INDIANS USE BYE TO REVISIT THE BASICS

By Marty Mishow

According to Southeast Missouri State University football coach Tim Billings, the open date the Indians had Saturday might just have been what the doctor ordered.

Speaking at his weekly media conference Monday, Billings said the off week allowed the Indians to heal some injuries and to concentrate on their own improvement rather than having to prepare for an opponent.

"We had an opportunity to get a lot of guys healthy and we had an opportunity to work on our fundamentals," said Billings, whose squad last played Oct. 7 at Tennessee Tech. "We worked on technique, blocking and tackling. We didn't even concentrate on Murray State (this week's opponent).

"I really felt like it was a good week for us. We got a lot of things accomplished. We're back home, we're healthy and we would really like to get over the hump. We'd like to start off the second part of the season and really set the tone for the rest of the year and next year."

The Indians, 2-4 overall and 0-3 in Ohio Valley Conference play after losing their last three games, will have the first of two straight home contests Saturday when Murray State (3-4, 1-2) visits Houck Stadium for a 1 p.m. homecoming game.

Murray State is one of Southeast's main rivals in all sports. Said Billings, "I'm just now learning about the rivalry. It's a big game and I think it will be a great, exciting game."

As far as the injury situation, Billings said quarterback Rashad West, who has missed the last two games with a variety of injuries and has been banged up most of the season, should finally be back close to 100 percent, although Bobby Brune is expected to once again start.

"Rashad has looked the best he's looked, the healthiest he's been since the first game of the season. It's nice to have him back," Billings said. "Bobby will probably start, but I think we'll play them both. How much they'll play, we'll just see how it goes."

Two other injured starters should also be ready to go Saturday: cornerback Isaac Huddleston, who missed the Tennessee Tech game with a head injury; and defensive tackle James Jennette, who suffered a twisted knee against Tennessee Tech.

Deep snapper Andy Cisne, who missed the last two games with a neck injury, is likely to play Saturday, as is reserve defensive back Leotis Belcher, who broke his hand in practice on Sept. 19.

Defensive end Charles Sorter, tied for the team lead in quarterback sacks with three, remains sidelined with a shoulder injury while freshman backup defensive tackle Travis Bucher suffered a sprained knee during practice last week and will not play Saturday. Bucher had been deep snapping in place of Cisne.

* Brune is closing in on 3,000 career passing yards. The former Cape Girardeau Central High School standout has 2,888 yards over his first 2 1/2 seasons at Southeast.

A junior, Brune is third in the OVC in passing (139.3 yards per game), fourth in passing efficiency (113.96 rating) and fifth in total offense (139.8 yards per game).

Punter Jason Witczak leads the OVC and ranks sixth nationally with an average of 42.8 yards per game.

Safety Joe Williams is second in the league in tackles with 14.5 per game while fellow safety Isaac Powell ranks fourth with 11.3 a contest.

Linebacker Corey Mathis is third in the conference in tackles for loss, with 12 for 50 yards. He and Sorter are also tied for second in quarterback sacks with three each.

* The series with Murray State has not been all that competitive in recent years. The Racers hold a 28-5-1 edge and have won the past seven meetings, with Southeast's last win coming in 1992.

A year ago, the Racers rolled up a 38-0 lead after three quarters and pounded the Indians 45-18 in Murray, Ky.

Like Southeast, the Racers have a first-year head coach in Joe Pannunzio, a former assistant at numerous schools, including Auburn, Mississippi, Minnesota, TCU and Kansas.

* Western Kentucky and Eastern Illinois are the only two OVC teams without a league loss, at 5-0 and 3-0, respectively.

Only two squads have just one conference loss: Tennessee Tech (3-1) and Tennessee State (1-1).

Eastern Kentucky and Murray State, picked to finish one-two in the OVC's official preseason poll based on voting by the league's head coaches and sports information directors, are tied for fifth at 1-2, ahead of only Southeast (0-3) and Tennessee-Martin (0-5).

Western Kentucky, Eastern Illinois and Tennessee Tech the top three teams in the league at this point were picked to finish fourth, sixth and fifth in the preseason poll.