Victory No. 1 is up for grabs

Southeast, Central Michigan both bring 0-2 records into today's game.

By Marty Mishow ~ Southeast Missourian

Brian Kelly knew that it would be difficult to turn around Central Michigan University football right away.

Not that the above knowledge has made life any easier for the Chippewas' first-year coach.

"I'm not a patient person," he said, laughing.

The Chippewas have lost their first two games under Kelly, falling at Indiana 41-10 and Michigan State 24-7. They take on another 0-2 squad at noon today when Division I-AA Southeast Missouri State University visits Kelly/Shorts Stadium in Mt. Pleasant, Mich.

CMU, a former Mid-American Conference power, has had just one winning season since 1994 -- and that was a 6-5 record in 1998. The Chippewas went 3-9 last year, including 1-7 in the MAC.

But Kelly is confident he can eventually get the Chippewas back on track. He certainly appears to have the credentials, going 118-35-2 in 13 seasons at Grand Valley State and leading that program to the past two Division II national titles.

"Any time you're 0-2, you're not happy, but we're building a football program and we're making progress," Kelly said. "Clearly we're not where we need to be, but we knew it was going to take time.

"With the facilities and resources, we'll get this program back to the top of the MAC."

Even though the Chippewas have been outscored 65-17, they have been more competitive than that, as evidenced by their nearly matching the opposition in total yardage (359 yards per game to 365.5).

"Yards are nice, but we have to score points," Kelly said.

After ranking last in the MAC in total defense last season -- allowing an average of 501.8 yards per game -- the Chippewas have improved considerably in that area so far this year against two Big 10 Conference opponents.

"They have a really good football team," Southeast coach Tim Billings said. "They have a really good offensive scheme. They moved the ball well against both Indiana and Michigan State, but they've had trouble scoring, like us."

The Chippewas have one of the MAC's top players in sophomore tailback Jerry Seymour, who Kelly believes just might be one of the best players in the country that most people have never heard of.

Seymour, listed as 5-feet 6 and 191 pounds, rushed for 1,117 yards in just nine games last season. He's ahead of that pace so far this year, with 275 yards while averaging 5.9 yards per carry. He leads the MAC in rushing.

After getting 111 yards against Indiana in the opener, Seymour gained 164 yards vs. Michigan State last Saturday and scored on a 90-yard run. In 11 career games at CMU, the Florida native has broken the 100-yard mark nine times.

"The good thing about Jerry is that he's on our team," Kelly said. "The bad thing is that there is only one of him."

Said Billings, "Seymour is probably one of the best backs, if not the best back, in the MAC. They give him the ball a lot and really spread you out. I know a lot about Jerry because we tried to recruit him, and we thought we had him before Central Michigan got in on him."

CMU's quarterback position, however, is unsettled, with two players having split time at the position so far this year. Neither has been overly impressive.

"The key is to make them pass," Billings said. "We have to stop the run."

Southeast will be playing a Division I-A team for the second straight week as it closes out its non-conference schedule. The Indians were hammered last Saturday at MAC power Bowling Green 49-10 and fell to Division I-AA second-ranked Southern Illinois 42-3 in their opener.

While the Indians should have a better chance of competing with CMU than they did Bowling Green, Southeast is still considered a significant underdog. Billings said he remains more focused on improvement within his team than the outcome of the game -- not that the Indians won't try their best to spring the upset.

"I thought we played a lot better against Bowling Green than we did against SIU and we want to keep improving. We're going to run our offense and defense and try to get better," Billings said. "I'm really more concerned about us than Central Michigan. We're not going to do anything fancy, we're just going to line up and play football."

Asked whether the Chippewas will have to guard against taking the Division I-AA Indians lightly, Kelly laughed.

"We can't afford to take anybody lightly. We're not that good," he said. "SEMO has played some quality teams and they won't come in here afraid of us.

"We'll be focused and ready to play. If we don't play well, we'll get beat, it's as simple as that."