Nov. 12, 2001

Football Information 2001 Season Wrapup

Southeast Schedule/Results
Sept. 1 - E. Mich. 16, SE 12
Sept. 8 - SE 24, SIU 5
Sept. 15 -SW Mo. 31, SE 28
Sept. 22 - SE 38, Ill. St. 33
Sept. 29 Tenn. St. 20, SE 14
Oct. 6 SE 45, UTM 30
Oct. 13 Eastern Ill. 12, SE 0
Oct. 10 Murray 45, SE 35
Oct. 27 Tenn. Tech 41, SE 21
Nov. 3 Eastern Ky 42, SE 24
Nov. 10 SE 38, Quincy 6

THE TEAM: Southeast finished the season 4-7 overall and 1-5 in the OVC after losing to Eastern Kentucky 42-24 Saturday. The Indians' OVC win is over Tennessee-Martin while the losses are to Tennessee State, Eastern Illinois, Murray State, Tennessee Tech and Eastern Kentucky. The other wins were over Southern Illinois, Illinois State and Quincy.

THE COACH: Tim Billings, a former assistant at Marshall, Missouri and Oklahoma, is 7-15 after two seasons at Southeast Missouri.

FINAL GAME FOR SOUTHEAST SENIORS: Eight active Southeast seniors concluded the season. Defensive safety Leotis Belcher, quarterback Bobby Brune, running back Curtis Cooper, wide receiver Andy Dunaway, linebacker Corey Mathis, defensive back Chuck Lewis, defensive back Eddie McCray and wide receiver Garvin Ambrose all concluded their seasons in the Quincy game.

Defensive back Mike Gross and quarterback Rashad West had their seasons ended early with injuries.

COOPER GOES OVER 1,000: Senior running back Curtis Cooper has become the third player in Southeast history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. Cooper finished the season with 1,198 rushing yards to rank second on the all-time single season list at Southeast.

The last Indian back to rush for 1,000 yards was Dione Tyler in 1995. Kelvin "Earthquake" Anderson rushed for over 1,000 yards in 1992, 1993 and 1994.

Cooper leads the OVC and ranks sixth nationally in all-purpose running with 193.4 yards per game. He also leads the OVC and ranks 19th nationally in punt returns with 15.4 yards per return and ranks third in OVC rushing with 108.9 yards per game that ranks him 24th nationally

For the second time this season, Cooper was the OVC Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for a career high 216 yards against Tennessee-Martin on Oct. 6. It was the best rushing performance by Indian running back since Kelvin "Earthquake" Anderson rushed for 222 yards against Murray State on Sept. 3, 1992

Cooper had 245 all-purpose yards against Illinois State and 250 all-purpose yards against Tennessee State, and 292 all-purpose yards against Tennessee-Martin giving him a three-game total of 787 all-purpose yards.

SINGLE SEASON RUSHING LEADERS
1. 1,371, Kelvin Anderson, 1992
2. 1,198, Curtis Cooper, 2001
3. 1,016 Kelvin Anderson, 1993
4. 1,005 Kelvin Anderson, 1994
5. 1,005 Dione Tyler, 1995
6. 973 ,Walt Smallwood, 1968

PONDER GOES OVER 1,000 RECEIVING YARDS: Southeast junior wide receiver Willie Ponder is only the second player in Southeast history to have over 1,000 yards receiving in a season. Ponder had 70 catches for 1,090 yards. Farron Haley, the school record holder, had 1,116 yards in 1989. Haley died of cancer in January of this year.

Ponder's mark is the second best in school history.

Ponder established a new school record for receiving touchdowns with 11 and tied the school record for touchdowns in a game with three against Southwest Missouri

Southeast Season Receiving Yard Leaders
1. 1,116, Farron Haley, 1989
2. 1,090, Willie Ponder, 2001
3. 817, Ches Salyer, 1990
4. 815, Darrell Philon, 1991
5. 773, Glenn Krupa, 1992

Southeast Season Reception Leaders
1. 77, Glenn Krupa, 1992 (Led NCAA I)
2. 72, Farron Haley, 1989
3. 70, Willie Ponder, 2001
4. 60, Darrell Philon, 1991
5. 58, Ches Salyer, 1990

NEW TOTAL OFFENSE RECORD: The 638 yards in total offense against Quincy was a new school record for a single game. The old record was 588 vs. Tennessee-Martin in 1986. Southeast also established a new season record for total offense with 4,453 yards. The old record was 4,242 yards in 1992.

The Indians also established a new record for passing yards in a season with 2,895 breaking the old mark of 2,653 in 1991.

