Indians have seen highs, lows in 1-5 start

At the halfway point of Southeast Missouri State University's football season, and with an open date this weekend, now is a perfect time to take a look at what has so far been a disappointing campaign -- but still has the potential to be quite special.

People who follow the Indians pretty much know their story so far. They lost their first five games -- due equal parts to a brutal schedule and poor play -- but rebounded last Saturday with a 30-17 victory over Eastern Illinois that evened their Ohio Valley Conference record at 1-1.

First of all, let me say this: Simply looking at the Indians' 0-4 pre-conference record and automatically assuming they were really playing bad does not do the situation justice.

To be sure, Southeast's performance during its non-league schedule left plenty to be desired. But if the Indians opened with a couple of automatic wins in the first four weeks -- as many programs do -- they would have had a decent record and nobody would have thought too much about it.

That being said, Southeast displayed plenty of deficiencies -- most of them on offense -- during the first half of the season. Those have gradually been improved upon but might not get totally rectified before the end of the campaign.

Most glaring for Southeast has been the lack of a big-play offensive performer. Everybody knew the Indians would sorely miss All-American wide receiver Willie Ponder -- last year's brilliant big-play guy -- but I don't think anybody thought his absence would be so glaring, myself included.

It's not only Ponder's unbelievable production and acrobatic catches that have been missed. It's also the way opposing defenses had to pay so much special attention to Ponder, thus opening up the field for so many other players.

Think basketball, where one great player often makes everybody around him so much better and allows them to perform better than they normally might. It was the same way with Ponder. Without him, teams basically can play every Southeast offensive player straight up, which makes things considerably easier on the defense.

It also hasn't helped Southeast's offense that two more of last year's top receivers -- Tarik Simpson, who like Ponder completed his eligibility, and Bill Coleman, who was ruled ineligible prior to the season -- are not around as well, leaving a young, inexperienced receiving corps that catches the ball well but has so far been virtually void of any big plays.

Another unexpected offensive loss was tailback Corey Kinsey, last year's 1,000-yard rusher who was kicked off the team after three games, but explosive converted wide receiver Jamel Oliver and hard-running David Taufoou are more than capable replacements.

Jack Tomco unexpectedly got off to a slow start this season as Southeast played a quarterback shuffle, but since last year's record-setting signal caller was handed the full-time reigns to the offense when OVC play started, he appears to be hitting his stride.

Tomco, along with an improved running game fueled by better offensive line play, has helped Southeast's offense climb back to respectability after ranking as one of the nation's worst statistically through the first four games.

On the other hand, Southeast's defense is much improved over last season and has been the strength of the team -- that's quite a switch after last year's record-setting offensive performance -- even though the unit has suffered several key injuries, most notably to secondary stalwarts Mike Miller and Marco Tipton.

While it's unlikely that Southeast's offense this season will ever come close to matching last year's high-flying antics, it has the potential to be solid enough -- coupled with continued strong defensive play -- to get the job done.

What does it all mean? While having their share of flaws, the Indians -- in this topsy-turvy OVC season that will likely take the term parity to unprecedented heights -- appear as capable as anybody of capturing the title.

There are six conference games remaining, and the Indians should have a chance to win them all. If they do, they can finish no worse than tied for the top spot.

Now, having a chance to win them all and actually doing it is a different story because that's hard to pull off in any sport. But even another loss somewhere down the line probably wouldn't doom Southeast's title hopes because this looks like it might be one year where the champion finishes with at least two defeats.

Next for the Indians is a major challenge at Eastern Kentucky that figures to go a long way toward determining their eventual OVC title hopes. The Colonels will no doubt be bent on revenge following last year's stunning loss in Richmond, Ky., that marked Southeast's first-ever win over EKU.

But the Colonels of the last few years don't even come close to resembling the powerhouse EKU teams that for years ranked among the nation's best Division I-AA squads, meaning the opportunity should be there for the Indians to squeeze out another victory in Richmond.

If the Indians can pull it off, they just might be on the way to living up to their billing as the OVC favorite after all.

A couple of NFL notes:

Kansas City's Dante Hall is incredible. Sure, a couple of illegal blocks should have been called during his game-winning punt return against Denver last Sunday, but how in the world did he ever elude all those would-be tacklers near where he caught the ball? Talk about some quick feet and change of direction.

And you'd be hard-pressed to find a stranger game than the Monday night affair between Tampa Bay and Indianapolis. The host Buccaneers dominated for about 55 minutes and held a seemingly safe 35-14 lead, at which time I'm sure plenty of viewers went to sleep. If they did, they missed an amazing Colts comeback that forged a 35-35 tie after regulation and resulted in a 38-35 Indianapolis overtime victory.

The baseball playoffs have been exciting to say the least, and there figures to be plenty of more fireworks the rest of the way.

At the risk of offending all Cardinals fans out there -- which includes me -- I must admit I'm rooting for the Cubs to make the World Series. Don't ask me why, but I just like them. Maybe it's because I know how much of a party Chicago will throw if the Cubs do make it that far.

I also wouldn't mind seeing the Red Sox advance from the American League. It gets old seeing the Yankees win most of the time.

Hmmm, a Cubs-Red Sox World Series. Now wouldn't that be something.

I'll admit it -- I thought Central would drub Jackson in Thursday's annual Cape Girardeau County football rivalry game. Instead, I've got to hand it to the Indians for their dominating 27-14 victory that probably wasn't even as close as the score indicates.

In what was supposed to be a second straight down year for Jackson, the Indians are all of a sudden displaying plenty of life. Although it will take some doing, a surprise winning season might not even be out of the question now.

A sign that the college basketball season is just around the corner: official practice begins Saturday. While I love football, I know that I join true hoop fanatics everywhere in saying "I just can't wait."

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.