Matukewicz emphasizes Southeast Missouri State football team's need for consistency

Second-year Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz had some pretty honest words for his team following its scrimmage Saturday morning to close out the team's fall camp.

After the Redhawks' two-hour session at Houck Stadium that wasn't great, but wasn't awful, he stood in front of his players, emphasizing a lack of consistency and telling them exactly how they stack up compared to last year's squad that finished 5-7.

"Last year's football team would beat this year's football team," Matukewicz said. "I mean, it is what it is. We have a better roster, but right now we're up and down, and one thing about last year's team is they showed up every day and you could count on their attitude, effort and, most importantly, their discipline. This team wants to talk about it. They want to fight about it. We need to stop talking and do our job."

"The main issue with them is they're talking about the last play instead of moving onto the next play, so we've got to find a way to be more consistent and you try to do that with trying to discipline your attitude and have a 'next play' mentality," Matukewicz added later.

Matukewicz, who said following Wednesday's practice that he "wanted to see a quarterback separate himself," said that after the uneven performances of Tay Bender and Alex Niznak on Saturday he was going to wait to name the team's starter.

"I think our quarterbacks are like our whole team," Matukewicz said. "You see plays that you just fall in love with and then the very next play it's hard to even watch -- it makes my eyes bleed when I see it."

Matukewicz was pleased that Bender completed a pass on a post route, which was a 42-yarder to senior receiver Paul McRoberts that put the No. 1 offense in the red zone.

Southeast Missouri State quarterback Tay Bender looks to pass during a scrimmage Saturday, Aug. 22, 2015 at Houck Stadium. (Fred Lynch)

Three plays later Bender dropped a snap before picking it up and throwing it under pressure to fullback Lewis Washington near the left sideline. Washington pushed his way into the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown.

"Well, I haven't hit a post all camp and I hit a post today, so I'd definitely say we're making improvements," Bender said with a laugh. "Then I overthrew one. So we've still got a long way to go, but hey, we completed it, so we took it off film."

Bender also threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to sophomore receiver Adrian Davis during the team's red zone drill.

Jackson graduate and freshman QB Dante Vandeven completed a 30-yard pass to freshman receiver and Potosi graduate Austin Cooley for a touchdown with the third-string offense.

Southeast Missouri State quarterback Alex Niznak looks to pass during a scrimmage Saturday, Aug. 22, 2015 at Houck Stadium. (Fred Lynch)

Niznak, who was limited during practices last week with a pulled groin, was full-go Saturday. On one drive he led the offense into the red zone, completing 3 of 4 passes on the drive for 28 yards, and kicker Ryan McCrum capped it with a 24-yard field goal.

"I think it's all the little things that maybe people don't see playing the position," Niznak said of what he's improved on this fall. "It's how you communicate up front, it's how you ID protections and when things happen. There's a lot of plays that if you were watching from the stands you'd say, 'Well, that wasn't a very good play,' but when you look at what we were trying to do, the reality of throwing it away or a 1-yard run is a lot better than what could've happened."

Redshirt freshman Anthony Cooper was back in a black quarterback jersey on Saturday morning but did not practice.

Cooper has ligament damage in his elbow and was given the choice to have surgery now and miss the season or switch positions and have surgery following this season. He had chosen last week to make the switch to receiver and wait until the season was complete for surgery.

He's since had a platelet-rich plasma injection to try to heal the ligament and will be on a six-week throwing plan, according to Matukewicz.

His injury will be reevaluated in six weeks and a decision will be made if surgery is necessary.

Run defense improved

The Redhawks' defense was improved from their first scrimmage a week ago and kept the offense from any long runs.

"In any intrasquad scrimmage you want to see give and take. We were able to go out and throw the ball pretty well, couldn't quite get the run game going," Niznak said. "That's a credit to those guys."

Matukewicz said he was proud of the defense for making a few stops in the red zone and forcing the offense to settle for field goals or turn it over on downs after the offense threw a ball deep.

"The coverage was a little tighter," defensive lineman Travis Sanders said. "There were still a few mistakes, but we're playing more together as a unit. Pursuit was a big thing that we improved from last week to this week."

Southeast Missouri State running back Tremane McCullough carries during a scrimmage Saturday, Aug. 22, 2015 at Houck Stadium. (Fred Lynch)

Junior transfer running back Tremane McCullough punched one in from 4 yards out midway through the scrimmage, but was called for a penalty after he stuck the ball out and taunted the defense, negating the touchdown and pushing the offense back 15 yards.

McCullough was reprimanded by Matukewicz and offensive coordinator Sherard Poteete for it and had to run the stadium stairs for several minutes after.

"We go in for a score and we're going to show the ball and act like, 'It's all about me,' get a 15-yard penalty before he gets in the end zone so we have to back up and settle for a field goal," Matukewicz said. "That's what bad teams do. You see a bad team, that's what they do. We've got two weeks to clean it up."

Specialists update

Matukewicz noted more consistency issues for the team, this time with punter Alex Knight and kicker Ryan McCrum. Knight booted a punt about 60 yards but also kicked one just 30 yards.

McCrum made a couple of field goals but missed one from 48 yards.

"We have the roster and we've got the coaches to be a good football team," Matukewicz said. "We've just got to find a way to discipline ourselves to make it happen."

Matukewicz said that following Friday's practice, during which he held a kick and punt returning competition, he set the depth chart for the kick and punt returners.

Tyler Manne will practice with the No. 1 punt team while Peter Lloyd will back him up. Lloyd is No. 1 for kick return with McCullough behind him.

Matukewicz said they'll continue to evaluate the return specialists and changes could be made.