REDBIRDS TO MODEL PROGRAM FOR SEMO

Southeast Missouri State University first-year football coach Tim Billings says Illinois State is the type of program he hopes the Indians some day resemble.

Tonight, Billings and the Indians will get a first-hand look at the program they would like to emulate as the Redbirds help Southeast open its home schedule with a 6 o'clock kickoff at Houck Stadium.

"Illinois State is a team we hope to be like some day," said Billings. "They've got a great program, with great facilities. They've done some tremendous things with their program and they've got one of the best in the country."

The Redbirds, who made the NCAA Division I-AA national semifinals last year and are predicted to be every bit as good this season, will definitely pose a severe challenge for the Indians, who are coming off a stirring 34-33 win at Southern Illinois that saw Southeast rally from a 31-0 deficit.

"I would think a game like that would give us a lot of confidence," said Billings. "It's going to be a great challenge for us, but we're excited to play them and we're excited about our first home game."

Both squads are 1-1. In addition to beating SIU last Saturday, Southeast was routed 63-7 at I-A Marshall in its season opener.

ISU, ranked 12th nationally, opened the season with a 75-10 pasting of Division II West Virginia Tech, then last Saturday the Redbirds were whipped 52-0 by I-A Northern Illinois.

"We're hoping we can rebound a little bit," said ISU coach Denver Johnson. "The teams had different things happen to them last week. SEMO was able to rebound from a big deficit and we kind of stunk up the joint, so they'll be coming off a big high."

Johnson is in his first year with the Redbirds after coaching at Murray State the past three seasons. Murray and Southeast are both members of the Ohio Valley Conference, so Johnson would normally be a bit familiar with the Indians.

But Southeast's new coaching staff this year has meant that what Johnson knew about the Indians from the past is no longer applicable because Billings has changed things up dramatically on both offense and defense.

Offensively, the Indians use a one-back set and spread wide receivers out all over the field. Said Johnson with a laugh, "It's certainly interesting to watch on film. They're doing a lot of different things, some creative and innovate things, and it seems like they're getting production out of it. It's going to be a challenge to prepare for."

Johnson took over the ISU program from Todd Berry, who left to become the head coach at I-A Army. With 18 returning starters from last year's standout team, Johnson realizes there are great expectations for the 2000 Redbirds.

"There are a lot of high expectations coming into the season," acknowledged Johnson. "We're hoping to challenge for our conference championship again and hopefully get into the playoffs, but we know none of that's guaranteed."

The Redbirds certainly have an impressive quarterback to build around in senior Kevin Glenn, the school's career passing leader. Glenn was on his way to a sensational year in 1999 when he suffered a season-ending knee injury midway through the campaign.

Even though Dusty Burk directed ISU to the national semifinals as a freshman last year, Glenn stepped back in as the Redbirds starter this season. Although he suffered a hand injury during the loss at Northern Illinois, he is expected to be ready tonight. In two games, Glenn has completed 25 of 45 passes for 397 yards, and he's also an extremely dangerous runner.

"He's a great player," said Billings. "He makes their team go. He can run well and he has a great arm."

Glenn has a host of offensive weapons at his disposal, including running backs Willie Watts and Walter James, who have both rushed for nearly 150 yards already and are averaging well over six yards per carry.

"The biggest problem they pose is they have great players at every position," Billings said. "They have a great quarterback, big, strong running backs, tall, fast wide receivers, and their defense is as strong and fast as anybody we play, except for Marshall.

"They went to the (I-AA) semifinals last year, they have basically everybody back and they've added some transfers. They beat us handily last year (55-7) and they have better athletes than us at every position, but we'll see what happens."

Whatever happens, Billings is hoping that a big crowd will be on hand to see it.

"Hopefully we'll have a great crowd. If fans want to see some exciting football, then this should be that kind of game," he said. "They are an exciting football team and I feel like we are a really exciting team. I don't know how good we are yet, but we have some exciting players. There will be a lot of great players on the field."