Southeast Missouri State football team braces for season opener vs. Mizzou

Minnesota football coach Jerry Kill had some advice for Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz, who spent the majority of his career as an assistant on Kill's staff at various schools.

Kill was able to give the second-year Redhawks coach a first-hand report on the two-time defending Southeastern Conference East Division champion Missouri Tigers, whose most recent game was a 33-17 defeat of the Gophers in the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl on New Years Day to conclude the season at 11-3.

Matukewicz isn't sure how much the information he got from Kill and his staff will help when the Redhawks take on the No. 23/24 ranked Tigers in both team's season opener Saturday.

"He told me I better duck," Matukewicz said.

Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. from Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri.

Southeast is set to make $385,000 for playing the Football Bowl Subdivision foe.

"I think it always gives you an opportunity financially to help in-state schools," Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said during a press conference earlier this week. "I think there's a plus to that, no question."

In addition to the size and strength of the Tigers, Matukewicz said the Redhawks fewer number of scholarship players will be a challenge.

Missouri quarterback Maty Mauk throws a pass against Minnesota during the second half of the Citrus Bowl NCAA college football game in Orlando, Fla., Thursday, Jan. 1, 2015. Missouri won 33-17. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

"It's going to be pretty hot, so just having 85 scholarships alone allows you to have a little bit more depth," Matukewicz said about Missouri. "We can't play as many people as they can, so hopefully we hold up and don't wear down in the fourth quarter."

FCS schools are limited to 63 scholarships.

The Redhawks defense is tasked with slowing down Tigers quarterback Maty Mauk and running back Russell Hansbrough, who was Mizzou's top rusher.

"He's really dangerous when he starts scrambling," Matukewicz said of Mauk. "He makes a lot of big plays off that. They coach their offense to adjust routes and all those things. He also makes some mistakes when he scrambles, so I think that's the biggest concern I have. They have one of the best running backs in the country so he's going to get his yards. We've just got to make sure that there's no long runs."

Matukewicz noted that the Tiger defense's ability to force turnovers is "unbelievable." Mizzou forced 32 fumbles and recovered 13 of them, and also had 12 interceptions. He doesn't expect much different now that Barry Odom has taken over as defensive coordinator.

"They've recruited and coached that mentality with the ball so I think that's going to stay the same," Matukewicz said. "Whatever little wrinkles he brings then we've got to be able to adjust on the sideline."

Matukewicz, whose team went 5-7 and 3-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference last year during his first season, has focused his team on ball security throughout the entire offseason, and limiting turnovers is a key focus for Saturday's game.

"The things that have nothing to do with Mizzou I want to make sure that we can control, and when we walk out of the game we have a much better understanding of who we are as a team," Matukewicz said.

Some of the questions he's waiting to see answered in the season opener are how his team's cornerbacks and left tackles -- positions that return little to no game experience -- hold up, and how junior college transfer and starting quarterback Tay Bender handles the environment in Columbia.

"There's a lot (of questions)," Matukewicz said. "I think that first game you don't really know until the lights come on."

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By the numbers

44 -- The Tigers defense led the Southeastern Conference with 44 sacks last year, but are without their top three sacks leaders. Shane Ray (15) Markus Golden (10) were both drafted and Harold Brantley (5) is out for the season with injuries sustained in a car accident over the summer. Southeast allowed the fewest sacks of any Ohio Valley Conference team, giving up eight on the season.

18 -- Last year Southeast kicker Ryan McCrum and Mizzou kicker Andrew Baggett each made 18 field goals. McCrum made 18 of 23 attempts, including four 50 yards or longer and a career-long 55-yard FG. Baggett made 18 of 25 with his longest at 52 yards. Baggett made 43 of 45 PATs while McCrum made 40 of 41 extra point attempts, missing only his final attempt of the season.

3 -- Mizzou only lost three fumbles the entire 2014 season. The Redhawks lost more fumbles than that in one game, losing four in a lopsided loss to Southern Illinois. The Tigers fumbled 10 times last year while Southeast lost 11 of 19 fumbles.

