Rock bottom

Another change in quarterbacks did little to slow Southeast Missouri State's downward spiral.

The Redhawks trotted out their third starting quarterback in three games Saturday night, as true freshman Markus Mosley made his first collegiate start.

Mosley had his share of problems -- but he was far from alone, as Eastern Illinois rolled to a 48-24 victory at Houck Stadium.

Southeast, which fell to 0-6 overall and 0-3 in Ohio Valley Conference play, is off to the program's worst start since the 1999 team began the season with seven straight losses, although that squad regrouped to win three of its final four games.

"I don't know what to say. It was just horrible," Southeast coach Tim Billings said.

And the final score doesn't even do justice to how lopsided the game actually was.

Southeast trailed 48-10 early in the fourth quarter, at which time EIU (3-2, 2-0) cleared its bench.

Through three periods, the Panthers had a lopsided 377 to 100 advantage in total yardage, and they finished with a time of possession edge of 38:43 to 21:17. Southeast committed six turnovers, four leading to touchdowns.

Only a pair of long touchdown drives in the final 11 minutes led by senior quarterback Mike Haley -- now Southeast's backup, at least for this game -- allowed the Redhawks to make the final statistics fairly respectable and prevented them from getting beat by a much wider margin.

"It was embarrassing to me as a coach," Billings said. "I apologize for the way we played. I thought we were ready to play, but we weren't.

"It's the worst we've played since I've been here."

Southeast's defense was not stellar, but it did turn in several stands that prevented points after deep EIU drives. Otherwise, the Panthers might very well have had three or four more touchdowns.

But even when the Redhawks' defenders did come up with something solid, the offense could get nothing going in the first three quarters.

Except for a fumbled punt by the Panthers that Southeast recovered at the 2-yard line and punched in early in the third quarter to pull within 28-10, the Redhawks reached EIU territory just twice in the opening three periods, and one of those only got to the 45.

Senior cornerback Kellin White, when asked how disappointing it is to see the offense struggling so much, which in turn places added pressure on the defense, was not about to point fingers.

"It's frustrating, but last year it was the opposite. The defense was doing bad and the offense was doing good," White said. "We just have to do our best and keep fighting.

"They (EIU) are a tough team and we made a lot of mistakes."

Mosley completed eight of 17 passes for 50 yards, with one interception. He also lost a fumble. He insisted nerves were not a problem.

"I wasn't nervous," Mosley said. "I should have done a lot better. I just had some mental breakdowns."

Haley entered the game early in the fourth quarter with Southeast behind 48-10. He led touchdown drives of 80 and 85 yards, which culminated with TD passes of 10 and 8 yards to T.J. Milcic. Haley almost got the Redhawks another score in the final two minutes, but he was intercepted in the end zone.

Haley completed 14 of 24 passes for 177 yards as he helped the Redhawks post their highest scoring total of the season.

"We started executing," said Haley, who added that he would love to have another crack at the starting position. "I hope to get another chance, but it's up to coach Billings and the staff to decide."

Eastern Illinois scored on its first offensive possession and never looked back, led by tailback Vincent Webb, who rushed for 148 yards on 30 carries and had three touchdowns.

Webb said getting off to a strong start against a winless team was imperative.

"That was our game plan during the week," Webb said. "We didn't want to take them for granted. We wanted to come out strong."

Trailing 14-0, Southeast got a 31-yard Colin Schermann field goal early in the second quarter. Schermann is eight for nine this year.

Two consecutive Elton Peterson fumbles allowed the Panthers to put together short touchdown drives in a span of less than three minutes as they led 28-3 at halftime.

Early in the third quarter the Redhawks received the kind of spark that could have conceivably got them back in the game as D'Eldrick Taylor recovered a fumbled EIU punt at the Panthers 2-yard line.

True freshman tailback Tim Holloman's first collegiate touchdown, a 1-yard run, pulled the Redhawks within 28-10.

But the Panthers answered with three touchdowns in a span of less than five minutes late in the third quarter and early in the final period -- two scores needed short drives after Antonio Scaife fumble on a kickoff and Mosley fumbled -- to go ahead 48-10.

Milcic caught six passes for 88 yards. Thanks to the late surge, Southeast finished with 292 yards, just 65 rushing. EIU had 389 yards after basically using dive plays up the middle to run the clock in the fourth quarter.

According to unofficial pressbox statistics, Taylor led Southeast in tackles with 11, followed by Mike Miller with 10 and Adam Casper with eight. Kyle Hunt had two tackles for loss.

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EASTERN ILLINOIS 48, SOUTHEAST 24

EIU 7 21 7 13 -- 48

Southeast 0 3 7 14 -- 24

First Quarter

E -- Vincent Webb 3-yard run (Zach Yates kick)

Second Quarter

E -- Webb 2-yard run (Yates kick)

S -- Colin Schermann 31-yard field goal

E -- Webb 5-yard run (Yates kick)

E -- Chip Keys 5-yard run (Yates kick)

Third Quarter

S -- Tim Holloman 1-yard run (Schermann kick)

E -- Dave Campione 1-yard run (Yates kick)

Fourth Quarter

E -- Ryan Voss 8-yard pass from Donato (kick failed)

E -- Norris Smith 3-yard run (Yates kick)

S -- T.J. Milcic 10-yard pass from Mike Haley (Schermann kick)

S -- Milcic 8-yard pass from Haley (Schermann kick)

EIU Southeast

First downs 23 19

Rushes-yards 65-181 24-65

Passing yards 208 227

Passes 11-15-0 22-42-2

Punts 2-30.5 4-43.8

Fumbles-Lost 3-2 5-4

Penalties-Yards 8-103 10-84

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- EIU, Vincent Webb 30-148, Travarus Bess 10-26, Norris Smith 9-17, Adam Kesler 1-12, Chip Keys 4-11, Dave Campione 4-2, Mike Donato 4-(-15); Southeast, Elton Peterson 5-20, Tim Holloman 9-20, Markus Mosley 7-20, Mike Haley 1-7, David Simonhoff 1-4, Jamel Oliver 1-(-6)

PASSING -- EIU, Donato 11-15-0-208; Southeast, Haley 14-24-1-177, Mosley 8-17-1-50

RECEIVING -- EIU, Ryan Voss 5-103, Kesler 2-6, Jermaine Mobley 1-49, Justin Duhai 1-23, Webb 1-14, Smith 1-13; Southeast, T.J. Milcic 6-88, Holloman 4-16, Brian Matthews 3-33, Joseph Tuineau 2-29, Antonio Scaife 2-18, Oliver 2-12, Peterson 1-12, Brandon Simpson 1-11, Samora Goodson 1-8