#12 Southeast Missouri (1-0) at #13 Montana State (0-1)

Date: Saturday, September 7, 2019
Kickoff: 7 p.m., CT
Location: Bozeman, Mont.
Stadium: Bobcat Stadium (17,777)
Surface: Field Turf
Weather Forecast: Partly Cloudy, 74 degrees
Series History: First Meeting
Head Coaches: Tom Matukewicz (26-34 overall; 25-34 at SEMO; 18-21 OVC). Jeff Choate (17-19 overall; 17-19 at MSU).

Media Coverage
Radio: Real Rock 99.3 FM & ESPN 1220 AM (Erik Sean)
Video: MSUBobcats.com (subscription required)
Live Stats: MSUBobcats.com
Twitter: @SEMOFootball
Southeast Missouri Notes (PDF) (PDF)

Redhawks Head Northwest
#12 Southeast Missouri (1-0) travels northwest to face #13 Montana State (0-1) Saturday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., CT, at Bobcat Stadium.

Follow the Redhawks
Fans can listen to Saturday's game live on the radio at Real Rock 99.3 FM. Erik Sean will call the action. Video and live stats can be accessed at MSUBobcats.com. Twitter updates provided @SEMOFootball.

Against Ranked FCS Teams
#13 Montana State is one of two ranked Football Championship Subdivision opponents on Southeast Missouri's schedule. SEMO is 7-25 in its last 32 meetings with ranked FCS programs. Despite that record, the Redhawks have won in three of their last six games against ranked FCS teams.

Brickyard Game
Every time Southeast Missouri beats a ranked opponent, the score and date of that victory are laid to rest in the "Brickyard" (a wall that commemorates all of those wins in the Redhawks locker room). SEMO has a total of eight wins against ranked Football Championship Subdivision teams in its program history. Five of those victories have come under Tom Matukewicz and are the most of any SEMO head coach.

On the Road
Southeast Missouri has dropped 13 of its last 14 meetings against ranked Football Championship Subdivision teams on the road. The Redhawks only road win in that span came at then-#5 Southern Illinois (24-21) on Sept. 18, 2010.

Night Games
Southeast Missouri's 7 p.m. kickoff at #13 Montana State will be its latest in the Central Time Zone this season. Saturday marks the second of four night games the Redhawks have in 2019. 

Against the Big Sky Conference
The Redhawks face Montana State for the first time in 2019. Saturday's game marks Southeast Missouri's third matchup with a Big Sky Conference opponent. SEMO is 0-2 all-time in such contests. Each of the three Big Sky opponents were ranked at the time they faced the Redhawks. Here are those results:
12/4/10    at #1 Eastern Wash.*    L, 17-37
12/1/18    at #3 Weber State*    L, 23-48
9/7/19    at #13 Montana State    --

* NCAA Playoffs

Season-Opening Victory
Southeast Missouri snapped a four-game losing streak in season-openers when it beat Southern Illinois, 44-26, on Aug. 29. SEMO improved to 10-19 all-time in season-openers during its NCAA Division I era (since 1991). The Redhawks opened a season on a Thursday for the 11th time.

Santacaterina Goes Over 3,000 Passing Yards
Redshirt-senior quarterback Daniel Santacaterina went overr 3,000 passing yards in his Southeast Missouri career in the Redhawks season-opening win over Southern Illinois (Aug. 29). Santacaterina completed 14-of-24 passes for 248 yards and a touchdown, and ran for two more scores. He improved to 10-4 as SEMO's starting quarterback. Santacaterina has thrown a touchdown pass in 13 of his 14 starts and now has 3,092 passing yards in his career.

Welcome to Division I Football
A total of 15 players saw their first NCAA Division I football action against Southern Illinois (Aug. 29). Ja'Chai Baker, Jalen Bethany, Terry Cook, Jontae Dobson, Jordan Foster, Andrew Graves, Robert Hatchett III, Adam Krause, Mike Matthews, Rasean McCauley, Brandon Mincey, Dane Nelson, Alex Parades, Joe Pyle and Jaden Rosenthall formed that group. Baker, Rosenthall, Nate Korte and Tyler Ford each made their first career start on the offensive line, as well.

Big Game Hall
Reigning Football Championship Subdivision and Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year Zach Hall opened the season with 19 tackles against Southern Illinois (Aug. 29). Hall notched at least 19 tackles in a season-opener for the second year in a row. He finished with a career-high 22 tackles in the Redhawks 2018 season-opener at Arkansas State. Hall had seven solo stops and assisted on 12 other tackles and collected 15 first-half tackles against the Salukis. He also added two tackles for loss and a sack. It was Hall's 16th double-digit tackle game of his career.

Hall Clears 300 Tackles
Zach Hall went over 300 tackles in his career following his big performance against Southern Illinois (Aug. 29). Hall became the ninth player in Southeast Missouri history to get over 300 career tackles. He ranks ninth all-time on the school's all-time career tackles list with 302 total tackles. 

