Southeast Missouri State football team not taking winless Austin Peay lightly

Austin Peay football coach Kirby Cannon was listening in to the Ohio Valley Conference's media teleconference Tuesday as Southeast Missouri State coach Tom Matukewicz spoke about this week's matchup between the Governors and Redhawks.

When it was his turn to talk, Cannon addressed Matukewicz's perception that he's been trying to shorten games so that his team has a shot in the fourth quarter to pick up their first win of the season.

"He knows exactly what we're doing," Cannon said on the teleconference. "We're trying to turn it into one big mistake. It ends up being a win for us [if the other team makes a mistake]. If it's a mistake by us, then the game is just hard-fought."

Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. from Governors Stadium in Clarksville, Tennessee. The Redhawks (3-5, 2-2 OVC) are still searching for their first road win of the season as well as back-to-back wins.

"They can run the ball very effectively, and so it feels like their plan is to run the ball, play good defense and try to shorten the game," Matukewicz said following his team's practice Tuesday. "Get it down to being a game, if you're one or two possessions, now all of a sudden, that team makes a mistake or you make a play and you win the game. Very similar to what Shorter did to us, and so that seems like that's going to be their plan."

Southeast Missouri State quarterback Dante Vandeven eludes Tennessee Tech's Bill Dillard on an 8-yard touchdown run during the fourth quarter Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015 at Houck Stadium. (Fred Lynch)

Division II Shorter University controlled the time of possession in its 26-21 win over Southeast on Sept. 26. It was Southeast's first loss to a non-Division I opponent since the Redhawks moved to the Football Championship Subdivision.

"The message to the team is if you mess around, you're going to be in a dogfight, and it could go either way. So you've got to come out on fire and relentless," Matukewicz said. "And offensively, [we're] wanting to get some explosive plays -- 50, 60-yard pass type of stuff. I think special teams we can generate some plays, too. We just need to come out on fire and try to get an early lead."

The Redhawks are coming off a 38-17 defeat of Tennessee Tech in which they scored 17 points on special teams -- a blocked punt returned 7 yards for a touchdown, a 50-yard field goal and a punt returned 69 yards for a touchdown -- in 5 minutes, 18 seconds, during the third quarter.

Matukewicz expressed some disappointment that his team didn't show much improvement offensively against the Golden Eagles.

The Redhawks had 360 yards of offense. Running back Tremane McCullough rushed for 138 yards, including an 81-yard touchdown run, on 17 carries en route to being the conference's newcomer of the week for the second time this season.

Quarterback Dante Vandeven had a career-high 91 yards rushing and the Redhawks' other two touchdown runs. He finished with 125 yards passing on 11 of 21 attempts and was sacked twice.

"Austin Peay's defense held Jacksonville State to 27 points -- Auburn didn't do that -- and so defensively they've been able to do some things," Matukewicz said, referencing Jacksonville State, the FCS's No. 1 team and one of two teams that are undefeated in the OVC, "and so it's a great game to show that we can get better because they're going to be ready for us."

The Govs (0-9 overall, 0-6 OVC) have allowed an average of 38.1 points per game and 453 yards of offense -- 205.8 rushing and 247.2 passing -- but the offense hasn't helped the defense out any.

APSU has punted 75 times -- 13 times more than any other OVC team -- and rank second to last in net punt at 31.5 yards. The Govs have gone three-and-out 49 times.

"Their personnel is much improved, and so statistically, you can run the ball on them and throw the ball on them. But you don't realize their offense is going a lot of three-and-outs, so they're getting a lot of snaps," Matukewicz said. "The personnel is improved. They're really physical on the run game. It's hard to run up inside. People have had success running on the edges and making some big plays in the play-action."

Series history

Southeast leads the series 13-6

Last meeting

Southeast defeated Austin Peay 42-7 last season in Cape Girardeau

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By the numbers

6 -- The Govs have recorded the fewest sacks in the OVC with six. They have only allowed 15 sacks on the season, but Southeast enters the game with the second-most sacks in the league with 22. It's the first time since 2007 that the Redhawks have recorded 20 or more in a season and most since the team had 23 in 2006.

8 -- Southeast has the fewest turnovers of any OVC team with seven, but APSU is close behind with just eight turnovers -- one fumble and seven interceptions. The Govs rank fourth in the conference in turnover margin at plus-3; they've forced 11 turnovers. The Redhawks are tops in the OVC with a plus-8 turnover margin; they've recovered six fumbles and intercepted nine passes.

18 -- The most points APSU has scored in in its first nine games is 18 in a 34-18 loss to Murray State. The Govs average 10.4 points per game and have been held to seven or fewer points five times but never shutout. They've scored 13 TDs -- seven rushing and six passing -- and freshman kicker Logan Birchfield has made 3 of 5 field goal attempts, including two in last week's 20-6 loss to Tennessee State. Southeast has scored the second fewest touchdowns of any conference team with 18.

