Southeast Missouri State, Southern Illinois football rivalry receives personal touch

~ Matukewicz, others on Southeast football staff were once a part of the SIUC program

Southern Illinois University was the place where Southeast Missouri State coach Tom Matukewicz had his first football coaching experience at the Division I level.

The seven seasons he spent there as an assistant are the most he's spent with any team in his career.

It was the first program that he helped to turn around. Then-SIU coach Jerry Kill and his staff rebuilt a program that went 1-10 in Kill's first season at the helm in 2001 and 4-8 in 2002 to a team that made the FCS playoffs and had a winning record the next five seasons as well as won three conference championships.

In his final season at SIU, Matukewicz was named the FCS Assistant Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association.

Tom Matukewicz signals SIU Carbondale players while serving as an assistant for the Salukis. Matukewicz, who is in his first year as head coach at Southeast Missouri State, was as an SIU assistant from 2001 to 2007. He will coach against his former team Saturday. (Southern Illinois University file)

While Matukewicz doesn't discount his time at SIU -- far from it -- it hasn't been his focus in the week leading up to Southeast's game against the Salukis on Saturday.

"I've been too busy to think about it," Matukewicz said about returning to Carbondale, Illinois. "I'm excited. I'm excited because it's a big game and there's a lot of great memories, a lot of great people, a lot of great food over there, but really Saturday's about a big football game that we're excited to be a part of."

The Redhawks will face the Salukis for the 82nd time Saturday, which is the most times Southeast has faced any opponent in football.

Southeast defensive coordinator Bryce Saia, who coached at SIU from 2004 to 2007, and offensive coordinator Sherard Poteete, who played at SIU in 1999 and 2000, also return to Carbondale on the other side of the regional rivalry.

"It's a crazy world and it's a crazy profession," Saia said. "It's good to go back. I still know people back there, and it played a big role back in the early stages of my career."

Poteete, whose wife Jamie played softball at SIU, recalled being on the winning side of the rivalry in 1999 in his first game ever in a Saluki uniform, but there's no question where the loyalty lies now.

"Obviously I love the place because I went there, and it's kind of weird being on the opposite side," Poteete said, "but I'm red and black through and through."

Southeast holds a 39-34-8 record against SIU, but the Redhawks have lost seven of the last eight meetings between the two teams, including the last three.

The Salukis defeated Southeast 36-19 in last year's game, which was the first football game ever played at the current Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

Saturday's game will be the Redhawks' (1-1) first game against a Football Championship Subdivision opponent this season.

The Salukis (2-0) are looking for their first 3-0 start since they started the 2007 season -- Matukewicz and Saia's last -- 6-0. They moved up 11 spots in the FCS Coaches Poll to No. 14 and in the Sports Network FCS Top 25 at No. 20 for the first time this season after defeating two-time defending Ohio Valley Conference champion Eastern Illinois 38-21 on Saturday.

Sherard Poteete competes for SIU Carbondale during his days as the Salukis’ quarterback. Poteete is currently the offensive coordinator at Southeast Missouri State. (Southern Illinois University file)

"The thing that hurt us Saturday was that we gave up some big plays, and they were successful against Kansas in the fourth quarter from making big plays," SIU coach Dale Lennon said in his weekly press conference. "We really need to contain them the best that we can. They are going to have success moving the ball, but we just have to have that make-them-snap-it-again mentality."

Matukewicz knows it will be a challenge to run the ball against the Salukis' defense, which returns eight starters from last season. The Redhawks only had 53 yards rushing against SIU last season, and they will be without running back and leading rusher DeMichael Jackson, who broke his left hand in Southeast's loss to Kansas.

The Redhawks were shutout in the first half of their game against the Jayhawks, but three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including two touchdown catches by junior receiver Paul McRoberts, put Southeast back in the game late.

"[Kyle] Snyder at QB was extremely impressive [against Kansas] with the strength of his arm, the throws he was making, and his mobility," Lennon said in his weekly press conference. "I've really seen him grow over the years, and he has become a great QB.

"Also, [Paul] McRoberts will be one of the best wide receivers we will face all season. The plays that he made against Kansas were big time."

Southeast's defense will have the difficult task of slowing down SIU running back Malcolm Agnew, whose five rushing touchdowns are the most in the FCS. He's rushed for 292 yards on 25 carries in two games. He rushed for 127 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries against Southeast last season.

"Very rarely the first guy gets him on the ground," Matukewicz said about Agnew. "He does a great job. Sometimes he runs through arm tackles, other times he'll make you miss. He's got a gear. First play he carried this year [he] went to the house, so he's got that gear that we've got to just make sure that a missed tackle doesn't go the distance because he's made just about everybody that he's played miss. You can't shut him down. You've got to just try to limit the affect he has on the game."

SIU quarterback Mark Iannotti, a junior transfer from Eastern Michigan, has thrown for 414 yards and four touchdowns and has completed 72 percent of his passes.

Senior tight end and All-American MyCole Pruitt leads the team with 98 yards receiving and one touchdown on 11 receptions.

"They're sound, they've got good players, and I'm concerned because they know how to win football games," Matukewicz said.

"At the end of the day we're trying to be them, so that'll be a good gauge of how quickly we've turned that corner."