Opportunistic Redhawks have to keep forging ahead in that regard, regardless of outcomes

There may be no statistic that veteran Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz speaks of with more emphasis than turnover margin.

When the Redhawks don’t have a solid number in that regard, it is painfully obvious. And almost always, when SEMO is opportunistic in creating miscues by its opposition, it can be measurably joyful for the Redhawk fan base.

Almost always.

“If you go plus-3,” Matukewicz said recently on the topic of turnover margin, “you win like 96 percent of your games in the NFL. It’s a stat that just means everything.”

Almost “everything.”

No. 16-ranked SEMO (1-2) will travel to Eastern Kentucky (0-3) on Saturday at 5 p.m. (ESPN+), and if it hopes to win, creating more turnovers than the Redhawks commit will be imperative, but it won’t necessarily guarantee a victory.

For the season, the Redhawks have won the turnover battle in each of their three games. However, in two of those games, including last weekend’s 26-25 loss to rival Southern Illinois, that effort went for naught in terms of achieving a victory.

The Redhawks only had one turnover against the Salukis, but it came in the final minutes of the game, which ultimately led to the final score by Southern Illinois.

“You fumble (when running) a four-minute drill,” Matukewicz explained, “it’s pretty tough to recover from.”

The Redhawks are tied with North Dakota State as the most opportunistic team in the nation at the FCS level, being a plus-seven in turnover margin. SEMO has forced three fumbles and recovered two of them.

As far as interceptions are concerned, SEMO has picked off six passes while Redhawk quarterback Paxton DeLaurent has not thrown an errant ball yet this season.

“I’m excited about this team,” Matukewicz said. “I still think this team is going to have a hard time losing games if we can stay healthy, play smart, and get our kicking game going.”

Seven different players have contributed to the area of turnover creation, with defensive backs Antonio Taylor and Eric Ivory, Jr. each picking off a pair of passes.

Matukewicz praised Ivory, Jr. for his ability and effort following the Southern Illinois game after watching him pick off a couple of Saluki throws.

“He has really good instincts,” Matukewicz said of Ivory, Jr.

Ivory, Jr., who starts at free safety, made a pair of starts last season and played in 12 games.

“He was a true freshman, who played on a really good team,” Matukewicz said. “So, that kind of tells you about his talent level.”

Ivory, Jr. has 16 tackles this season, which is third on the team, after ranking sixth on the Redhawks a year ago.

“He is a multi-sport athlete,” Matukewicz said. “He’s just a really good athlete, kind of a natural.”

Ivory, Jr., as well as all of the SEMO defense, will have its hands full with Colonel quarterback Parker McKinney, who completed 35 of 42 passes in a win over the Redhawks at Houck Field a year ago.

“This is what we need,” Matukewicz said of facing another tough quarterback this fall. “If we are going to do what we said that we wanted to do (in playing for championships), we’ve got to beat a good quarterback, because they are all going to be good in the playoffs.”