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Stat leaders (returners)

Missouri

Passing: Maty Mauk 2,648 yards

Receiving: Sean Culkin 174 yards, Russell Hansbrough 58 yards, Nate Brown 45 yards

Rushing: Russell Hansbrough 1,084 yards, Maty Mauk 373 yards, Ish Witter 101 yards

Tackles: Kentrell Brothers 122, Michael Scherer 114, Kenya Dennis 61

Southeast

Passing: Alex Niznak 32 yards

Receiving: Paul McRoberts 711 yards, Peter Lloyd 633 yards, Adrian Davis 307 yards

Rushing: DeMichael Jackson 734 yards, Brendan Stewart 154 yards, Lewis Washington 64 yards

Tackles: Roper Garrett 96, Eriq Moore 65, Marlon Hampton 47

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Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel in the second half of an NCAA college football game against Tennessee Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014 in Knoxville, Tenn. Missouri won 29-21. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

Opposing coach's view: "Defensively, they play a lot of 30 defense, get after it and bring a lot of different people, present a lot of problems. As always, we're going to play good people, and this is the first one. It's still boringly redundant, I focus on us. We focus on how we play."

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Scouting the opponent

There were a few more unknowns about the Missouri football team heading into this season than there were during the Tigers' two previous SEC East championship seasons, but most of those questions were answered in the preseason, according to Kansas City Star reporter Tod Palmer.

Redshirt junior Maty Mauk, who threw for 2,648 yards and 25 touchdowns and ran for 373 yards and two touchdowns, secured his spot as the starting quarterback again with true freshman Drew Lock starting the season as his backup.

"Mauk still needs to be more accurate, but he was money in the fourth quarter last season and Missouri was one of three Power Five conference teams without a red-zone turnover in 2014," Palmer said in an email. "He manages the game effectively and wins more often than not, as evidenced by his 14-4 record as a starter. He worked on his footwork and brushed up on reading defenses during the offseason, so MU hopes he can go from a completion percentage of 53.4 percent last season to something closer to 63 percent."

Hansbrough returns after rushing for 1,084 yards and 10 touchdowns last season, but Palmer said there's little "proven depth" backing him up.

The receiving corps was a top priority during the preseason because eight of the 11 scholarship receivers are freshmen or redshirt freshmen.

Five of those made the depth chart for Saturday's game. Sophomores J'Mon Moore and Nate Brown are atop the depth chart along with redshirt freshman Keyon Dilosa.

The Tigers lost all five of the players that started on the defensive line a year ago, including first-round NFL draft pick and SEC Defensive Player of the Year Shane Ray and second-round draft pick Markus Golden, along with defensive coordinator Dave Steckel, who is now the head coach at Missouri State. Harold Brantley, the top returner, will be out for the year because of injuries from a car accident over the summer.

Former Tiger football player Barry Odom, who spent the past three years at Memphis, was hired as Steckel's replacement.

"Many of the principles he used to build a top-notch defense at Memphis are hand-me-downs from Stec," Palmer said. "There won't be as dramatic of a transition as many expect. Missouri will play more 3-4 under Odom and will eschew zone coverage for press man in the secondary more often. The team also is using right/left safeties instead of free/strong, a tweak that takes pressure off the defense to line up against fast-paced offenses."

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Series history

Missouri leads series 2-0

Last meeting

Missouri won 52-3 on Sept. 6, 2008 in Columbia, Mo.

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OVC schedule

Saturday

UT Martin at #15 Ole Miss, 11 a.m.

Mercer at Austin Peay, 4 p.m.

#7 Jacksonville State at #8 Chattanooga, 5 p.m.

The Gamecocks and Moccasins meet as nationally-ranked opponents for the second year in a row.

Defending Ohio Valley Conference champion JSU and defending Southern Conference champion Chattanooga have had three of their last four meetings decided by four points or less.

JSU defeated the Mocs 26-23 in overtime a year ago. Chattanooga advanced to the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs.

Tennessee Tech at Houston, 7 p.m.

Sunday

Alabama State at Tennessee State, 6 p.m.