Nov. 25, 2003

Nov. 25, 2003 -

THE TEAM: Southeast Missouri won five of its last seven games, but a loss in the season finale kept the Indians out of the I-AA playoffs. A home win over Jacksonville State would have sent the Indians to the playoffs for the first time ever, but Jacksonville State prevailed 22-17 and the Indian season ended with a 5-7 overall record, 5-3 and a tie for third in the OVC. Southeast had OVC wins over Eastern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky, Tennessee-Martin, Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech with losses to Samford, Murray State and league champion Jacksonville State.. The Indians have non-conference losses to I-A schools Ohio and Arkansas State and Gateway Conference teams SIU and Southwest Missouri.

THE COACH: Tim Billings, a former assistant at Marshall, Missouri and Oklahoma is 20-26 after four seasons at Southeast. He was the 2002 OVC Coach of the Year and the AFCA Region 3 Coach of the Year. Billings is 1-2 vs. Tech

ALL-OVC: Southeast had six players make first team All-OVC and four players make second team All-OVC. First team selections included tight end Ray Goodson, offensive guard Dan Bieg, kicker Derek Kutz, defensive end Ryan Roth, linebacker Ricky Farmer and defensive back Dimitri Patterson. Second team selections included center Eugene Amano, offensive tackles Justen Meyer and Dan Connolly and punter David Simonhoff.

OVC TEAM STATS: Southeast finished the season second in total offense and third in total defense in the OVC. The Indians averaged 381.9 yards per game while allowing 336.1 yards per game. Southeast was second in pass offense with 265.7 yards per game and second in pass defense, allowing 164.2 yards per game. Southeast led the OVC in pass efficiency defense with a rating of 107.6. The Indians also led the league in PAT kicking with 31-31 while ranking second infield goals with 15-21 for .714. Southeast ranked second in third down conversions with 40% and ranked second in red zone defense with 71.1%.

GOODENOUGH CLOSES STRONG: Junior quarterback Andrew Goodenough, who did not play at Tennessee Tech because of a rib injury, passed for a career high 407 yards in the season ending loss to Jacksonville State. He was 27-45 including a 20-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Amick. On the season, Goodenough completed 71-116 passes for 906 yards and three TD's with four interceptions..

SOUTHEAST FORCES FUMBLES: Junior linebacker O.J. Turner led the OVC in fumbles forced with three. Ricky Farmer and Dimitri Patterson tied for second with three forced fumbles. Farmer tied for second in recovered fumbles with three.

PATTERSON LEADS OVC IN INTERCEPTIONS: Junior defensive back Dimitri Patterson led the OVC in interceptions with six. He was honored as the OVC Defensive Player of the Week on Nov. 8 after recording 11 tackles, 2.5 tackles for losses of three yards, broke up four passes and had an interception in the win over Tennessee State.

SIMONHOFF 2nd IN OVC PUNTING: Freshman Dave Simonhoff is currently second in OVC punting with an average of 41.0 yards per punt. tRichie Rhodes of Jacksonville State, who still has at least one game left, leads with an average of 41.2 yards per punt. If he drops below 41 yards per punt, Simonhoff would be the OVC leader for the season.

KUTZ CONNECTS: Junior kicker Derek Kutz, who had the game winning field goal against Eastern Kentucky, led the OVC in field goal and extra point accuracy. He was 15-21 in field goals and 30-30 on PAT's. He ranked third in kick scoring with 6.2 points per game.

GOODSON LEADS SE RECEIVERS: Tight end Ray Goodson, a first team All-OVC selection. led Southeast in receiving with 66 catches for 623 yards. He ranked third in the OVC in receptions per game with 5.50 and ranked seventh in yards per game with 54.8.

OLIVER MAKES TRANSISTION: Jamel Oliver moved to the Southeast offensive backfield for the first time in the Samford game and rushed the ball 15 times for 98 yards and one touchdown. He had previously played only as a wide receiver and return man. Against Tennessee State, Oliver had 15 carries for 186 yards and two TD's on scoring runs of 54 and 82 yards. He also had three catches for 38 yards and one TD. Oliver is currently third in OVC touchdowns with an average of 6.0 points per game. For the season, he led Southeast rushers with 133 carries for 619 yards and a team-high nine touchdowns. He also had 41 catches for 520 yards and two TD's. Oliver led the tedam in all-purpose yards with an average of 121.2 per game. In high school, Oliver was an all-state running back at Lake Brantley High School in Altamonte, Fla. He has 4.4 speed in the 40.

