BRENTWOOD, Tenn. - A day after making his college debut, Southeast Missouri true freshman quarterback Dante Vandeven earned the first adidas® Ohio Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week award in his career.

A native of nearby Jackson, Vandeven relieved starting quarterback Tay Bender late in the third quarter and led Southeast to a near upset of #23 Indiana State on Sept. 19.

Vandeven threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Paul McRoberts to pull the Redhawks to within a point (29-28) as time expired. Vandeven's pass to McRoberts on a two-point conversion sailed out of McRoberts' reach and fell incomplete. He kept the Redhawks final drive alive by completing an 11-yard pass to Darrius Darden-Box on a fourth-and-9 before throwing his first career touchdown pass following three-straight Southeast timeouts.

A poised Vandeven marshaled three scoring drives in the last 9:29 of the game when the Redhawks were behind 21-7. He also ran for a big first down on a third-and-6 during a 10-play, 57-yard drive that made it a one-touchdown game. Vandeven completed 12 of 17 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown, and ran for 28 yards on four carries.

Southeast won one of the league's weekly awards for the second-straight week. Vandeven is the Redhawks first OVC Newcomer of the Week honoree since quarterback Scott Lathrop won the accolade on Oct. 28, 2012.

Tennessee Tech wide receiver Krys Cates (Offensive), Eastern Illinois linebacker Seth McDonald and Murray State punter Landon Stratton (Specialist) closed out this week's honorees.