There is no telling how this Southeast Missouri State football season will turn out.
But Thursday's 29-27 home loss to Tennessee Tech in Southeast's Ohio Valley Conference opener certainly does not appear to bode well for the Redhawks.
While it's too early to have labeled any game a must win — it's just one of eight OVC contests for Southeast — falling to the Golden Eagles is definitely a bad sign.
Tech, like Southeast, has finished toward the bottom of the OVC standings the past several years. Like the Redhawks, the Eagles again are expected to wind up as a lower-division team.
And, like Southeast, Tech is trying to revive its program with a relatively new coach.
By losing to Tech at home, Southeast fans are probably wondering just what teams the Redhawks are going to beat.
Still, it's way too early to give up on the season.
After two more nonconference games — Saturday at home against Missouri State and Sept. 27 at Indiana State — it's nothing but OVC play the rest of the way for Southeast.
The Redhawks, 1-2 overall, have plenty of time to right the ship and make up for Thursday's setback.
Hopefully, if you're a Southeast fan, the result against Tech is not an indicator of things to come.
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It's not like Southeast played poorly Thursday night. Far from it, in fact.
It's just that the talent level for the Redhawks doesn't appear good enough to allow much margin for error.
The Redhawks did not turn the ball over while forcing three turnovers. In most cases, that type of turnover margin results in a victory.
The game could have gone either way. The Redhawks caught a bad break in the fourth quarter on a facemask penalty that led to Tech's go-ahead touchdown — I couldn't see it but most people seem to think it was the correct call — but they had more than enough chances to make up for that throughout the contest.
Southeast's defense was improved, allowing a season-low 411 yards, but the Redhawks' offense gained a season-low 306 yards — which is less than what it had the previous week against sixth-ranked Missouri.
Any time a game winds up that close, you can point to numerous plays that would have made the difference. Tech would be doing the same thing if it had lost.
The bottom line is that there's nothing Southeast can do about it now but move forward and not let the loss linger.
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Granted, it was a relatively slow night on the national sports scene Thursday.
But the Southeast-Tech game, which was nationally televised by ESPNU, provided ESPN with the No. 1 play on its late-night SportsCenter.
Tech tailback Henry Sailes' nifty 63-yard touchdown run on a reverse was deemed the night's top play. Sailes was hemmed in by several Southeast defenders, but broke a few tackles and reversed field to go the distance.
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I've had a few Missouri fans ask me why the Tigers would pull the redshirt off touted quarterback prospect Blaine Gabbert and waste a year of eligibility when he figures to get little playing time this year.
Gabbert had his redshirt lifted Sept. 6 when he saw action during the Tigers' 52-3 blowout of Southeast.
Gabbert only figures to receive that type of time — during a lopsided game — the rest of the season.
If something — heaven forbid if you're an MU fan — would happen to All-American quarterback Chase Daniel, then fellow senior Chase Patton is likely to be the replacement.
But I say it's a good move to get Gabbert some playing time here and there, no matter how little that might turn out to be.
MU coach Gary Pinkel appears to regard Gabbert as the Tigers' QB of the future, and he's virtually certain to begin next season as the starter.
If I'm Pinkel, the last thing I want is for my No. 1 signal caller in 2009 to have not taken a snap on the collegiate level.
Daniel also saw limited action as a true freshman — playing behind Brad Smith — instead of redshirting.
True, if Daniel had redshirted, he only would be a junior right now.
But Daniel has said that the experience he gained in 2005 was invaluable, and he believes it helped him become the type of player he is today.
And anyway, with the type of blue-chip recruits Pinkel and his staff figure to keep getting now that the Tigers have become one of the nation's elite programs, I've got to think some other hotshot QB will be ready to replace Gabbert when his college career concludes.
That's assuming Gabbert pans out the way MU coaches believe he will and he's the Tigers' starter the next three seasons after this one.
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Speaking of MU, I know the Tigers haven't been tested the past two weeks.
But the way they're piling up points and steamrolling the opposition still is impressive.
Believe it or not, Nevada isn't nearly as bad as the Tigers made the Wolf Pack look Saturday during a 69-17 destruction. Nevada had given Texas Tech all it wanted the previous week.
MU's offense is clicking so well right now — Daniel is amazing — it's going to take quite a defense to slow down the Tigers.
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Sikeston native Blake DeWitt appears headed to the MLB playoffs during his rookie season.
DeWitt is in his second stint with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have surged ahead of the reeling Arizona Diamondbacks to gain control of the NL West Division race.
DeWitt, who turned 23 last month, has taken over as the Dodgers' starting second baseman following the injury that sent Jeff Kent to the disabled list.
DeWitt was the Dodgers' regular third baseman early in the season, and he was the NL rookie of the month in May, when his average surged to a season-high .322.
DeWitt slumped after that and was sent down to Class AAA before being called up again in late August.
DeWitt has hit well since rejoining the Dodgers. He had raised his average to .265 by the start of Sunday's game, having had it dip to .255 before he was sent down.
Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.
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