Field position hurt Southeast Missouri State football team in loss to EKU

The Southeast Missouri State football team allowed a season-low yardage total while compiling its second-most yards during Saturday's homecoming game.

Yet the Redhawks suffered another lopsided loss as Eastern Kentucky romped 31-7 after leading 24-0 at halftime.

The primary problems for the Redhawks, who fell to 1-7 overall and 1-4 in Ohio Valley Conference play despite gaining 320 yards and allowing 333 yards, were field position and penalties.

Southeast found itself in poor field position virtually all game long while EKU had favorable field position.

The longest of EKU's four touchdown drives covered 65 yards. The Colonels' other three TD drives, which all began in Southeast territory, covered 42, 47 and 49 yards.

"We didn't gain the field position in some of our kicks [punts and kickoffs] we normally do," Southeast coach Tony Samuel said during his weekly media conference Monday.

Throw in two costly first-half turnovers by Southeast in EKU territory -- one inside the 5-yard line -- along with an uncharacteristic nine penalties for 117 yards that played a role in the field-position troubles, and it made for another long afternoon.

Southeast entered the day leading the OVC while ranking among the nation's least penalized teams, averaging just more than four penalties and 33.1 penalty yards per game.

Saturday's nine penalties tied the Redhawks' season high set in the opener at Southeastern Louisiana and the 117 penalty yards were by far a season high.

"Penalties hurt," Samuel said. "Two were drive-stoppers. A couple kept their drives alive."

Southeast's closest margin of defeat this year is 10 points. The Redhawks have been outscored 289-139 and outgained in total yardage by an average of 478.2 to 308.8.

"It's a loss. All we can do is put it in the past," junior wide receiver Spencer Davis said after Saturday's game. "A couple of mistakes hurt us. ... At the end of the day the score is what it is. We just have to move forward."

Saturday's contest kicked off a three-game homestand for the Redhawks, who host Division II Urbana University from Ohio at 1 p.m. Saturday.

The Redhawks will be favored to win, but Samuel expects his team to be tested. The Blue Knights are 6-2 and have one of the nation's premier passing attacks.

The Blue Knights, led by All-America quarterback D.J. Mendenhall, are averaging 32.8 points and 450.1 yards per game, including 324.9 yards through the air.

Mendenhall, a 6-foot-5, 230-pound senior, has more than 9,000 career passing yards. This year he has completed 57.8 percent (186 of 322) for 2,531 yards, 29 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

"They play good football. They'll come in here and battle," said Samuel, whose squads are 7-0 against non-Division I opponents since he took over Southeast's program in 2006, although several of those contests were tight. "This is a team that's had success. They're not going to come in here and take a back seat. We're going to have to play well."