Southeast Missouri State football team looks to bounce back against Eastern Kentucky

The Eastern Kentucky football team appears to have gotten its act together.

That doesn't bode well for a Southeast Missouri State squad coming off one of its worst Ohio Valley Conference performances since joining the league in 1991.

The Colonels (2-3, 1-1 OVC) and Redhawks (1-4, 1-2) square off at 2 p.m. Saturday in Richmond, Ky.

"It's going to be a big challenge for us to try and bounce back against a really good team," Southeast senior quarterback Matt Scheible said.

The Redhawks will try to bounce back from last week's 55-3 loss at Tennessee State that tied the program's largest margin of defeat in an OVC game, matching a 52-0 blowout at Middle Tennessee in 1991.

Standing in Southeast's way are the Colonels, coming off a 48-16 rout at Eastern Illinois for their first OVC win.

EKU had been struggling offensively, but the Colonels took apart the Panthers, outgaining them in total yardage 507 to 281.

"They weren't doing all that much [offensively], but they really got after Eastern Illinois," Southeast coach Tony Samuel said. "They ran the ball extremely well."

The Colonels rushed for 374 yards, their highest output since 2007. They entered the day averaging just 114 yards rushing.

"Coming into the game, coach told us he was going to put it on our back and run it a lot," EKU offensive lineman Patrick Ford told the Richmond Register. "The O-line took that as a challenge to step up, and for the most part, I think we did that. We've got good running backs and feel if we get them a hole, they can turn it into a big play."

Benefiting the most from that strategy was junior tailback Matt Denham, who entered the game with 94 yards rushing this season. He bettered that in the first quarter with 134 yards and finished with 216 yards on 22 carries.

It marked the first time an EKU player rushed for at least 200 yards since 2008.

EKU also has a dangerous dual-threat quarterback in junior T.J. Pryor.

Pryor, a former OVC freshman of the year, has completed 55 of 94 passes (58.5 percent) for 674 yards, six touchdowns and four interceptions. He also has rushed for 125 yards.

"He's a good one, one of those guys who can throw the ball and run the ball," Samuel said. "He's got a lot more experience now."

EKU's top receiver is junior Tyrone Goard, who has averaged 16.3 yards on 20 catches and scored three touchdowns.

The Colonels have played stout defense all season. That unit sparked a near-upset at nationally ranked Kansas State in the season opener when the Wildcats needed a late touchdown to win 10-7.

EKU leads the OVC in scoring defense and is second in total defense, allowing averages of 19.2 points and 341.2 yards.

"They always have a history of great defense," Samuel said.

After the futile performance at Tennessee State, Southeast ranks last in the OVC in scoring offense (16.2 points per game), scoring defense (44 points per game) and total defense (489.2 yards per game). The Redhawks are next-to-last in total offense (321.6 yards per game).

But EKU coach Dean Hood has seen enough of the Redhawks, especially during a 40-21 Southeast win in Cape Girardeau last year, to not pay much attention to the statistics.

"I think they're still the same," Hood said. "They're going to be difficult to stop. They get after you on defense. Overall they're just a really good football team."

Samuel knows the type of challenge awaiting the Redhawks, who will be playing their fourth road game in their first six contests. He hopes they're up to it.

"They're a good football team," Samuel said about the Colonels. "I believe we are too, no matter what happened [at Tennessee State]. We're going to see what we're made of."

Southeast trails the all-time series with EKU 18-3. Last year's victory broke a six-game losing streak against the Colonels.