Indians' passing game continues to improve

Partly by necessity -- Eastern Kentucky was determined to stop the run -- Southeast Missouri State University threw a season-high 44 passes Saturday.

The result was a 41-38 victory over Eastern Kentucky that featured receivers being spread out all over the field and the Indians' offense -- for one of the few times this year -- resembling the high-powered, wide-open unit that terrorized opposing defenses last season.

"It was a lot of fun, a lot like we did in so many games last year," a smiling quarterback Jack Tomco said following the stirring triumph in Richmond, Ky., that vaulted the Indians right back in the thick of the Ohio Valley Conference race. "We knew they'd try to stop the run and our passing game clicked pretty well."

With All-American Willie Ponder and Tarik Simpson completing their eligibility last year, and Bill Coleman unexpectedly being ruled academically ineligible prior to the start of this season, the Indians' receiving corps took a major hit.

Partly as a result of that, Southeast's offense -- including the passing game -- struggled to click during the early part of the season.

But that certainly isn't the case any longer. After scoring a total of just 23 points in their first four games -- all losses -- the Indians have exploded for 102 points in their last three games, winning the past two.

Saturday's performance featured a season-high point total and a season-high 352 yards passing and three touchdowns from Tomco, who routinely put up those kinds of numbers last year while setting nine school passing records and throwing for more than 3,100 yards with 29 touchdowns.

Since being handed the reigns to Southeast's offense -- after the Indians shuffled quarterbacks early in the season -- Tomco has once again thrived.

The strong-armed senior passed for just 441 yards, with no touchdowns and six interceptions, while not playing all the time during the 0-4 start.

Tomco and the offense began to click during the Sept. 27 OVC opener at Samford, even though Southeast lost 41-31. But the Indians finally lit up the scoreboard as Tomco passed for 291 yards.

Southeast finally got into the win column on Oct. 4, beating Eastern Illinois 30-17 as Tomco passed for 224 yards. Then came Saturday's performance, in which he completed 23 of 43 attempts -- but that would have been considerably more impressive had not Southeast's receivers dropped at last eight passes thrown right on the money.

In his last three games, Tomco has passed for 867 yards, with four touchdowns and just one interception.

"Jack did a great job today," Southeast coach Tim Billings said.

The Indians actually did try to run the ball quite a bit, as has been their desire for much of the season, but EKU's defense limited the ground game to 78 net yards on 39 attempts.

"They were putting so many guys in the box, it was hard to run the football," Billings said.

But the Indians were able to put plenty of pressure on EKU's defense by spreading the field with their passing. Nine different players had at least one reception and the Indians even took several shots downfield with deep passes, something they hadn't done much early in the year.

Brandon Amick caught a 68-yard bomb, Anthony Gilliam had a 48-yard reception that set up Derek Kutz's game-winning 39-yard field goal with nine seconds left, and Chris NesSmith just missed making connections on a pass that would have gone for more than 40 yards.

Prior to Saturday, the Indians' longest completion to a wide receiver had been 40 yards, to NesSmith. Tailback David Taufoou had a 62-yard reception early in the year, but a decent portion of that yardage came after the catch.

"We're at our best when we throw it around like that," said a grinning Gilliam, a TCU transfer who started the season slowly but has come on in recent weeks. "I had been out for almost two years and it took me a while to get the rust off."

Said Amick, a walk-on from Scott City High School who joined the program last season and played sparingly but has been a big part of the Indians' offense this year, "Willie was a great player, but we've got good receivers and some guys who can be dangerous and get open deep. We're coming along."

And the Indians are coming along as a team. Now 2-5 overall -- but more importantly 2-1 in the OVC -- Southeast is tied for first place on the loss side with three other teams heading into Saturday night's home game against struggling Murray State.

"We're right back up there in the standings," Tomco said. "Now we just have to keep it going."

Noteworthy

Southeast's freshman punter David Simonhoff was named the OVC Newcomer of the Week after averaging 47.3 yards on seven punts during Saturday's victory. Simonhoff had two punts over 60 yards and sent one punt out of bounds inside the EKU 1-yard line.