Redhawks ready for prime time: SEMO to battle North Alabama in FCS Kickoff

Unlike the previous two seasons, Southeast Missouri State will not start the 2024 football season as the punching bags to the Big 12.

Instead, the Redhawks will have the opportunity to make a profound first impression, when they tangle with the Lions of North Alabama in the FCS Kickoff in front of nation-wide ESPN television audience at 6 p.m., on Saturday, Aug. 24, at the century-old Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama.

"For SEMO, this is huge," said veteran center Zack Geig. "Being on ESPN, actual ESPN, is awesome. It's kind of what you dream of when you talk about college football, just having a national stage and people across the nation being able to watch you."

This will be the 10th iteration of the FCS Kickoff. The first three meetings featured the No. 1 ranked team and was hosted on campus sites. It has been an ESPN-owned event since 2017 and has frequently featured an Alabama-based team like former Ohio Valley Conference member Jacksonville State.

"It's a big game," Redhawks head coach Tom Matukewicz said. "There's no acting like it's not. We need to play well and be ready for this opportunity."

During the Redhawks Kick-Off Luncheon earlier in the month, Matukewicz emphasized the importance of starting this season 1-0 in front of a national audience.

"We need to make sure everybody who turns the TV on, they remember the Redhawks," Matukewicz said on Aug. 6. "We're not going to lose this game."

The FCS Kickoff is a matchup between two teams who struggled the previous year. While SEMO has seen recent success and are built to return to that level, North Alabama hasn't had a winning season since finishing 7-3 in 2018.

Still, there's a level of mystery with a rare FCS matchup against a new opponent.

"We don't know what they're going to do and they don't know what we're going to do," Matukewicz said. "They had 43 transfers so you really don't know, and so we're going to do what I've done when I first got here; just focus on us, our fundamentals, out attitude, our effort, all the things that this program is about."

Chief among North Alabama's many changes is what has taken place in the quarterbacks room. Brent Dearmon is not only entering his second year as head coach but also absorbing the role of quarterbacks coach. It's a job he previously held alongside being the offensive coordinator at Florida Atlantic (2022), Middle Tennessee (2021) and Kansas (2019-20).

"I'm back in my element," Dearmon told roarlions.com. "I feel like I'm back at home. I can put my hand and my thumb on the quarterbacks a little bit more and it's really helped me more than it has anybody, probably."

The Lions enter the new season with grad transfer from Stanford in Ari Patu, who appeared in eight career games over the previous three seasons.

While UNA goes in with a new quarterback, SEMO returns star senior quarterback Paxton DeLaurent, who is fully healthy after a shoulder injury ended his junior season early.

"I'm pumped up. I'm ready to go," DeLaurent said. "You can't take anything for granted, it's one thing I realized. I saw a quote the other day that said, 'Play like it's your first game and it's your last game ever.' I think that kind of really stuck with me, that surreal feeling that it's the first game of my senior year but it's also the last one, possibly. You never know. Nothing is guaranteed so you got to play with that mentality and be blessed to play the game with your teammates."

DeLaurent's preparation of UNA was months in the making. He normally watches five games of footage of his opponents during a given week but has extensively watched film on the Lions as soon as he learned of the matchup.

"I feel like I know North Alabama better than I know some of the OVC teams," DeLaurent said. "First game of the year, I've been doing this since I got hurt, really."

The Redhawks are going to continue to lead their offensive attack through the ground game even after the graduation of Geno Hess, who finished one of the greatest running back careers in FCS history. Brandon Epton Jr. will lead SEMO's revamped backfield but practices and scrimmages in fall camp has seen four running backs capable of moving the chains.

"We're just really deep," Matukewicz said. "I know that they're unproven. They haven't done a lot of things but as far as practice wise, they seem to have made plays about every time we put the ball down and played a little bit."

Behind Epton Jr. will be freshman Peyton Brown, Cole Rubel and Darrell Smith. It will be quite the challenge for Matukewicz to cycle around the ball carriers this season.

"It's gonna be unique," Matukewicz said. "We got to do a good job of subbing and putting different running styles in there, whether it's a four-minute offense or a passing situation and make sure we got the right type of running back in there because they all are a little different. But it feels good that we got the depth that we don't have to hold our breath for an injury or something."

Overall, this will be a challenge and a prime opportunity for SEMO to make a fine first impression on the new season. After this game, the next time the Redhawks would be on ESPN would be the FCS Playoffs, where they're trying to return to after missing out in 2023.

There will sure to be a lot of opening week jitters, but seniors such as linebacker Bryce Norman will be expected to shake that off and let preparation and instinct take over.

"You don't know exactly what they're gonna do and with all the excitement, you might just get one step ahead of yourself," Norman said. "It's good to be where your feet are and relax and then go into the game and be confident after your first few drives, and maybe see what they're doing, and then just go from there."