleston, Illinois. (Fred Lynch)

True freshman Stephon Williams got his first career start at linebacker on Saturday and led the team with 11 tackles.

Williams, from St. Petersburg, Florida, had played in each game and had eight tackles entering the game vs. EIU.

"He was a guy that's played fairly well, and he keeps getting better even though he's a true freshman," Matukewicz said. "First of all, I hope we're to the point where we're not starting true freshman anymore, but he's a guy that's shown up on film and was around the ball. He also made some pretty critical errors. A couple of those coverage things was on him and so we've got to continue to coach him, but he showed up today. We've gotten good production from Roper [Garrett], our Mike [linebacker], but at Will [linebaker] we haven't had a lot of production and I think he gives us that now."

Garrett, who leads the team and ranks third in the conference with 58 tackles, had eight in the game and a quarterback hurry.

"He's kind of like my little brother on the team," Garrett said of Williams. "I've been kind of put in charge of him to help him go and I feel like he's coming a long ways and he's looking really good, and all he can do is improve from here on out. I think he's going to be a really good player."

The 6-foot-1, 236-pounder found out about his opportunity to start earlier in the week and wanted to prove himself to his coaches and teammates.

"Just make sure I do everything coach tells me," Williams said of his mindset. "It's a big step for me as a freshman coming up and taking on that role, so I just really wanted to make everybody happy and trust me."

Williams wasn't the only Redhawks defender to make his first career start.

Sophomore Omar Pierre-Louis, a transfer from Independence Community College, started at safety in place of captain and junior safety Eriq Moore.

Moore had to sit out the first half due to NCAA targeting rules. After a review of a play from the third quarter of last week's win over Murray State, he was called for targeting. Since it happened in the second half of the last game, he had to miss the first half against EIU.

"He's a great player. He's like a quarterback back behind me, so I love when he's back there," Garrett said of Moore. "I know he helps me with my coverage and stuff too. It was a shame he couldn't play the first half, but once he got in there, he settled in and did a good job."

Mutual respect

Southeast Missouri State coach Tom Matukewicz talks to his players at the Eastern Illinois game during the second quarter Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015 in Charleston, Illinois. (Fred Lynch)

The EIU football program is one at a level that Matukewicz wants his program to reach.

Saturday's loss marked the Redhawks' fourth consecutive loss to the Panthers but was a measuring stick for how far the second-year coach's program has come so far.

Losing by five to a program that beat Southeast 52-13 last year and 55-33 the year before that was another step in the process for Matukewicz.

"Last couple of years, we got blown out and this game came down to the wire, and I think we've made up a lot of ground," Matukewicz said. "I think we've got to continue to do the little things in our program to bring us over the edge, and we've got to continue to recruit. A couple of their guys -- they're the standard. They've got some really good players, and we've got to continue to build our roster."

Dameron, who took over EIU's program last year, is mutually respectful of Matukewicz and the progress he's made.

"I am going to tell you, from last year to this year, is probably the most improved team in the league," Dameron said. "Physically, coaching wise, the way they play, all that stuff. Had their share of miscues also. Take nothing away from them. They are an improved football team with good players and good coaches, and they are going to beat somebody you don't think they are going to beat later in the year because they are getting better."