Southeast Missouri State football team takes ranking, perfect OVC mark to Murray

~ Southeast is 2-0 in conference play entering Saturday's football game

One season ago the Southeast Missouri State football team was searching for its first win of the season going into its game against Murray State after losing its first five games.

When the Redhawks face the Racers on Saturday it will be as a nationally-ranked team that is trying to remain undefeated in the Ohio Valley Conference.

There's no doubt that the confidence of No. 23 Southeast is high after it posted a 4-2 record and 2-0 mark in OVC play through its first half of the season, but coach Tom Matukewicz believes that the team's confidence doesn't come from the wins.

"Confidence really comes from hard work, and I feel like they've had two really good days," Matukewicz said following Wednesday's practice. "Generally you get what your work deserves, and so I feel like we'll play well. I still expect it to be a fourth-quarter game. We're a good football team, but we're not the best team, so it's going to be another fourth-quarter game. We've got to do the little things it takes to win those types of games."

Last season's meeting with MSU at Houck Stadium came down to the fourth-quarter -- when the Redhawks tied the score in the final minute after leading for much of the game -- and beyond. Southeast eventually won 37-34 in triple overtime on a field goal by current Southeast punter Alex Knight.

It was one of two conference wins for Southeast last season. They'll look to surpass that total and secure a four-game winning streak for the first time since 2010 at 3 p.m. Saturday at Roy Stewart Stadium in Murray, Kentucky.

The Racers (1-4, 0-2 OVC) witll enter with a four-game losing streak since winning their season-opener against NAIA Union College 73-26.

"They've always really matched up well with us," MSU coach Chris Hatcher said about the Redhawks in the OVC teleconference Tuesday. "They've got a bunch of great players. They're running the ball good. Defensively, they do a really great job of stopping the run. But I think the biggest thing with them is they're just playing with a lot of confidence right now. They've won some close games. The ball's started to kind of bounce their way a little bit, and I think that's the thing that always concerns you.

"You're playing a team that's really hot right now, and we're really cold. There's a lot of challenges. But at the end of the day, to me, I've got to be a little more worried about our team than the opponent since we're kind of in this fragile state of mind right now after starting the season 1-4."

MSU is coming off a 30-27 overtime loss to Tennessee Tech.

The Racers lead the OVC in pass offense with an average of 280.8 yards per game.

"They're going to throw it a lot and they're going to see how many plays they can get," Matukewicz said. "They had 66 [plays] in the first half last week. I don't even know how you do that. I know that if I do that somebody needs to shoot me because an alien's taken over my body. It's just that I'm not used to that and that's not how I've learned how to do things. The defense has a challenge."

MSU's high-powered offense is anchored by quarterback KD Humphries, who averages a league-best 212.8 yards passing and has thrown six touchdowns and just one interception this season in 160 attempts.

The 6-foot-3, 225-pound redshirt sophomore has rushed for 96 yards and three touchdowns on 34 carries.

He was named the OVC offensive Player of the Week after completing 48 of 62 passes -- the most passes ever completed in a single game by a Racers quarterback.

"He's what you want [in a quarterback]," Matukewicz said. "He's accurate and makes good decisions. The thing that people don't realize is he can run. He had a couple touchdowns rushing, and he's going to be a real challenge for us to try to keep in the pocket."

Humphries' top targets are Jeremy Harness, Janawski Davis and Nevar Griffin. Harness broke a 47-year-old MSU record with 19 receptions in Saturday's loss. He's got 41 catches this season for five touchdowns and 363 yards. Davis has 327 yards receiving on 24 catches with five touchdowns. Griffin has compiled 252 yards on 20 catches.

The Racers' leading rushers are Pokey Harris, who has 215 yards rushing and a touchdown on 43 carries, and Marcus Holliday, who has 170 yards and a score on 35 carries.

Southeast has focused its defensive preparation on the passing game and has spent more time than usual doing what Matukewicz calls "Redhawk Drill."

"You go five straight minutes as fast as you can go," Matukewicz said. "It's like a two-minute drill on steroids, so you're just trying to prepare them for that type of tempo."

The Racers have the conference's worst rushing defense, allowing 265.4 yards per game as well as 20 rushing touchdowns on the season.

Teams have scored on all 25 of their trips inside the red zone against the MSU defense.

Southeast is third in the conference with 192.7 yards rushing per game.

Running back DeMichael Jackson, who broke his hand in the Redhawks' loss at Kansas on Sept. 6, has been cleared to play and will probably see time against the Racers.

Lennies McFerren is coming off a career-high, 115 -yard performance against Tennessee State and ranks fourth in the conference in rushing, while quarterback Kyle Snyder comes in at 10th, averaging 48.8 yards per game.

"We're going to run the ball, but we always take shots, and if you come up in there, we're going to try to make a play over the top," Matukewicz said.

Noteworthy

Southeast left guard Garret Baker and outside linebacker Wisler Ymonice are questionable for the game. Baker's suffering from a knee injury -- there's no structural damage -- while Ymonice has a tear in the plantar faschia ligament.

Strong safety Josh Freeman will be out with a concussion.