TOMCO PICKED FOR ALL-STAR GAME: Senior quarterback Jack Tomco was among the first 50 players to be named to play in the inaugural I-AA College Football All-Star Classic on Dec. 30 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. The game will be televised by the Football Network.

Tomco ranked third in the OVC in passing, 181.4 yards per game, total offense, 179.1 yards per game and passing efficiency at 123.2.

Against Tennessee Tech, Tomco was 28-45 for 353 yards and three TD's with one interception. For his two year career at Southeast, Tomco passed for 4,946 yards and 37 touchdowns.

Tomco was on the initial Sports Network Payton Watch List. The list profiles 16 potential candidates for the Walter Payton Award which is the I-AA equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.

TURNER AND FARMER LEAD TACKLERS: O.J. Turner led Southeast in tackles with 95 while Ricky Farmer was close behind with 93. They ranked 9th and 10th in the OVC.

ROTH LEADS IN TACKLES FOR LOSSES: Defensive end Ryan Roth led the team and ranked fourth in the OVC in tackles for losses with 15.5 for 64 yards in losses. He also led the team in sacks with five.

OVC HONORS: 9-20 - David Taufoou, Newcomer of Week

10-4 - Ricky Farmer, Defensive Player of Week

10-4 - Derek Kutz, Special Teams Player of Week

10-18 - Dave Simonhoff, Newcomer of Week

11-1 - Andrew Goodenough, Newcomer of Week

11-8 - Dimitri Patterson, Defensive Player of Week

11-15 - O.J. Turner, Defensive Player of Week

NUMBER CHANGE WITH MEANING: Senior defensive end Ryan Roth wore number 32 this season to honor the memory of a high school teammate who was killed in the collapse of an apartment deck near Wrigley Field in Chicago on June 28. Rob Koranda was captain of the Naperville (Illinois) North High School team when Roth was a junior. Koranda, who wore number 32, went on to play college football at Princeton before a shoulder injury ended his football career. "Koranda was a friend who was a real inspiration to me,: said Roth who is a preseason all-OVC selection at defensive end. "I want to wear number 32 to honor his memory."

BIG HOME CROWDS: A Houck Stadium record crowd of 11,100 and a regional television audience on Fox Sports Net Midwest and Fox Sports Net Chicago saw the home opener against SIU. The previous record crowd was 11,015 for the Family Weekend game vs. Eastern Kentucky in 1999. There were 9,800 fans on hand for the Family Weekend game vs. SMS. A crowd of 8,600 and a national television audience on The Football Network, saw the Indians win over Eastern Illinois. Rain and cold weather limited the Murray State game to 4,350 and a crowd of 5,375 was on hand for the Tennessee State game. The OVC championship game with Jacksonville State drew a crowd of 6,650. For six home games, Southeast averaged 7,646 fans per game.

TEAM ELECTED SIX CAPTAINS: The team has elected three offensive and three defensive captains. Offensive captains included quarterback Jack Tomco, center Eugene Amano and kicker Derek Kutz. Defensive captains included end Ryan Roth, linebacker Ricky Farmer and back Dimitri Patterson.

OVC FAVORITE: For the first time ever, Southeast was picked to win the Ohio Valley Conference title in voting by the league head coaches. Murray State was picked second, Eastern Illinois third, Eastern Kentucky fourth, Jacksonville State and Tennessee Tech tied for fifth, Tennessee State seventh, Samford eighth and Tennessee-Martin ninth. Street & Smith's 2003 Football National Preview also picked Southeast to win the OVC crown.

PRESEASON ALL-OVC: Southeast had a league-high seven players named preseason all-OVC with three more players gaining honorable mention. Jack Tomco, Corey Kinsey, Eugene Amano and Dan Connolly were first team selections on offense with Ryan Roth, Marco Tipton and Dimitri Patterson honored on defense. Honorable mention selections were Ricky Farmer, Mike Miller and Dan Bieg. Tipton and Miller were out for the season with knee injuries and Kinsey was dismissed from the team.

NEXT GAME: Southeast is currently slated to open the 2004 season on Sept. 4 at SIU, but that date could be switched to accommodate a I-A opponent.