Redhawks wanted more out of Cincinnati game

Southeast Missouri State football coach Tony Samuel was realistic about the monumental challenge his team faced at Cincinnati.

But Samuel said Monday during his weekly news conference that he was looking for a better showing than Saturday's 70-3 destruction.

"We were hoping we could hold up better," Samuel said. "We would have liked to have done better from a momentum standpoint. Getting beat that bad made that bus trip awful long coming back."

Samuel said Southeast's season-opening game the previous week -- a 72-3 mauling of NAIA Quincy -- might have worked against the Redhawks.

"I think maybe the players might have put themselves on too much of a pedestal," Samuel said. "We got knocked off.

"Our kids really wanted to go play well. They were upset about it, which is good. If you're really competitive, you should be embarrassed about it."

Of course, there is a reason defending Big East Conference champion Cincinnati is now ranked 17th nationally.

"They handled a Rutgers team that I think is going to be a good football team. They handled us from the outset," Samuel said. "They're a very, very good football team."

The way Samuel looks at things, Southeast played a two-game preseason schedule and came out of it 1-1.

Now the most important part of the schedule begins as the Redhawks open Ohio Valley Conference play Saturday at home against Eastern Illinois.

The 6 p.m. kickoff starts a run of eight straight OVC games for Southeast.

Samuel said all the hard work his players put in during the offseason and fall camp was primarily to prepare them for OVC competition.

"It's all about getting ready for the conference," Samuel said. "This is big for us. I expect the intensity level to go up, which is important.

"Every game is big in conference. It would be nice to get that thing started right. You want to be 1-0 instead of 0-1, no question about it."

Eastern Illinois had a string of three straight playoff appearances broken last year when the Panthers went 5-7 and finished sixth in the nine-team OVC, just ahead of Southeast.

But the tradition-rich Panthers appear to be on their way back as they began the season with routs of Illinois State and Indiana State.

The Panthers are tied for first nationally in scoring defense, allowing an average of just three points per game.

Offensively, Eastern Illinois has been led by one-time Iowa starter Jake Christensen at quarterback and Florida transfer Mon Williams at tailback. They are among 10 Division I-A transfers playing for the Panthers.

Williams, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound sophomore, is averaging 100 yards rushing per game.

"They're back to their old selves," Samuel said. "They look good."

Southeast has lost five straight to Eastern Illinois, including 24-21 a year ago in Charleston, Ill. The Redhawks last beat the Panthers 30-17 in 2003 at Houck Stadium.

James injures knee

While Samuel does not discuss injuries, it appears there is a chance senior offensive lineman Matt James from Jackson could miss a significant period of time, if not the rest of the season.

James, who started the first two games at right tackle, suffered what a source described as a significant knee injury against Cincinnati.

True freshman Evan Conrad was listed as the No. 1 right tackle Monday on Southeast's depth chart.