Southeast Missouri State football team to try to keep momentum against Tennessee State

~ The Southeast football team looks to improve to 2-1 in the OVC

The Southeast Missouri State football team's next opponent is a squad that hasn't won an Ohio Valley Conference game since 2009.

But Southeast coach Tony Samuel emphasized he doesn't expect the Redhawks to have an easy time notching their second consecutive victory.

Southeast (1-3, 1-1 OVC) continues its road-heavy early season schedule Saturday against Tennessee State (1-4, 0-2), which went winless in the conference last year and has suffered nine consecutive league losses.

The kickoff in Nashville, Tenn., is set for 6 p.m. at LP Field, home of the NFL's Tennessee Titans.

"We're not going to look at stats or records with these guys. We all know the talent pool they have," said Samuel, whose squad plays four of its first six games away from home, including three of the first four OVC contests. "There's not much difference in any of the [OVC] teams. We all know how close this league is."

The defending OVC champion Redhawks already have had two conference games decided by seven points. They lost at Tennessee Tech 38-31 on Sept. 24 and beat Eastern Illinois 37-30 at home last week.

"That's just the way this league is," Samuel said.

The Redhawks barely beat the Tigers in Cape Girardeau 19-17 even though TSU went 0-7 in the OVC a year ago.

TSU, which will be playing its first conference home game Saturday, nearly broke through in its most recent outing.

The Tigers, who were blown out at Murray State 58-27 in their OVC opener, saw Austin Peay score the final 17 points and kick a field goal with 10 seconds left to pull out a 37-34 victory last week. TSU held a 27-6 lead before the Governors rallied.

"Our kids are upbeat," TSU coach Rod Reed said. "We have to learn to find a way to win a football game."

TSU opened the season with a 33-7 win over Southern, followed by a 35-29 loss to Jackson State, the 31-point rout at Murray State and a 63-24 destruction at FBS Air Force before the narrow loss at Austin Peay.

"They've played a tough early schedule, like we have," Samuel said.

The Tigers appear to have one of the OVC's better young quarterbacks in redshirt freshman Mike German, who has started twice this season and figures to get the nod against Southeast.

German has completed 37 of 68 passes (54.4 percent) for 619 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. He leads the conference and ranks 17th nationally in passing efficiency.

"Their freshman quarterback is a big kid who throws the ball well," Samuel said.

German earned OVC co-newcomer of the week honors after his performance at Austin Peay. He completed 21 of 26 passes for 304 yards and two touchdowns, becoming the first TSU quarterback to pass for 300 or more yards since 2001.

"We're real excited about him," Reed said.

Samuel said the Tigers have plenty of other talented offensive weapons, including junior wide receiver Devin Wilson, who leads TSU with 26 catches.

TSU boasts one of the nation's biggest offensive lines. The five starters range from 310 to 335 pounds.

Southeast also must be wary of true freshman Weldon Garlington, who ranks second in the OVC in kickoff returns with a 30.7-yard average. He scored on a 100-yard return against Austin Peay.

Garlington will test Southeast's special teams that allowed a kickoff return for a touchdown against Eastern Illinois last week.

"They're very explosive, and it's probably the biggest offensive line we'll see," Samuel said.

TSU boasts one of the conference's top defenders in senior linebacker Rico Council. The OVC's preseason co-defensive player of the year leads the league with 3.5 quarterback sacks and is tied for third with 5.5 tackles for loss.

Southeast and TSU have split their last six meetings, with each team winning at home during that stretch. The home squad has won the past 10 matchups in the series.

Noteworthy

* Senior linebacker Philip Klaproth, from Poplar Bluff, Mo., became the 21st Southeast player to record at least 200 career tackles when he had five against Eastern Illinois last week.

* Samuel said redshirt freshman wide receiver/return man Spencer Davis, who ranks fourth in the OVC in kickoff return average (23.5 yards per return) and third in all-purpose yardage (122 yards per game), likely will return to action Saturday.

Davis missed the Eastern Illinois game with an ankle injury suffered at Tennessee Tech.

* Southeast is first nationally in fewest fumbles lost (one) and fewest turnovers lost (two).