Redhawks defense must prove its worth

The unstoppable force and the immovable object.

This was more like the Bullet train meeting something that has resembled Swiss cheese so far.

Southeast Missouri State proved it could slow down Missouri ... but only when Chase Daniel and the rest of Missouri's explosive offensive starters were on the sidelines.

The question confronting Southeast, which takes a 1-1 record into the Division I-AA portion of the schedule, is whether it can stop anyone on its own level.

The Redhawks had a hard time in the opener against Division II Southwest Baptist, which compiled 541 yards before leaving Cape Girardeau with a 35-28 overtime loss.

And there was no way they were going to stop the starters for the nation's sixth-ranked team Saturday.

Missouri, with Heisman Trophy candidate Chase Daniel at quarterback and sophomore sensation Jeremy Maclin at receiver and wherever else he wanted to be, racked up 367 yards in the first half en route to a 52-3 win Saturday night.

AARON EISENHAUER ~ aeisenhauer@semissourian.com Southeast's Joshua Jackson failed to catch Missouri's Derrick Washington as he ran the ball during the first half Saturday at Faurot Field in Columbia.

Didn't matter, Southeast defensive coordinator Tim McGuire said.

"This game doesn't have any bearing on our confidence," he said. "If our kids felt their confidence shaken here, they need a reality check. This was the No. 6 team in the country, who a week ago put up 50-something on a Rose Bowl team.

"My big thing was 'How were our kids going to play when the Heisman Trophy candidate and the All-American were off the football field?' And I was pleased with how they played when those really high-profile Division I athletes were off the field."

Two games into the campaign and Southeast has surrendered nearly two-thirds of a mile of offense.

AARON EISENHAUER ~ aeisenhauer@semissourian.com Southeast's Josh Woods gives Missouri's Blaine Gabbert the push needed to end what would be a touchdown run during the second half on Saturday, September 6, 2008 at Faurot Field in Columbia.

Saturday wasn't a surprise.

Missouri paid Southeast $250,000 for the right to pad some statistics. It could have been worse than the 49-point final spread.

The Tigers called off the dogs with minutes to play in the first half, with Daniel on a streak of 14 completions. That streak could have gone on all night. The senior threw one incompletion in 17 attempts in directing five consecutive touchdown drives to start the game.

He was not pressured all night.

"They're so athletic, and you have to be a pretty freaking athletic football team to hang with them," McGuire said. "From the sidelines, I don't think we made any drastic mistakes or had missed assignments. I think it was just a matter of we were trying to grab a hold of water sometimes."

More disturbing was the opener, since Southeast was listed with eight defensive starters back from 2007.

But linebacker Jared Goodson, one of the leading tacklers from last year, has lost his spot to true freshman Philip Klaproth. Nick Stauffer is learning the ropes at middle linebacker as the replacement for Adam Casper. Another linebacker, Matt Stahlberg, was on the defensive line much of last season. And safeties Victor Anderson and Vincent Anderson, who was the leading tackler Saturday with five solo and two assists, began the 2007 season on offense.

"You look at it and say we have all this experience," McGuire said. "But the two twins haven't played that much football. They're learning as they go. Stahlberg is learning a lot with the transition he's made."

Without seeing film, McGuire said he was impressed with Stauffer, who had 5 tackles and Southeast's only sack.

"I'll be more concerned, when I do look at film, did we improve from last week and were we in the right spots to make the play," he said. "There will be some instances where their athletes are so good that we couldn't make the play and there will be some instances I felt we could have made the play.

"But these kids played very, very hard and I think that's one thing our fans and supporters can be very proud of."

Going forward, however, Southeast should have few excuses about the talent level. The Redhawks should be making plays.

"There's obviously things to be concerned about," McGuire said.

That's an understatement.

The good news is that the OVC doesn't feature Chase Daniel or Jeremy Maclin. The bad news is Southeast already may have played the easiest team on its schedule.

Toby Carrig is editor of the Web site semoball.com