Southeast bowled over

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio. -- If you're a Southeast Missouri State University football fan in search of moral victories, then the Indians did two things against Bowling Green Saturday night that not even mighty Oklahoma could accomplish.

After Falcons' quarterback Omar Jacobs was not sacked or intercepted during a 16-point loss to the second-ranked Sooners last week, Southeast had one of each.

The other aspects of the game, however, went pretty much as expected. Southeast's athletic department picked up its $125,000 paycheck and the Division I-A Falcons rolled past the Division I-AA Indians 49-10.

A crowd of 23,088 at Doyt L. Perry Stadium saw the Falcons improve to 1-1 while dropping the Indians to 0-2. Southeast has been outscored 91-13 in its first two games, including last week's 42-3 loss at Division I-AA top-ranked Southern Illinois.

"It's disappointing to be 0-2, but we've played two really good football teams so far," Southeast coach Tim Billings said. "Bowling Green has got a great offense and a great system."

Actually, despite never seriously threatening the stout Falcons, Billings thought there were quite a few bright spots for the Indians -- a lot more than against SIU, to be sure.

Southeast's defense, although it allowed 501 yards, was saddled with poor field position most of the night. Three times in the first half the Falcons were forced to settle for field goals, or their 25-3 halftime lead could have been much bigger.

In addition, the Falcons got a first-half safety, and in the second half they scored on a long punt return and tacked on 10 more points on short drives after recovering Southeast fumbles.

"The defense played pretty hard," said senior linebacker O.J. Turner, who was held out of the second half with a leg injury that did not appear to be serious. "We were definitely more physical this game. Even though the score doesn't show it, it was definitely an improvement."

Said Billings: "Defensively, we played really hard all night long. We put ourselves in some bad positions with turnovers and penalties, but we really hung in there."

Offensively, the Indians were able to score their first touchdown of the season, on David Taufoou's 1-yard run in the third quarter that capped an 80-yard drive.

The Indians had one other impressive drive, a 77-yarder that led to Derek Kutz's 22-yard field goal late in the first half.

East Tennessee State transfer wide receiver Brian Matthews caught six passes for 115 yards.

Quarterback Andrew Goodenough completed 25 of 33 passes for 269 yards, with tight end Ray Goodson adding seven receptions. Southeast had 359 total yards.

"It feels good we moved the ball, but it still hurts to lose, no matter who we play," Matthews said.

Added Billings: "I thought Andrew played a lot better this week, and we did some good things offensively."

Still, it was not nearly enough to hang with a Bowling Green squad that went 11-3 last season, wound up ranked 23rd nationally and returned 19 starters.

Jacobs, a strong-armed and mobile sophomore who is one of the Falcons' few first-year starters, riddled Southeast's depleted secondary for 285 yards and four touchdowns. Jacobs completed 24 of 37 passes before taking a seat on the bench early in the fourth quarter with his team ahead 46-10..

"Omar is going to be pretty good, I think," Bowling Green coach Gregg Brandon said. "He's a poised kid."

Bowling Green grabbed a 20-0 lead early in the second quarter, and Southeast fought a futile, uphill battle the rest of the night.

Even when something did go right for the Indians, in the final minutes of the opening half, the result was bad.

After Fred Amano and Justin Komondoreas combined to sack Jacobs for the first time this year, Mike Miller picked off Jacobs near the goal line on the next play for the quarterback's initial interception of the season.

But on the very next play, Taufoou was tackled in the end zone for a safety and a 22-3 lead. A field goal in the closing seconds of the half made it 25-3.

The Falcons scored 14 points over the first 8:04 of the third quarter -- on a long punt return and a short touchdown drive after recovering a fumble -- to go ahead 39-3 and officially end what little suspense might have been left.

Still, despite a second straight 39-point loss, Billings was much more upbeat than he had been after the SIU game.

"There are a lot of things I'm encouraged about, but there are a lot of things we have to work on to be a better football team," he said. "But we played hard and we got better. We've got a long way to go, but we're a lot closer than we were last week."

According to unofficial statistics, safety Anthony Lumpkin led the Indians in tackles with 13.