Southeast Missouri (0-1, 0-0 OVC) at Ole Miss (1-0, 1-0 SEC)

Game Information
Date: Saturday, Sept. 7, 2013
Kickoff: 6 p.m., CT
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Site: Vaught-Hemingway Stadium (60,580)
Surface: FieldTurf
Series History: First Meeting
Weather Forecast: Clear, 86 degrees
Head Coaches: Tony Samuel (62-109 overall; 28-52 at Southeast Missouri; 17-38 OVC, eighth season). Hugh Freeze (38-13 overall; 8-6 at Ole Miss, 4-5 SEC second season).

Coverage Information
Radio: ESPN 92.9 FM, K103 (102.9 FM). Erik Sean, Play-by-Play.
Television: PPV/ESPN3. Richard Cross, Play-by-Play; Jesse Mitchell, Analyst; Hannah Chalker, Sideline.
Live Stats: OleMissSports.com
Game Notes: Southeast Missouri | Ole Miss
Twitter Updates: @GoSoutheast

On the Road Again
Southeast opened its season at Southeastern Louisiana on Aug. 29. The Redhawks make a shorter bus trip to Oxford this weekend. Southeast will log a total of 1,535.2 miles on the road between Hammond, La. and Oxford, Miss. during the first two weeks of the 2013 campaign.

Athletics and Alumni Association will host Pregame Tailgate at Ole Miss
The Southeast Missouri State Alumni Association and Department of Athletics is hosting a Pregame Tailgate Party from 11 a.m.-6 p.m., CT, for Southeast's football game at Ole Miss on Sept. 7. The event will be held at the Redhawks Club tent, near the Grove in front of the Barnard Observatory across from the Ole Miss Student Union. Please observe the 2013 Ole Miss Fan Guide which will help with your visit to Oxford.

Southeast Fans Heading to Ole Miss . . .
are strongly encouraged to wear black for Saturday's game in Oxford. Ole Miss fans are promoting “wear red”, so any Southeast Missouri black should help the Redhawk faithful stand out among the 60,000+ expected to be in attendance at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

Series History
The Redhawks meet Ole Miss for the first time in 2013. The Rebels are the first NCAA Division I opponent from the state of Mississippi that Southeast will face. The Redhawks are 7-26-1 all-time against Mississippi schools (4-23-1 vs. Delta State; 1-1 vs. Mississippi Agricultural College and 2-2 vs. Mississippi College). Southeast last played an opponent from Mississippi in 1989 (L, 21-6, vs. Mississippi College).

Against the SEC   
Ole Miss is the third Southeastern Conference opponent Southeast will face. The Redhawks are 0-4 all-time against SEC foes, losing twice to both Arkansas and Missouri. Southeast's last meeting with an SEC opponent was at Missouri on Sept. 6, 2008. The Redhawks were outscored, 147-10, in their four matchups with SEC schools. Here is that list:
11/6/06    at Arkansas    L, 0-12
10/3/36    at Missouri    L, 0-20
10/14/07    at Arkansas    L, 7-63
9/6/08    at Missouri    L, 3-52

Southeast Ties   
Although Southeast and Ole Miss have never played in football, there are some unique storylines that link the schools together. Second-year Director of Athletics Mark Alnutt worked with Ole Miss Director of Athletics Ross Bjork at the University of Missouri from 2001-03. At the time, Alnutt was the Tigers Director of Football Operations, while Bjork was Mizzou's Assistant Athletic Director for Development. Southeast head men's basketball coach Dickey Nutt has two brothers that formerly worked at Ole Miss. Houston Nutt was the Rebels head football coach and Danny Nutt worked as the Assistant Athletics Director for Player Development at Ole Miss from 2008-11. Renata Heard, who is married to Ole Miss wide receivers coach Grant Heard, spent six seasons as Southeast's head volleyball coach from 2005-10. Renata compiled an overall record of 85-99 and 57-49 in Ohio Valley Conference play with the Redhawks.

Redhawks Lose Starting Offensive Tackle
Southeast head coach Tony Samuel announced that starting right tackle Garret Baker will miss the next four to six weeks. Baker, who made his first career start in the season-opener at Southeastern Louisiana (Aug. 29), broke his right leg during the Redhawks first drive. A native of Owensville, Mo., Baker redshirted as a true freshman a year ago.     

Southeast vs. FBS Opponents
Southeast looks to snap a 12-game losing streak against Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly I-A) opponents when it heads to Ole Miss this week. The Redhawks are 1-17 all-time against such teams.
11/24/94    at Hawai'i    L, 0-34
10/19/96    at Arkansas State    L, 9-38
8/31/00    at Marshall    L, 7-63
9/1/01    at Eastern Michigan    L, 12-16
9/14/02    at Eastern Michigan    L, 32-35
9/28/02    at Middle Tennessee    W, 24-14
8/30/03    at Ohio    L, 3-17
9/13/03    at Arkansas State    L, 3-21
9/11/04    at Bowling Green    L, 10-49
9/18/04    at Central Michigan    L, 27-44
9/10/05    at Kent State    L, 12-33
10/14/06    at Arkansas    L, 7-63
8/30/07    at Cincinnati    L, 3-59
9/6/08    at #6 Missouri    L, 3-52
9/12/09    at #23 Cincinnati    L, 3-70
9/2/10    at Ball State    L, 10-27
9/17/11    at Purdue    L, 0-59
8/30/12    at Central Michigan    L, 27-38

OVC vs. FBS
Ohio Valley Conference teams have compiled a 20-160-1 record all-time against Football Bowl Subdivision teams. That is counting only games while the teams were members of the Conference. Southeast becomes the third OVC team to get a date with Ole Miss. Murray State lost to the Rebels, 49-14, on Sept. 1, 2001, and Jacksonville State pulled off a stunning 49-48 double overtime win at Ole Miss on Sept. 4, 2010. The Gamecocks outscored Ole Miss, 21-3, in the fourth quarter to force overtime and later won the game on a 2-point conversion.

