SEMO DEFENSE AGAIN COMING UP VERY BIG

After losing many of the stars off last year's strong defense, some people thought that unit might be a weak link for the 1998 Southeast Missouri State University football Indians.

So far, however, that certainly has not been the case.

Through three games, defense has definitely been the Indians' strength -- as it has been for the past several seasons.

"I think our defense has played very well so far," said Southeast head coach John Mumford during his weekly media conference Monday morning. "Our defensive (coaching) staff has been together six years now and that makes a big difference."

Southeast limited high-powered Murray State to just 295 yards of total offense and really only allowed two touchdowns during Saturday's hard-fought 26-14 loss to the 10th-ranked Racers, who scored once on an interception return and once after recovering a bad punt snap eight yards from the end zone.

The Indians' defense gave up two touchdowns in a season-opening win over Truman State and only one touchdown in a loss to Indiana State that saw the Sycamores score twice with its defense.

Southeast is third in the Ohio Valley Conference in scoring defense at 21.7 points per game, but take away the four touchdowns that have been virtually handed to the opposition and the Indians would be leading in that category.

The Indians are also third in the OVC in total defense, allowing an average of 309 yards per game.

"To hold Murray to under 300 yards, that was excellent," Mumford said. "We don't really have a so-called marquee player (on defense) this year, like Angel (Rubio, last year's defensive leader who is now in the NFL). But everybody contributes and everybody gets involved."

Linebacker Kevin Meachem, who Mumford said played his best game, led the Indians' defense against Murray with seven tackles and two quarterback sacks.

For the season, lineman Troy Baglio leads the way in total tackles with 29 while safety John Smith (Jackson High) has 24 and Meachem 23.

Lineman Marcus McLellan has 21 tackles and two sacks to tie Meachem for the team lead in that category.

* Mumford said that Kevin Seto will once again start at quarterback Saturday when Tennessee-Martin visits Houck Stadium for Southeast's fourth straight home game to start the season.

Seto, a junior-college transfer, made his first start against Murray as he replaced Jeff Shaw, who had started the previous two games.

Shaw played much of the second half against Murray after Seto suffered a hip pointer and redshirt freshman Bobby Brune (Cape Central) was impressive while playing in the closing minutes.

Mumford had praise for all three quarterbacks as Southeast had by far its most productive overall passing performance of the season, completing 19 of 32 for 225 yards.

Seto was 9-for-18, Shaw 6-for-8 and Brune 4-for-6.

Mumford said that all three will likely play again Saturday, although Shaw will start being moved back into the mix at wide receiver, where he played for much of his Southeast career before being converted to quarterback last season.

"I feel good about all three quarterbacks. I feel like it's a good situation for us," Mumford said. "Seto and Brune allow us to do some different things back there. I thought Seto did a good job and Brune really showed a lot of poise. And Shaw threw the ball very well."

* Tailback Corey Williams leads the OVC in scoring with 30 points on five touchdowns.

Corey Chester leads the OVC and is sixth nationally in kickoff20returns with an average of 35.3 yards per return. He is also third in the OVC in punt returns with 10.2 yards per return.

Wide receiver Dante Bryant ranks fourth in the OVC with five catches per game as he leads the Indians with 15 receptions.

Defensively, Baglio is second in the OVC in tackles with 29 and fourth in tackles for loss with four. Linebacker Jeremy Atwell is tied for first in fumble recoveries with two and Meachem and McLellan and tied for third in sacks with two.

* Tennessee-Martin, Saturday's opponent in a 6 p.m. Family Weekend game, is again struggling. The 0-2 Skyhawks -- who were 1-10 last year -- have been outscored 85-14, but they have played two solid teams in Western Kentucky and Southern Illinois.

* At halftime Saturday, representatives from the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame will make special presentations to former Southeast great Kenneth Dement (1951-54), who was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in August.

Following the game, there will be a concert by the Temptations.