INDIANS RUN INTO TALENTED ILLINOIS STATE SQUAD TODAY

Despite what happened last week -- and despite the marked differences in the state of the programs -- Illinois State football coach Todd Berry claims his Redbirds will have no problem taking Southeast Missouri State University seriously tonight.

ISU, 1-0 and ranked fifth nationally in NCAA Division I-AA, will play host to Southeast, 0-1 and coming off a 43-25 pounding at the hands of Southern Illinois, in a 6 p.m. kickoff at Hancock Stadium in Normal, Ill.

"We certainly can't overlook them," said Berry. "I'm sure John (Mumford) is frustrated with what happened the first game, but I'm sure they're going to have some things corrected (by tonight)."

Corrections or not, there is no doubt that the Redbirds rate as huge favorites against the Indians. Even Mumford, Southeast's coach who once served as Berry's boss in Cape Girardeau, acknowledges that ISU has considerably more talent than SIU.

"It's certainly a tremendous challenge for us," said Mumford. "Illinois State is more physical than SIU and they have great skill players. They are bigger and stronger up front and they play with a real mean disposition."

The Redbirds weren't always talked about in such glowing terms. ISU had built a decent but not spectacular I-AA football program over the years when Berry, Southeast's offensive coordinator in 1991, arrived in Normal in 1996.

After seeing ISU go 6-17 -- and winless in the Gateway Conference -- in his first two seasons, Berry led the Redbirds to an 8-4 record and a I-AA playoff berth last year. That was with a predominately underclass lineup, so hopes for this season are extremely high.

"I think we have some high expectations," said Berry. "It's an interesting season for us because it's the first time for this program that we've had these kinds of expectations. As head coach, I'm anxious to see how we approach it.

"We were really young last year. I knew we had the talent, so our success really didn't surprise me, but I didn't know if we would be mature enough. We were kind of building more for this year and hopefully beyond it."

ISU returned a whopping 21 regulars from last season and the squad is still relatively young, with only five senior starters. So the future indeed looks bright for the Redbirds.

Berry's squad got the season started in routine fashion, rolling past Division II Truman State 41-9. The Redbirds piled up 621 yards of offense, led by sensational quarterback Kevin Glenn.

Although not physically imposing at 5-feet-10 and 190 pounds, Glenn is regarded as one of the nation's top I-AA signal callers. The junior, who completed 28 of 39 passes for 344 yards against Truman State, last year set ISU single-season records for passing yardage and touchdown passes.

"He's got a great handle of the offense," said Berry of Glenn. "He's very talented both throwing and running, and probably one of the best things about him is he's very creative. He just makes things happen. He does things you can't coach, the intangibles."

Glenn has a host of weapons at his disposal, including wide receiver Ricky Garrett, who caught 72 passes last season. The Redbirds generally run an offense featuring three wide outs and just one running back.

"They like to stretch you out and they throw it all over the field," said Mumford of the Redbirds' offense. "They can also run the ball effectively once they get you spread out."

Southeast was mauled in its opening loss to SIU. The Indians totaled just 205 yards, including only seven yards and one first down in the opening half. Southeast allowed 438 yards.

"We lost the battle in the trenches against SIU," Mumford said. "The whole key (tonight) will be for us to get a whole lot better up front on both sides of the ball."

SEMO at Illinois State

When: Today, 6 p.m.

Where: Hancock Stadium, Normal, Ill.

Records: SEMO 0-1, 0-0 OVC; ISU 1-0, 0-0 Gateway

1998 records: SEMO 3-8; ISU 8-4

Last Week: SEMO lost to Southern Illinois 43-25; ISU beat Truman State 41-9

Coaches: John Mumford (SEMO) 37-63, 10th year; Todd Berry (ISU) 14-21, 4th year

Series record: ISU leads 7-1

Last meeting: ISU won 41-7 in 1997

Radio: K103-FM

SEMO at Illinois State

Probable Starters

SEMO Offense

TE -- John Borne 6-1 235 Sr.

LT -- Ian Walters 6-4 295 Sr.

LG -- Chad King 6-2 300 Sr.

C -- West McKee 6-5 245 Fr.

RG -- David Fielder 6-3 290 Jr.

RT -- Chris Kiefer 6-3 285 Sr.

WR -- Leslie Weaver 5-7 155 Jr.

WR -- Corey Chester 5-11 180 Jr.

QB -- Bobby Brune 6-4 210 So.

FB -- Broderick Benson 5-10 230 Sr.

TB -- Riki Smith 5-9 185 Sr.

PK -- Nick Reggio 5-10 175 Sr.

SEMO Defense

DE -- Demond Williams 6-4 240 Jr.

DT -- Brad Richardson 6-2 275 Sr.

NG -- Jason DeWolf 6-1 270 So.

DE -- Joel Becker 6-2 255 Sr.

LB -- Jeremy Atwell 6-1 220 Sr.

LB -- David Bowling 6-0 220 Sr.

LB -- Donovan LaViness 5-11 220 Sr.

CB -- Andre Clark 6-0 190 Jr.

CB -- Brian Hinton 5-10 165 Sr.

FS -- John Smith 6-1 195 Sr.

SS -- Isaac Powell 6-1 195 Jr.

P -- Seth Carriere 5-11 180 So.

ISU Defense

DE - Scott Cook 6-4 240 Jr.

DT - Devon Finn 6-7 280 Sr.

DT - Damian Gregory 6-3 305 Sr.

DE - Marcus White 6-3 230 Sr.

LB - Ryan Szokoia 6-2 195 Jr.

LB - Tim Angsten 6-3 240 Sr.

LB - Galen Scott 5-9 210 Jr.

LB - Adam Waugh 6-0 195 So.

CB - Armando Andrade 5-9 180 Jr.

CB - Alfred Corbin 5-11 170 So.

S - Sam Young 5-11 180 Jr.

P - Jake Strader 5-11 195 Jr.

ISU Offense

TE - Scott Pruesker 6-4 245 Jr.

LT - Andy King 6-4 310 So.

LG - Dan Hama 6-5 290 Jr.

C - Ted Wulf 6-1 276 Fr.

RG - Mike Rodbro 6-4 290 Jr.

RT - Aaron Peterson 6-4 280 Fr.

WR - Rickey Garrett 6-2 205 Jr.

WR - John Laurenti 6-3 195 Fr.

WR - Cory Grow 6-0 200 Sr.

QB - Kevin Glenn 5-10 190 Jr.

RB - Walter James 6-0 215 So.

K - Jake Strader 5-11 195 Jr.