Southeast Missouri State football team's rally falls short vs. Kansas

There probably are not many people who would've expected the Southeast Missouri State football team to even come close to defeating Kansas on Saturday at the end of the first 15 minutes of the game.

The Southeast coaches and players found themselves in a 24-0 hole against the Big 12 opponent at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas.

The Redhawks didn't have a first down in the first quarter.

They never stopped the Jayhawks on a drive in that first quarter.

But once those first 15 minutes were up, a flip was switched and the Redhawks chipped away, nearly knocking off the Jayhawks before losing 34-28.

"Well, as a coach I don't really look at it like that," Southeast coach Tom Matukewicz said of nearly upsetting a Big 12 opponent. "I mean, it was short. It still hurts. What I look at is I feel like our team grew out there just right in front of your eyes like. You're like, 'Man, that's not the same football team that started.' And so that part is what I'm probably most proud of. But that's life. Like this is life. Like sometimes you're having a bad day, and what're you going to do? Lay down?"

"Or are you going to fight," Matukewicz said as he slammed his fist on the table in his postgame press conference. "You know, get up and turn it (around). And that's what we did."

Southeast's turnaround began in the second quarter. The Redhawks shut out the Jayhawks (1-0) in that period.

"I don't know if it was just like the stadium or all the fans, but I just feel like that first quarter after we got done, we settled down and then we were able to play and do what we usually do," said sophomore linebacker Roper Garrett, who had a game-high 14 tackles and a sack.

The Redhawks forced Kansas to punt on consecutive drives in the second quarter.

They nearly scored, too. The Redhawks had it on the Kansas 13-yard line when senior quarterback Kyle Snyder's pass intended for Ron Coleman in the end zone was intercepted by Dexter McDonald and returned 62 yards.

Southeast didn't score, but Snyder completed 7 of 13 passes for 104 yards. The team only had nine passing yards and 142 total yards of offense in the first.

"It started with ourselves," Matukewicz said. "I think some coaches started losing their composure a bit, and that's not good because obviously we ask our kids not to. But then we told the players, 'Just calm down and worry about Play 1, and when it's over go to the second down and when that's over go the third down.' I just think they finally breathed a little bit and just stopped worrying about ... it's a Big 12 football game and that we just needed to go out there and try to put a couple of drives together."

Kansas had 15 rushes for 153 yards in the first quarter and sophomore quarterback Montell Cozart completed 6 of 8 passes for 69 yards.

"We were out-leveraged in the option game the first quarter," Matukewicz said. "Looking back, we probably should've known they were going to run a little more option and maybe practiced that a little more, but that's hard to do with some young guys and it's all about leverage, and all of a sudden it gets up on you. But after the first quarter I don't think that they hit us on another option, so that's a good thing that they can sit in the box, get it communicated on the field and our players fix it. That's a good sign."

Southeast scored on a 7-yard run by DeMichael Jackson with 10:34 remaining in the third quarter.

The Redhawks faced a big momentum change when their ensuing onside kick that they recovered was called back for an offsides penalty.

The Jayhawks returned the re-kick to their own 33 before Cozart hit Tony Pierson for a 67-yard touchdown reception with 10:17 remaining in the third.

Kansas' Matthew Wyman made a 33-yard field goal in the final seconds of the period to make it 34-7.

Southeast dominated in the fourth quarter. The Redhawks cut it to 34-14 on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Snyder to senior wide receiver Spencer Davis with 12:53 left in the game.

"I think we just really settled in and got comfortable out there," Snyder said. "We found our niche, like little plays we could do, and we did them. The offensive line did a great job. I was able to get out of the pocket a couple of times and throw it down field and our receivers made great plays, so I think that really worked in our favor."

Junior wide receiver Paul McRoberts, who finished with a career-high 173 yards, scored twice in the final quarter. He caught a pass from Snyder at the 30 and ran it in with 10:39 to play and had a 26-yard reception in the back of the end zone, just keeping his feet in for the final score with 1:33 remaining.

"It looked like a man-look on Paul, so I just dropped back and I threw it right at the upright," said Snyder, who was 12 for 27 for a career-high 269 yards. He also had "He made a great catch and got his feet in. I just wish we'd had a couple more minutes to come back. We ran out of time. It just kind of sucks."

The Redhawks had 14 penalties for 174 yards in the game.

Southeast would've had its first first down of the game on the second play of the second quarter when Jackson rushed for three yards on second-and-2, but a chop block resulted in a 15-yard penalty.

In the drive leading up to the Redhawks' last touchdown, when conserving time was crucial, they committed three penalties for 15 yards.

"They're just hard to look at," Matukewicz said of the penalties. "There was no effort penalties. I mean, they were just flat-out lack of focus, and that's starts with the coaches, so we've got to go make sure we're playing the right guys and that that doesn't happen again."

The Redhawks fall to 1-1 on the season with the loss.

"Obviously I'm proud of our football team for the way we continued to fight," Matukewicz said. "Most average football teams, the way we started that thing, would lay down and just get our check and move on, so I appreciate the fight in them. You know, I cannot believe we're in the football game with three turnovers and 174 yards of penalties. Those are not talent-based things. Those are decisions and some stuff that I'm embarrassed about, but I'm not embarrassed about this team and the fight they have."