Also a new record for TD's passing with 20 breaking the old mark of 17 in 1986 and 1991. They also tied the season record for touchdowns with 37.

BRUNE 5th ALL-TIME IN PASSING: Senior backup quarterback Bobby Brune was 62-113 this season for 709 yards. He has 4,124 yards passing in his four seasons at Southeast to surpass his father Greg on the all-time passing list. Greg Brune passed for 4,109 yards from 1967 to 1967.

Southeast Career Passing Leaders
1. 6,179 Jason Liley (1989-92)
2 5,853 Jeff Brown (1984-87)
3 4,808 Lance Brune (1970-73)
4 4,368 Joe Young (1979-81)
5 4,124 Bobby Brune (1998-01)
6 4,109 Greg Brune (1965-67)
7 3,935 Jim Eustice (1988-89)

NEW PASSING RECORDS: Southeast established three new passing records in the 45-35 loss to Murray State. The new team records include most passing attempts in a game, 56, and most completions in a game, 32.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Jeromy McDowell has already established a new Southeast freshman passing record.

McDowell had 2,051 yards passing to break the record of 1,273 yards by Lance Brune in 1970.

McDowell is just the third player in Southeast history to pass for over 2,000 yards in a season.

The season passing record at Southeast is 2,580 yards by Jason Liley in 1990.

McDowell had a sensational second half against SIU and an equally sensational first half against Southwest Missouri. In the second half against SIU, he completed 14-23 passes for 317 yards and three TD's and in the first half of the SMS game he completed 16-22 passes for 257 yards and three TD's. That gave him consecutive half totals of 30-45 completions for 567 yards and six touchdowns

Southeast Season Passing Leaders
1. 2,580, Jason Liley, 1990
2. 2,326, Jason Liley, 1992
3. 2,128, Jim Eustice, 1989
4. 2,051, Jeromy McDowell, 2001
5. 1,959, Greg Brune, 1966

PONDER, SANDERS LEAD OVC: Southeast junior college transfers Ponder and Adrian Sanders rank at or near the top of every OVC receiving category

In receptions per game, Ponder ranks first with 6.4 catches per game while Sanders is fifth with 4.6 catches per game.

In receiving yards per game, Ponder is first with 99.1 while Sanders is fifth with 76 and in total receiving yards, Ponder is first with 1,090 and Sanders is fourth with 684.

Nationally, Ponder ranks 14th in receptions per game and 13th in receiving yards per game. He also ranks 39th nationally in all-purpose running with 126.2 yards per game and ranks 76th nationally in scoring with 6.0 points per game.

SOUTHEAST IN NCAA STATS: The Indians rank 13th nationally in passing offense and rank 26th nationally in total offense. Southeast is 33rd nationally in punt returns and 29th nationally in kickoff returns.

ANDERSON LEADS OVC IN TACKLES: Junior safety Prince Anderson leads the OVC in tackles with 125.

EAST SECOND IN OVC PUNTING: Junior punter Kyle East ranks second in the OVC and 55th nationally in punting with an average of 37.54 yards per punt.

FRESHMAN KICKERS: Southeast kicking duties were handled by a pair of true freshmen. Derek Kutz kicked PAT's and field goals while Brian Emmendorfer kicked off. Kutz, was 7-8 in field goals and 30-32 in extra points.

WEST CAREER ENDS: Senior quarterback Rashad West underwent knee surgery on Friday, Oct. 12, ending his senior season.

West, who injured the knee in a pick-up basketball game this summer, played in only one game this season, completing 4-6 passes for 27 yards and one touchdown at Tennessee State.

For his Southeast career West 150-269 for 1,955 yards and 8 touchdowns. He rushed the ball 155 times for 681 yards and 12 touchdowns.

INJURY ENDS GROSS' CAREER: Senior defensive back Mike Gross suffered a broken finger in practice last Wednesday ending his career at Southeast.

In his fifth season at Southeast, Gross played quarterback, wide receiver and defensive safety during his career. This season, Gross had six tackles and a 51 yard run on a faked punt.

OVC HONORS:
9-1 - Corey Mathis, Def. Player of Week
9-8 - Jeromy McDowell, Newcomer of Week
9-8 - Kyle East, Special Teams Player of Week
9-22 - Curtis Cooper, Off. Player of the Week
10-6 - Curtis Cooper, Off. Player of the Week
10-27 - Willie Ponder, Newcomer of Week

NEXT SEASON: Southeast will open the 2002 season by hosting Arkansas-Monticello on Thursday night, August 29.