TIDY OFFENSE A MUST FOR INDIANS; MUMFORD: UNIT MUST PLAY MISTAKE-FREE TO BE SUCCESSFUL

Southeast Missouri State University football coach John Mumford is the first to admit that the Indians won't be able to simply overwhelm most of the opponents on their rugged schedule with sheer physical talent.

But Mumford said he definitely believes there is a way for the Indians to win their share of games this season.

The key, he said Monday during his first weekly media conference of the year, will be to play a clean, mistake-free brand of football -- something the Indians have had trouble with in recent years.

"We're not a football team that can go out and continually make mistakes and overcome them," he said. "We have to be much cleaner. We can't have lost yardage plays. We have to be very sharp."

Mumford will get his first indication of just how sharp the Indians are this year when they open the 1999 season Thursday night against rival Southern Illinois. The kickoff at Houck Stadium is set for 6 o'clock. Both teams went 3-8 last year.

"Both teams have been beating on themselves for weeks now," said Mumford. "It's time to play. We're excited for the first game and I'm sure SIU is also."

Considering that Southeast's schedule gets considerably tougher following Thursday, what with three straight road games against highly regarded foes, Mumford was asked how important it is to open with a victory.

"As a coach, you can't put it into terms that we need to win this game because the next three are so tough," he said. "We have to try and win every week. We can't look ahead at all."

* Mumford said Southeast fans can expect to see a more wide-open offense this year than what they've witnessed over the past few seasons.

"We have opened things up. We're throwing the ball more effectively," he said. "I think we have some go-to people with big-play potential."

Mumford said the Indians will attempt to get the football to returning wide receivers Leslie Weaver and Corey Chester as much as possible. They combined for 48 receptions for nearly 700 yards last year.

"They both can really excite you and they can break a big play at any time," he said.

Chester, one of the nation's top return men last season, will team with the speedy Brian Hinton to also hopefully give the Indians some big-play threats in the return game.

"That's a lot of speed coming at you," Mumford said.

Another of the Indians' potential big-play threats is true freshman Iven Brown, who rushed for more than 2,700 yards at Gosnell (Ark.) High School last year. Mumford said Brown has been timed at a blistering 4.3 seconds or better in the 40-yard dash.

"He's still learning, but he's got tremendous speed," Mumford said.

* Although there may be no real superstar among the group, running back appears to be one of the Indians' deepest positions and quite a few backs could see action.

Riki Smith is the top returning tailback with 259 yards last year while backup K.D. Koleosho gained more than 100 yards. But Brown and redshirt freshman Mark Blissett of Sikeston also are in the picture.

At fullback, Broderick Benson is the Indians' top returning rusher with 423 yards but he's being pushed by redshirt freshman Devree Flint of Jackson, who Mumford said has been impressive. And Sturge Cumberford is also back from last year after gaining more than 100 yards.

* The Indians have nine freshmen, most of them redshirts, listed on their two-deep chart.

While Mumford likes the potential of those players, he realizes that any kind of hopes the Indians have of turning things around this year rest primarily with his seniors and juniors, who fill 20 of the 22 first-team spots.

"A big key will be our health," he said. "We're pretty good with the first 22, but after that we get into diapers."

Mumford said it is of particular importance that the Indians' offensive line, whose five members average 6-feet-3 and 297 pounds, remain healthy. Southeast starts three seniors and two juniors up front but the primary backups are all freshmen.

SEMO Depth Chart

OFFENSE

TE -- John Borne 6-1 235 Sr.; Bryan Walker 6-5 265 Sr.

LT -- Ian Walters 6-4 295 Sr.; Justen Meyer 6-6 270 Fr.

LG -- Chad King 6-2 300 Sr.; Jon Jensen 6-2 260 Fr.

C -- David Fielder 6-3 290 Jr.; West McKee 6-5 245 Fr.

RG -- Chris Evertsen 6-4 315 Jr.; David Fielder 6-3 290 Jr.

RT -- Chris Kiefer 6-3 285 Sr.; Chris Evertsen 6-4 315 Jr.

WR -- Leslie Weaver 5-7 155 Jr.; Jerl Huling 6-2 175 Fr.

WR -- Corey Chester 5-11 180 Jr.; Andy Dunaway 6-0 180 So.

QB -- Bobby Brune 6-4 210 So.; Mike Gross 6-0 185 So.

FB -- Broderick Benson 5-10 230 Sr.; Devree Flint 6-0, 205 Fr.

TB -- Riki Smith 5-9 185 Sr.; K.D. Koleosho 5-10 215 Sr.

PK -- Nick Reggio 5-10 175 Sr.

DEFENSE

DE -- Demond Williams 6-4 240 Jr.; Chad Gwilliam 6-3 260 Jr.

DT -- Brad Richardson 6-2 275 Sr.; Kyle Piper 6-3 270 So.

NG -- Jason DeWolf 6-1 270 So.; James Jenette 6-0 320 Fr.

DE -- Joel Becker 6-2 255 Sr.; Andy Hoffert 6-5, 240 Jr.

OLB -- Jeremy Atwell 6-1 220 Sr.; Andy Cisne 6-1 230 Fr.

MLB -- David Bowling 6-0 220 Sr.; Ryan Lock 6-0 215 Fr.

OLB -- Donovan LaViness 5-11 220 Sr.; Charlie Sorter 6-0 215 So.

CB -- Andre Clark 6-0 190 Jr.; Skye Howard 5-11 180 Sr.

CB -- Brian Hinton 5-10 165 Sr.; Demar Winston 5-19 170 Fr.

FS -- John Smith 6-1 195 Sr.; Asim Thomas 5-10 210 Jr.

SS -- Isaac Powell 6-1 195 Jr.; Joe Williams 5-11 190 Jr.

P -- Seth Carriere 5-11 180 So.