SE SUFFERS TECH-NICAL KO

Tennessee Tech's defense was everything it was cracked up to be.

And Southeast Missouri State University's defense wasn't far behind.

But the bottom line is that Southeast suffered its 11th straight loss Saturday afternoon as Tech posted a 21-7 victory on the Indians' homecoming.

A crowd of 5,875 at muddy Houck Stadium saw the Eagles erase a 7-0 halftime deficit and drop the Indians to 0-6 overall, 0-4 in Ohio Valley Conference play.

Tech improved to 3-1 overall, 2-0 in the OVC.

Southeast is closing in on tying the school record for football futility. The Indians' mark for consecutive losses is 12, set during the 1983 and 1984 seasons. Southeast needs to win at Indiana State next Saturday to avoid matching the dubious record.

"It's a frustrating period for us," said Southeast coach John Mumford of his squad's winless season to date. "Our defense is playing with such pride, but each side of the football has to complement the other."

The Eagles entered the contest ranked first in the OVC -- and among the national Division I-AA leaders -- in rushing defense and total defense, allowing a per-game average of just 65.7 yards on the ground and 205.3 yards in all.

Tech did little to hurt those statistics, limiting Southeast to 71 rushing yards and 178 total yards on the sloppy field. The Indians had only 79 yards after halftime.

Southeast's defense, playing strong for the third straight week, also more than held up its end of the bargain. The Indians allowed 258 total yards, 179 coming on the ground. Tech was able to gain 186 yards in dominating the second half.

The Eagles recorded seven quarterback sacks and harassed Southeast's Bobby Brune into a 12-for-27 performance that included three interceptions and one touchdown.

Tech's top offensive weapon was tailback Jerome Tillman, who pounded out 127 yards on 29 carries. Tillman had only 13 yards in the first half but broke loose over the final two quarters.

"I think one team got after it in the second half," said Mumford, intimating that the Eagles took the fight to the Indians over the final two quarters.

Southeast, however, controlled much of the first half, primarily because the Indians kept putting the Eagles in horrible field position.

The Indians grabbed a 7-0 lead late in the opening quarter when Brune hit Leslie Weaver with a 32-yard touchdown pass and Seth Carriere booted the extra point. The TD capped a 43-yard drive.

Southeast then had several golden opportunities to extend the lead because the Indians kept getting the ball in exceptional field position, several times taking over in Tech territory. But Southeast could not build on its one-touchdown advantage, which did not bode well for the second half.

"We got up 7-0 and then we kept them pinned and had great field position," Mumford said. "We have to take it in and score with the field position we had.

"It's a game of momentum and we had all the momentum in the first half. But we have to capitalize on it. In the back of my mind, when I walked off the field after the first half, I think we should have had 14 or 21 points."

In the second half, the field position changed -- and Tech made the Indians pay for not being able to expand their lead.

The Eagles tied things with 5:11 left in the third quarter as Tillman scored on a 1-yard run to end a 48-yard drive.

Then one of the Indians' many problem spots this season cropped up to give the Eagles the lead for good.

With Carriere punting from deep in his own territory, Jahi Henley broke through to cleanly block the kick. Tory Lane scooped up the football and raced 15 yards untouched to the end zone for a 14-7 Tech advantage with 3:22 left in the third quarter.

"The snap was good but we had a breakdown (in protection)," said Mumford, whose squad also had a blocked punt returned for a touchdown against Murray State earlier in the season. "It's a concern."

Midway through the fourth quarter, Southeast threatened to tie things when Devree Flint ripped off a career-long run of 34 yards to the Tech 33. But the Indians could only gain three more yards before losing possession on downs.

Tech then iced the victory with 2:31 left when quarterback Grant Swallows went over from 1 yard out with 2:31 left in the game.

According to unofficial press box statistics, Tech All-American defensive end Branon Vaughn had three sacks and four tackles for loss.

Linebacker Donovan LaViness led the Indians in tackles with 13 -- including four for loss -- and he had Southeast's only sack. Linebacker Jeremy Atwell added eight tackles.