Southeast Missouri State football team ready to face OVC foes after difficult two games

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The bad news for Southeast Missouri State was Saturday's 59-0 loss at Football Bowl Subdivision member Purdue.

The good news for the Redhawks is that they already have faced two of the best teams they'll see all year. Eight of their final nine opponents will be Ohio Valley Conference foes, starting with this Saturday's league opener at Tennessee Tech.

Southeast is 0-2, including the season-opening 38-10 rout at the hand of Football Championship Subdivision power Southern Illinois.

"The past two teams were good teams," redshirt freshman wide receiver/return man Spencer Davis said. "We're putting those two behind us. We're looking forward to the conference."

The defending OVC champion Redhawks say they still are confident about success within the league despite their rough start.

Purdue's Reggie Pegram runs through a Southeast Missouri State tackle during Saturday's game.

"We definitely didn't want to start this way," senior quarterback Matt Scheible said. "But we still have something to keep our heads up about. We can't dwell on anything. We're looking forward to Tennessee Tech."

Lineup changes

Southeast coach Tony Samuel promised some lineup changes following the Sept. 3 loss to SIU. He made good on that Saturday.

Five Redhawks made their first starts of the season, including three who made their first Southeast starts.

Saturday's defensive changes were junior tackle Joe Malolo (in place of sophomore Frankie Davis), senior end Courtney Brame (in place of junior Justin Love) and sophomore safety Ben Kargbo (in place of All-American junior Tylor Brock).

Offensively, redshirt freshman tailback Lennies McFerren started in place of junior Levi Terrell, while senior end Aaron King was in the lineup when Southeast began the game with three wide receivers.

Malolo, a junior college transfer, Buffalo transfer Kargbo and McFerren all made their first Southeast starts. It was Brame's second career start and King's third.

"A lot of different reasons," Samuel said about the lineup changes. "The intent coming into this game was to play everybody anyway."

Statistically speaking

Terrell was Southeast's leading rusher with 33 yards on nine carries.

Scheible completed just 7 of 16 passes for 61 yards. He was intercepted once, marking Southeast's first turnover of the season.

Junior tailback Renard Celestin was the Redhawks' top receiver with three catches for 24 yards. Sophomore end D.J. Foster caught two passes for 21 yards.

Defensively, senior safety Bryan Blanfort and junior linebacker Blake Peiffer led Southeast with eight tackles apiece. Sophomore cornerback Bradley Montgomery had seven tackles.

Kargbo recovered a fumble early in the game, marking Southeast's first turnover gained this year.

The Redhawks' defense was credited with no tackles for loss compared to 10 for Purdue, which had two quarterback sacks.

Noteworthy

* Senior linebacker Philip Klaproth, who played in his 36th college game, failed to record a tackle for the first time in his Southeast career.

* Southeast fell to 1-16 all-time against FBS opponents. The lone victory came at Middle Tennessee State in 2002. The Redhawks have been outscored 330-26 in their past six FBS matchups.