SEMO-Charleston Southern keys: East coast trip presents new challenge for Redhawks

There was plenty to like about eighth-ranked Southeast Missouri State football's performance last weekend, as head coach Tom Matukewicz’s squad hammered Tennessee Tech 34-3 in another conference game that found the Redhawks as heavy favorites.

Quarterback Paxton DeLaurent became the program’s all-time leading passer, the defense held an opponent under 300 total yards of offense for the third time this season and the Redhawks won their fifth in a row.

Matukewicz was quick to highlight his team’s resilience during practice this week.

“I just liked how we overcome adversity,” he said. “It was a little funky there early, but you can never tell on the sidelines, and as a coach you appreciate some adversity. You don't want to lose a game over it.”

Flaws, injuries and all, the Redhawks (6-1, 3-0 OVC) have been dominant, but Matukewicz will be quick to mention they still have plenty of room for improvement. And that’s pretty scary for the rest of the conference and the rest of the country.

Next up lies a trip to Charleston, South Carolina, for another conference matchup against the struggling Charleston Southern Buccaneers (1-5).

Here are four storylines heading into Saturday’s road test:

Winning in different fashions

One of the most impressive things about SEMO is the team's ability to win games in a variety of ways so far this season.

The Redhawks can win by hanging 50 points. They can win with dominant defense. Their special teams can change the game as DC Pippin made four field goals in a shaky 19-0 win over Northwestern State three weeks ago. Whatever style a team wants to play, SEMO has proven to match it punch for punch.

“Each week's going to be different,” Matukewicz said. “Maybe different players are standing out or there’s different units that stand out. But at the end of the day, if you can play well in all three phases, you're a hard team to beat.”

DeLaurent’s record-breaking campaign

Death, taxes, and DeLaurent lighting up the stat sheet each week.

The senior’s historic Saturday mirrors the type of year he is piecing together in the red and black. DeLaurent is currently leading the FCS in passing touchdowns (20) and is ranked third in passing yards (2,087) and fifth in passing yards per game (298.1).

However, both DeLaurent and his head coach will be the first to point out that it’s also the supporting cast that has made the quarterback’s campaign so special.

“He’s not throwing the ball to himself, right?” Matukewicz said. “He's not blocking for himself. And it says a lot about this team to be able to put those kinds of stats up because that is true stat. I'm sure it'll mean even more 10 years from now, the history that was written in 2024.”

DeLaurent and coordinator Jeromy McDowell’s air raid offense will be challenged against Charleston Southern this weekend, as the Buccaneers rank first in the OVC in pass defense (169.3 passing yards per game allowed).

Line of scrimmage still critical for SEMO

With the loss of elite center Zack Gieg, who suffered a season-ending injury two weeks ago, one of the big talking points of this team has revolved around the offensive line.

But despite the injuries and new faces, this unit has yet to skip a beat. DeLaurent has only been sacked 10 times and pressured on just 14.1% of his dropbacks. For reference, SEMO allowed 34 total sacks last season for an average of 3.0 per game (1.4 sacks per game allowed in 2024).

What’s even more striking is that the Redhawks are now doing this with just one returning starter (Kobe Sixkiller), two true freshmen guards, a transfer left tackle (Tyler McMillan) and right tackle Rashad Turner, who had just five career starts entering the year.

“It's one of those sayings where you are surprised that they're in there, but then you know, at the end of the day, you're just trying to develop them,” Matukewicz said. “They've been steadily taking coaching and improving their fundamentals and all those things and playing at a pretty high level.”

Seeing this SEMO offensive line’s physicality also helps elevate the running game, which has dwarfed its output over the past two games behind just 2.1 yards per carry in that span.

SEMO’s front seven vs. Autavius Ison

Defensive coordinator Ricky Coon’s base 3-4-4 defense, relying on four linebackers to hold down the rushing attack and locking down the passing game with four defensive backs, has proven to be very effective this fall.

During this past weekend against Tennessee Tech, which entered the game as the top rushing offense in the OVC, the Redhawks used four linebackers and presented more of that 3-4 look, respecting the Golden Eagles’ backfield. As a result, SEMO held Tennessee Tech to just 61 rushing yards and 1.3 yards per carry.

That type of production is anchored by one of the top linebacker corps in the FCS behind Bryce Norman, who is on pace to lead the team in tackles for the fourth year in a row, transfer Jared Pedraza, breakout star Mali Walton and junior Jeremy Walton.

That quartet of run stoppers, as well as all 11 men on defense, will face another challenge this week. Charleston Southern boasts one of the top rushers in the conference in speedy sophomore Autavius Ison, who is currently 11th nationally with 104.7 rushing yards per game. SEMO, by comparison, ranks 18th, yielding 110.1 rushing yards per game.

“We started the season pretty even front heavy,” Coon said. “When we're playing a team that we think is going to kind of try to run the football, we like our 3-4 package. That allows Bryce and those guys to make plays and allows our big boys to control the line of scrimmage.”

SEMO will take on Charleston Southern at 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19. It’s the Redhawks’ first meeting against the Buccaneers in program history.