SEMO launches season against Ohio

Ohio University coach Brian Knorr insists there is no way his players will look at Division I-AA Southeast Missouri State University as an automatic victory -- not after what happened last year.

The Division I-A Bobcats played host to I-AA Northeastern in their 2002 home opener -- and suffered a 31-0 loss that Knorr termed "embarrassing."

So Knorr expects the Bobcats to be fully aware of the dangers that might await them when they take on the Indians in today's 6 p.m. season opener at Peden Stadium in Athens, Ohio.

"With last year, playing a very good Northeastern team and getting embarrassed on our home turf, it's something that is pretty familiar with our athletes," Knorr said. "We've been talking about Southeast Missouri ever since last spring.

"Our guys are focused on this game. I don't think last year is too distant a memory. Certainly our guys will learn from their mistakes. This is a very good team and we'll be ready for them."

Southeast and Ohio are coming off different types of 2002 seasons, but both have high hopes for this year.

The Indians went 8-4 for their first winning record since 1994 and most victories since 1969. They enter the season with 19 returning starters, are ranked 20th nationally and are favored to win their first-ever Ohio Valley Conference title.

"I feel like we're going to have a really good football team," Southeast coach Tim Billings said. "We're anxious to see where we are and how much we've improved over last year."

The Bobcats were 4-8 a year ago, including four straight losses to begin the season, punctuated by that surprisingly lopsided setback to I-AA Northeastern. But Ohio finished strong by winning four of its final eight games and barely lost to perennial Mid-American Conference power Marshall. The Bobcats went 4-4 in the MAC.

Even though Ohio's offense returns just three starters, a solid defensive unit welcomes back eight regulars. The Bobcats are projected to finish toward the bottom of the MAC East Division, but Knorr is hopeful.

"We learned a lot last year, especially the first half of last year," Knorr said. "We had some difficult losses early, but the last half of the year I thought we played real well. We need to pick up on that momentum."

When Billings assesses the Bobcats, he sees a strong defense and an inexperienced offense that uses a variety of formations keyed by a spread option attack that is often difficult to prepare for.

"We really don't know what they're going to do offensively. They use every formation imaginable, so we'll have to adjust as we go along," Billings said. "Defensively, they're really good and fast. They put pressure on your and force you to make mistakes."

Ohio's defensive leader is linebacker Dennis Chukwuemeka, who registered 116 tackles last year -- including 14 for loss and four sacks -- and was recently among 90 players placed on the preseason watch list for the 2003 Butkus Award, given annually to the nation's best linebacker.

"Dennis it the heart and soul of our defense," Ohio defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter said. "As he goes, so goes our defense."

Offensively, Ohio is inexperienced at most positions but appears strong at quarterback as Knorr said both returning regular Fred Ray and Miami transfer Ryan Hawk will see action. Ray passed for 712 yards and five touchdowns last year while rushing for 355 yards and nine touchdowns.

"We have two athletic quarterbacks," Knorr said. "We will play both quarterbacks in the first quarter and we plan on playing them throughout the game."

Like Knorr, Billings plans on using more than one quarterback -- he said returning regular Jack Tomco, Jeromy McDowell and Andrew Goodenough will all see action. Tomco is the likely starter, although Billings hasn't said for certain.

"We're going to give them all a chance," Billings said.

As for the Indians having a chance at pulling off an upset, Billings knows it will be difficult but he's also not ruling it out. Southeast went 1-1 against I-A teams last year, stunning Middle Tennessee for the program's first win over a I-A squad and barely losing to MAC member Eastern Michigan.

"I don't think there's any question what we did last year will give us confidence, but I really think Ohio is a cut above what we played last year," Billings said. "They're a good, quality football team and they'll be hard to beat, but we're going there to win the game and we'll see what happens."

Noteworthy

Ohio went 1-10 in 2001, which was Knorr's first season as the Bobcats' head coach after he served the previous six years as an Ohio assistant.

The Bobcats have had just two winning seasons in the last 20 years, both coming since 1997. Ohio went 8-3 in 1997 and 7-4 in 2000.