Mr. Smith goes to town

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- Southeast Missouri State University entered Saturday's game at Division I-A Central Michigan intent on stopping star tailback Jerry Seymour and making quarterback Kent Smith throw the ball.

The first part of that equation took care of itself, as Seymour missed virtually the entire game with a hip pointer suffered last weekend against Michigan State.

But the previously struggling Smith foiled the Indians' plans by having a career performance during the Chippewas' 44-27 victory in front of 15,255 fans at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.

CMU improved to 1-2 and Southeast fell to 0-3.

Smith, a junior who saw limited action last year, entered Saturday's contest having completed just 42.6 percent of his passes (20 of 47) this season, for 241 yards and one touchdown. Against Southeast, he was 17 of 31 for 303 yards and two TDs while also running for a pair or scores.

"I got all the jitters out against Michigan State," said Smith, referring to his rough outing against the Spartans. "I felt more comfortable running the offense."

Seymour, a sophomore who seriously considered attending Southeast before signing with CMU, carried twice early in the first quarter -- he gained just one yard -- but did not play any more after that. Seymour had rushed for 275 yards in the first two games after gaining 1,117 yards last season.

"When we saw he didn't have that acceleration, I think to be conservative with him and back off was the best way," CMU coach Brian Kelly said.

But the Chippewas hardly missed a beat offensively without Seymour, as Smith riddled Southeast's struggling secondary.

"He did some good things," Billings said of Smith. "But our problem right now is we've had some injuries in the secondary and we're not very good there right now. What's hurting us is we're giving up big plays on defense."

Seymour's replacement, Spencer Lewis, also did his part by rushing for 134 yards on 28 carries, as the Chippewas piled up 498 total yards.

"Smith did some good things today. I was pleased with his ability to make some plays and get the ball downfield," Kelly said. "Against anybody, throwing for 300 yards is a pretty good day.

"But Lewis was the player of the game. We gave him the game ball. No matter who you play, you have to run the football."

Southeast's offense had a solid showing for the second straight week with 391 yards, including 304 yards passing from quarterback Andrew Goodenough, who completed 32 of 50 attempts and tossed three touchdown passes.

But the Indians found themselves in an early 21-0 hole and never could catch up.

"It's tough to get behind by that many points," said tailback David Taufoou, who scored three of Southeast's four touchdowns.

CMU's third play from scrimmage after receiving the game's opening kickoff was a 53-yard completion on a screen pass to Lewis that carried the Chippewas to Southeast's 13-yard line. Smith capped a 75-yard drive with a 1-yard run to put the Chippewas up 7-0 just 4:03 into the contest.

The Chippewas scored on two of their next three possessions, moving 80 and 57 yards, to lead 21-0 less than four minutes into the second quarter.

Southeast hardly had the ball in the opening period and gained just 10 yards, but the Indians rolled up 185 second-quarter yards and trailed just 21-13 late in the half.

"After the first quarter, I thought we played good offensively," Billings said.

With 10:25 left in the half, Taufoou turned a short pass from Goodenough into a 28-yard touchdown to cap a 74-yard drive, but the extra point was blocked.

Southeast pulled to within eight points with 1:47 remaining before halftime as Taufoou's 5-yard reception ended a 96-yard drive.

But Southeast was penalized 15 yards on the ensuing kickoff for excessive celebration after its second TD, and CMU took over with excellent field position on the Indians' 48-yard line.

Smith made Southeast pay with a 5-yard touchdown run just one minute before the intermission for a 28-13 lead.

"Them scoring right before halftime was big," Billings said.

The Chippewas scored just five minutes into the second half to go ahead 34-13 after the PAT was blocked.

Goodenough's 11-yard touchdown pass to Oge Oge with five minutes left in the third quarter pulled Southeast to within 34-20, but Damien Linson returned a punt 66 yards for a touchdown late in the period for a 41-20 CMU advantage.

A field goal early in the fourth quarter put CMU up 44-20. Southeast got a window-dressing touchdown with 1:17 left on Taufoou's 1-yard run, capping an 80-yard drive.