The Chase is On
Junior return man Spencer Davis is 428 yards away from breaking Southeast's all-time career record in kickoff return yardage. Davis currently stands third with 1,511 yards. David Jackson (1983-86) presently holds the record with 1,938 kickoff return yards. Davis already owns two of the school's top-six single-season kickoff return yardage marks.

Redhawks Drop Season-Opener
Southeast was shut out for three quarters in its season-opening 45-7 loss at Southeastern Louisiana on Aug. 29. The Redhawks scored their only touchdown late in the first quarter. Southeastern then scored 31 unanswered points. Southeast suffered its fourth-straight loss in a season-opener, falling to 3-5 in such games under head coach Tony Samuel.

First-Timers
Twenty-eight players saw action in their first game at Southeast during last week's season-opener at Southeastern Louisiana. Eleven players made their first career starts. Ron Davis (SS), Travis Sanders (DE), Jon Slania (NT), Selwyn Carrol (DE), Matt Starks (LB) and Austin Black (DT) were the new starters on defense. Meanwhile, Kyle Finney (LG), Garret Baker (RT), Paul McRoberts (WR), Kyle Snyder (QB) and Lennies McFerren (RB) made their starting debuts on offense.

McFerren Hits Paydirt
Junior running back Lennies McFerren scored Southeast's first touchdown of the season. A native of Paris, Tenn., McFerren crossed the goal line on a 6-yard run to cap Southeast's only scoring drive at Southeastern Louisiana (Aug. 29). It was McFerren's second career touchdown and first since the Central Methodist game on Nov. 5, 2011. He gained 47 yards on 12 carries against the Lions.

Snyder Makes First Start
Junior quarterback Kyle Snyder completed 6-of-13 passes for 75 yards and ran for six yards on six carries in his first career start against Southeastern Louisiana (Aug. 29). Snyder completed a perfect 3-of-3 passes for 50 yards to orchestrate Southeast's 10-play, 75-yard scoring drive in the first quarter. Snyder made his first appearance under center since Oct. 22, 2011 (at Akron) when he was at Ohio University.

Jackson Boosts Backfield
Sophomore DeMichael Jackson was Southeast's top rusher in last week's season-opener at Southeastern Louisiana. Jackson carried the ball eight times for 61 yards, averaging 7.6 yards per rush. He also had the Redhawks longest run of the game (37 yards in the fourth quarter). Jackson gained just 20 yards on seven carries as a freshman during the entire 2012 season.

200-Yard Redhawks
As a team, Southeast has rushed for over 200 yards in eight of its last nine games. The Redhawks had 206 rushing yards at Southeastern Louisiana (Aug. 29).

Born to Run
Southeast has become one of the more dominant rushing teams in the Football Championship Subdivision in recent years. The Redhawks led the Ohio Valley Conference and ranked among the top-10 teams in the FCS each of the last three seasons. Southeast was the nation's No. 8 rushing team with 262.4 yards per game in 2012.The Redhawks had a 1,000-yard rusher twice in that span (Levi Terrell in 2012; Henry Harris in 2010).

About Ole Miss
In just one year, head coach Hugh Freeze took Ole Miss from the Southeastern Conference's winless team to a bowl victor. In 2012, the Rebels won seven games and earned the program's first bowl berth since 2009. Ole Miss became bowl eligible with a 41-24 rout of Mississippi State and the season culminated with a 38-17 triumph over Pitt at the BBVA Compass Bowl in Birmingham, Ala. The momentum was bolstered the next month by the Rebels best signing class in school history. Headlined by the country's top overall prospect (DE Robert Nkemdiche), the No. 1 defensive end, wide receiver (Laquon Treadwell) and offensive tackle (Laremy Tunsil) and the No. 2 safety (Tony Conner), Ole Miss' signing class ranked as high as second nationally. The big signings add to a Rebel team which has all 11 starters back on defense, eight returning starters on offense and two starters back on special teams. Ole Miss opened the 2013 season with a bang, using a 75-yard touchdown run by running back Jeff Scott with 1:07 remaining in the fourth quarter to eke out a 39-35 victory at Vanderbilt on Aug. 29. Cody Prewitt intercepted A Carta Samuels pass with 26 seconds left to secure the win for the Rebels. Scott ran for 138 yards and Bo Wallace completed 31-of-47 passes for 283 yards, and ran for 48 yards and two touchdowns to lead Ole Miss in its thrilling SEC-opener. The Rebels have 27 players on NFL rosters this season, including 2008 and 2012 Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning and six-time Pro Bowl LB Patrick Willis. OT Michael Oher was selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft. His life through his final year of high school and first year of college was featured in the Academy-Award-winning 2009 film The Blind Side.