Redhawks' OVC opener was not a positive sign

Losing to a team expected to be among the Ohio Valley Conference's worst squads this year was certainly not the way Southeast Missouri State anticipated opening its OVC schedule.

That, however, is the situation the Redhawks are stuck with after host Samford scored the game's final 19 points to pull out a 26-21 win Saturday night.

Nobody expected things to be easy for Southeast, especially on the road.

Sure, Samford won only a single OVC game last season and was picked to finish ninth among 10 squads this year.

But the Redhawks posted just two OVC victories in 2006 -- one came against Samford -- and were picked eighth in this year's preseason poll.

Still, conventional thinking suggested that for the Redhawks to have any chance of being a surprise OVC contender -- or to simply have a shot at a respectable season -- they needed to beat the Bulldogs.

It didn't happen, and now Southeast will need to pull off an upset in one of its next two games to avoid starting out conference play 0-3.

Preseason favorite Eastern Illinois visits Houck Stadium this Saturday as the Panthers shoot for at least a share of their third straight OVC title.

How decided an underdog will Southeast be?

Well, consider that the Panthers just got through destroying Indiana State 54-20 on the road. That's the same Sycamores squad which Southeast beat by three points at Houck.

Then, after an open date, the Redhawks will also be solid underdogs when they visit tradition-rich Eastern Kentucky on Oct. 13.

It's obvious Southeast had better improve a lot in a hurry.

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It's a shame that Southeast quarterback Houston Lillard suffered a rib injury early against Samford and missed the rest of the contest.

Coming off by far the Redhawks' best passing performance of the season the previous week, Lillard again looked sharp early Saturday. I would have liked to see if he could have kept it up.

With Lillard out, Victor Anderson went virtually the entire way -- except for the few plays he missed with cramps -- and continued to struggle with his passing, completing 6-of-18.

Anderson is a tremendous athlete, which makes him a dangerous runner from the quarterback position.

But until he proves to be a consistent passing threat, teams will continue to key on his running, making it harder and harder for that to be as effective a weapon as it could be.

It really doesn't pay off having an ultra athletic signal caller -- which Anderson is -- unless he is also at least an adequate passer, which right now Anderson isn't.

It remains to be seen if Anderson can develop into one, but he's a high-character guy and a really hard worker so I know he'll do everything in his power to improve that part of his game.

As it stands right now, junior tailback Timmy Holloman is Southeast's only real offensive threat.

Holloman is running extremely well, but it's hard for one person to carry an entire offense.

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One more thought about Saturday's game:

You never know what might have happened, but I say Southeast wins if the Redhawks are able to pin Samford relatively deep on the kickoff after they grabbed a 21-7 lead early in the third quarter.

The Redhawks had all kinds of momentum and looked ready to take total control of the game.

But Samford freshman Alex Barnett's 95-yard return for a touchdown totally turned things around.

It not only pulled the Bulldogs within 21-14, but it gave them plenty of momentum and they dominated the rest of the way.

That just goes to show you what most coaches always preach -- special teams being just as important as offense and defense.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian