Southeast shouldn't take Quincy lightly in season-opener

The Southeast Missouri State football team, with its lack of recent success, has no right to take anybody lightly.

But if the Redhawks had thoughts of looking past NAIA Quincy University -- Thursday's season-opening opponent -- what the Hawks did in their first game no doubt ended any possibility of that happening.

Quincy posted a 26-20 overtime win at Indiana State on Thursday despite trailing 17-0 after one quarter.

Sure, Indiana State ranks among America's worst Division I-AA programs with a current 27-game losing streak that is the nation's longest.

But the Redhawks needed a late touchdown to win at Indiana State 24-21 last year. I covered that game and there didn't appear to be much difference in the talent level between the squads.

So it's not as if the Redhawks should be able to simply show up at Houck Stadium on Thursday and count on starting the season 1-0.

Of course, even if Quincy -- 6-5 in 2008 -- had been blown out by Indiana State, Southeast still would have had ample reason to take the Hawks seriously.

That's because, if you remember, the Redhawks needed a big rally and overtime to beat Division II Southwest Baptist in last year's opener after the Bearcats were coming off a winless season.

It could be an interesting first game for the Redhawks, although Southeast fans probably hope not too interesting.

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Although Jacksonville State isn't eligible to win the Ohio Valley Conference title, many people believe the Gamecocks are the league's top team.

That was evidenced last week as Jacksonville State emerged as the OVC's highest-ranked squad in both major Division I-AA preseason polls.

The Gamecocks tied for 19th in the coaches poll and were 21st in the media poll.

Two-time defending champion Eastern Kentucky was the only other OVC team ranked in either poll. The Colonels were rated 24th by the media.

Other OVC squads receiving votes in the media poll were Tennessee-Martin, Eastern Illinois, Tennessee State and Murray State.

Eastern Kentucky, Tennessee-Martin, Eastern Illinois and Tennessee State all garnered votes in the coaches poll.

Because of repeated shortcomings under the Academic Progress Rate formula, Jacksonville State is banned from postseason play and not eligible for the OVC title this season.

The Gamecocks will play a full OVC schedule with wins and losses counting, but they will be listed at the bottom of the conference standings each week.

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What shapes up as an interesting Missouri football season kicks off Saturday against Illinois in St. Louis.

The Tigers lost many of their top players from 2008 and are not as highly regarded as they have been in recent years.

It's hard to imagine the Tigers attaining the level of success they have reached over the past few seasons, but a total collapse also is not anticipated.

This year will be a good test to see what type of program Gary Pinkel has built in Columbia, Mo. I think it's a good one, and if the Tigers can get to at least eight wins after suffering so many personnel losses, then I'd say Pinkel's program will be validated.

A big key for Mizzou will be first-year quarterback starter Blaine Gabbert.

Gabbert, who saw some mopup duty behind Chase Daniel last year, is among the most highly touted recruits to ever play for the Tigers. By all accounts he has looked good in practices and scrimmages.

But many young, inexperienced quarterbacks struggle, and replacing Daniel represents some large shoes to fill.

It will be interesting to see how well Gabbert does because his play likely will have a lot to say about MU's record.

By the way, Sports Illustrated picks the Tigers to go 8-4, finish in a three-way tie for first place in the Big 12 North with Nebraska and Kansas, and play in the Insight Bowl.

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After the Southeast men's basketball program had a scholarship taken away because of NCAA sanctions, I wrote that the Redhawks probably wouldn't have used that scholarship anyway.

First-year Southeast coach Dickey Nutt told me that's not true, that he needed all the scholarships he could get for his rookie season with the Redhawks.

Nutt wasn't kidding, because he filled all 12 available scholarships for the 2009-2010 season (the NCAA maximum for men's basketball is 13).

The Redhawks have a 15-man roster for 2009-2010 -- including three invited walk-ons -- although junior forward Leon Powell, Nutt's top recruit, likely will miss the season after suffering a torn ACL during a pickup game.

I don't know if Southeast is going to be even halfway decent, but depth certainly shouldn't be an issue, unlike last year.

Nutt dipped into his Arkansas roots for his first Southeast recruiting class -- six of the 11 newcomers are Arkansas natives.

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Fans will need a program to follow Southeast basketball this year as the men and women each return just four players.

The men have 11 newcomers -- a mix of junior college transfers and freshmen -- while the women have nine newcomers, all of them freshmen.

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An update on three former Southeast basketball players who were part of last season's team and had eligibility remaining but are no longer with the program:

Point guard Hank Harris, who missed all of 2008-09 with an injury, will use his final season of college eligibility at Division II Missouri S&T (formerly Missouri-Rolla).

Point guard Bijon Jones will play his final collegiate season at NAIA Indiana University East.

Guard Jimmy Drew, who did not play in 2008-09 due to an injury, is attending DePaul University in Chicago. It is not known whether he plans to try out for the Blue Demons' basketball team as a walk-on.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.