Offense grinds to halt in loss Southeast's 23-17 loss

~ Southeast dropped to 0-3 in the OVC with its 23-17 loss

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Any hopes Southeast Missouri State had of winning its first Ohio Valley Conference game pretty much went out the window with a miserable second-half offensive showing.

Southeast didn't have the ball very much over the final two quarters Saturday night, but when the Redhawks did, they largely were ineffective.

The Redhawks finally came alive in the last two minutes to score a touchdown for their only second-half points, but it was too little, too late as host Tennessee State won 23-17.

Southeast fell to 1-4 overall and 0-3 in OVC play with its fourth straight loss. TSU is 2-3 overall after winning its conference opener.

"We just couldn't make plays," sophomore quarterback Matt Scheible said. "We kept going three-and-out and couldn't get in a rhythm.

"We finally got something going and kind of made it interesting late."

Southeast, which never led, trailed 13-10 at halftime and was behind 23-10 when the Redhawks took over possession at their 17-yard line with 2 minutes, 8 seconds remaining.

Southeast had gained 30 yards on 16 second-half plays to that point.

Southeast did wind up making things interesting by driving 83 yards in 59 seconds.

The key play was a fourth-down pass from Scheible to redshirt freshman Cedric Cox, who caught the ball along the right sideline for what looked like about a 10-yard gain and a first down.

Cox somehow stayed in bounds and raced all the way to the TSU 18 for a 59-yard pickup. Scheible hit senior Walter Peoples for an 18-yard touchdown on the next play.

But TSU recovered the onside kick and, with Southeast down to one timeout, took three kneel-downs to run out the clock.

Southeast, averaging 378 yards of offense per game, finished with 261.

The Redhawks, tops in the OVC and 12th nationally in rushing offense with 197.5 yards per game, netted just 88 yards on the ground.

Scheible had the bulk of that rushing total as he gained 61 yards on 17 carries.

But Scheible struggled with his passing, completing 13 of 34 attempts for 173 yards. He threw two touchdowns and was intercepted once.

"I thought our timing was off," Southeast coach Tony Samuel said of Southeast's offensive troubles.

That probably had something to do with the heat TSU put on Scheible much of the game.

Scheible was sacked three times, all in the first half, and harassed on numerous other plays.

That came after Southeast had allowed just three sacks in its first four games to lead the league and rank seventh nationally.

Scheible, who fired a 44-yard touchdown pass to junior Miles Edwards late in the first half that made it 13-10, said he might have been in too big a hurry at times.

"I was trying to rush myself," said Scheible, who had several passes dropped in addition to being off target on quite a few attempts.

Southeast's defense allowed only 10 second-half points, but had a hard time getting the Tigers off the field. TSU ran 44 second-half plays, good for 193 yards, and finished with 354 yards total.

"I don't think we were tired," said sophomore linebacker Philip Klaproth, who intercepted a pass late in the first half and returned it 23 yards to thwart a TSU scoring opportunity. "We missed some tackles."

Samuel, however, thought his defense might have gotten worn down from being on the field so much over the last two quarters.

TSU had the ball nearly 25 of the 30 second-half minutes.

"I thought we had too many [defensive] plays in the second half," Samuel said. "We had some missed tackles. We were a little tired."

TSU converted 7 of 12 third downs in the second half after going 1 of 5 in the opening half. The Tigers also converted both their fourth downs, both coming in the first half to keep scoring drives alive.

"They hurt us with those," Samuel said.

The Redhawks got into an early hole when, on their second possession, Scheible was sacked from behind and fumbled, with TSU taking over at the Southeast 35.

The Tigers scored after the turnover to lead 7-0 and Southeast never caught back up.

"We just made too many mistakes on both sides of the ball," said junior linebacker Justin Woodlief, who led Southeast with 14 tackles. "We couldn't step up on third-and-short."

While disappointed with yet another loss, Klaproth said the Redhawks will remain positive as they prepare for Saturday's homecoming game with Austin Peay.

"We have to keep fighting, keep driving," Klaproth said. "We can't let up. We won't."