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Stat leaders

Austin Peay

Passing: Trey Taylor 831 yards, Timarious Mitchell 107 yards

Receiving: Jared Beard 374 yards, Wesley Thomas 145 yards, Rashaan Coleman 143 yards

Rushing: Kendall Morris 512 yards, Julian Franklin 167 yards, Taye Davis 133 yards

Tackles: Damien Whitfield 57, Roderick Owens 53, Malik Boynton 52

Southeast

Passing: Dante Vandeven 942 yards, Tay Bender 298 yards, Tyler Manne 9 yards

Receiving: Paul McRoberts 659 yards, Tremane McCullough 121 yards, Peter Lloyd 103 yards

Rushing: Tremane McCullough 728 yards, DeMichael Jackson 265 yards, Dante Vandeven 244 yards

Tackles: Roper Garrett 69, Chad Meredith 54, Eriq Moore 43

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Austin Peay head coach Kirby Cannon watches his players warm up before an NCAA college football game between Austin Peay and Vanderbilt on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2013, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Opposing coach's view

"Offensively it continues to be a mystery as to why we can do some things pretty well and then not the next. We're still trying to find our personality on the offensive side and just try to find any area that we can improve in to get into the end zone three times. If we can do that, we probably would've had some wins by now. We're looking forward to playing Southeast. They're a physical team, well coached. I've gone against Coach Matukewicz at Toledo vs. Central Michigan, Northern Illinois vs. Central Michigan, Emporia State vs. Missouri-Rolla. I'm used to his style and the Jerry Kill family of coaching."

-- Kirby Cannon, Austin Peay coach

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Scouting the opponent

Austin Peay quarterback Trey Taylor passes against Vanderbilt in the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

It's been more than a year since APSU defeated Murray State in its only win of the last three seasons.

The Govs (0-9, 0-6 OVC) have two more chances to keep from going winless in 2015 and their last shot at home will be against the Redhawks.

"While none of the players are happy with being winless, the program understands that rebuilding is difficult and takes time," Leaf-Chronicle reporter Autumn Allison said in an email. "Now with two games left, [APSU coach Kirby] Cannon is going to have to control his young guys from getting too antsy. APSU has been a very emotional team this season and are very sensitive to changes in the team mentality, which could undo the strides made defensively or make the offense even more erratic."

APSU's offensive struggles have been at the forefront of the team's troubles this season. The Govs are last in scoring offense (10.4 points per game), total offense (231.2 yards) and passing offense (104.2 yards), among other categories.

Quarterback Trey Taylor has completed 50 percent of his passes for 831 yards and thrown four interceptions. His top target is receiver Jared Beard, who has 374 yards receiving and four touchdowns on 39 catches.

Running back Kendall Morris leads the team with 512 yards rushing and three TDs on 102 carries. Julian Frankling has rushed for 167 yards on 35 carries with a TD.

"Jared Beard is quick and can turn a short catch into a nice distance with ease. Kendall Morris has stepped out from the shadow of top running back Otis Gerron, who ended his playing career due to concussion related issues earlier this season, to be a dominate rusher in his own right," Allison said. "I believe that both Beard and Morris are future all-conference players but yet again, the youth factor is playing a role in their mistakes. Beard (sophomore) has had a few sloppy catches and drops. Morris (red-shirt freshman) has seen some problems in his routes. When he doesn't have a clear field, Morris has a harder time moving the ball forward and has suffered minor injuries because of it. Outside of those two, Austin Peay has developed an interesting tandem between Morris and fellow running back Julian Franklin, who operates more on size versus Morris' speed."

The defense has been a bright spot for APSU but has become obviously worn down down the stretch in some games when the offense has been unable to stay on the field for extended drives.

"As the season has gone on, there has been more balance with ball possession, which has helped the unit cement its status," Allison said. "As for the players, its been more of a rotating cast, rather than a standout. Linebacker Adam Noble is always in the mix, and defensive back Roderick Owen has an ability to be everywhere at once. Other than that it's been flash performances, albeit well-timed ones."

Noble has recorded 50 tackles while Owens has 53 tackles, three interceptions and six pass breakups.

Defensive back Damien Whitfield leads the team with 57 tackles, and DB Malik Boynton has 52 and four pass breakups.

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OVC Schedule

Saturday

• UT Martin at #18 Eastern Kentucky, noon
• #1 Jacksonville State at Eastern Illinois, 1 p.m.

The two teams that remain undefeated in Ohio Valley Conference action face off on Saturday. Jacksonville State is No. 1 in the Football Championship Subdivision Coaches poll for the first time this season and remained No. 1 in the STATS FCS poll for the seventh consecutive week after a 34-0 defeat of Eastern Kentucky, which was the Colonels' first conference loss and shutout by a conference opponent since 2006. It's the first time in school history the Gamecocks have been ranked No. 1 in both major polls. Eastern Illinois improved to 5-0 in the OVC with a 34-20 win over Murray State on Saturday and received 32 points in the FCS Coaches poll and 176 in the STATS poll.

• Murray State at Tennessee State, 2:30 p.m.