123 To Go
Zach Hall is on pace to break Southeast Missouri's all-time career tackles record. Hall, who broke the school's single-season record with 168 tackles last season, is 123 away. Robert Haggerty (1993-96) presently holds the all-time career record with 424 stops. Hall has 302 tackles.

Balanced Effort
Southeast Missouri began the 2019 season with 281 rushing yards, its most in a season-opener in five years. Running backs Zion Custis (78), Geno Hess (77) and Mark Robinson (72) all rushed for over 70 yards and a touchdown. Hess scored the first touchdown of his career on a 1-yard run with 10:41 left to play in the fourth quarter. The 281 rushing yards were SEMO's most in a game since the Redhawks had 352 at Southern Illinois on Sept. 15, 2018.

Home Winning Streak
The Redhawks are on an eight-game winning streak at Houck Field. Southeast Missouri went undefeated at 6-0 in Cape Girardeau a year ago and won its season-finale at home in 2017 before starting this year with a 44-26 home-opening victory over Southern Illinois (Aug. 29). It is currently the longest home winning streak in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Games With a Catch
Senior wide receiver Kristian Wilkerson has caught a pass in 16 consecutive games. Wilkerson had six receptions for 146 yards and a touchdown against Southern Illinois (Aug. 29). He finished with over 100 receiving yards in a game for the seventh time in his career.

Ranked Redhawks
Southeast Missouri enters the week ranked 12th in the STATS Media and 13th in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) FCS Coaches Polls. SEMO finished the 2018 season ranked 15th (STATS) and 16th (Coaches) in those final polls. Here are the Redhawks rankings this season:
Preseason
Athlon Sports    #19 (June 4)
Street & Smith's    #22 (July 9)
STATS Media    #17 (Aug. 5)
AFCA FCS Coaches    #18 (Aug. 19)
STATS Media    Coaches
8/26/19    #17    #18
9/2/19    #12    #13    

Matukewicz vs. Ranked Opponents
Southeast Missouri head coach Tom Matukewicz is 5-9 all-time against ranked Football Championship Subdivision opponents. Matukewicz's five wins came against #3 Southeastern Louisiana (2014), #20 Tennessee State (2014), #13 Eastern Illinois (2016), #4 Jacksonville State (2018) and #15 Stony Brook (2018). The Redhawks wrecked JSU's 36-game winning streak in Ohio Valley Conference play when they upended the Gamecocks last season. 

Rock Solid Defense
Southeast Missouri, which has all but one starter back on defense, led the Football Championship Subdivision in turnover margin (+1.85), turnovers gained (36) and interceptions (23) in 2018. The 2018 defense also scored five touchdowns which rated third in the FCS. Linebacker Zach Hall broke the school's all-time single-season record with 168 tackles. SEMO outscored its opponent 144-40 (+104) in points off turnovers during the 2018 campaign as well. In the time Bryce Saia has been defensive coordinator, SEMO has finished among the top two in the Ohio Valley Conference in either red zone defense, sacks, turnover margin, third down defense or interceptions.

Let's Do This
Coming off a historic 2018 campaign that resulted in a 9-4 overall record, second-place finish in the Ohio Valley Conference and just its second NCAA Playoff appearance, Southeast Missouri has the pieces in place to put together another winning season. No SEMO football team has posted back-to-back winning seasons during the school's NCAA Division I history. In fact, the Redhawks have just four winning seasons since moving to Division I in 1991 and each came eight years apart (1994, 2002, 2010, 2018). SEMO last completed back-to-back winning seasons in 1989 (7-4) and 1990 (7-3). 

Senior Class
The Redhawks senior class, which consists of 20 players, has won a total of 16 games since 2016, the second-most by any senior class during the school's NCAA Division I era. The 2010 class is presently the winningest group of seniors with 18 victories (2007-2010).

The Chase is On
Redshirt-senior quarterback Daniel Santacaterina is 17 touchdown passes away from breaking Southeast Missouri's all-time career record. Santacaterina threw for 29 touchdowns as SEMO's starting signal-caller, second-most in a season in school history. Jeff Brown (1983-87) presently holds the all-time career record with 45 passing touchdowns.

Wilkerson Closes In
Redshirt-senior wide receiver Kristian Wilkerson is in position to break three of Southeast Missouri's all-time career records. Wilkerson needs 28 catches to get the record in pass receptions, 208 yards to establish the new mark in receiving yardage and six touchdowns to become the school's all-time career leader in receiving TDs. He currently ranks fourth in pass receptions (154), fourth in receiving yardage (2,336) and third in receiving touchdowns (24). Darrell Philon (181, 1988-91) holds the record in pass receptions, Willie Ponder (2,543, 2001-02) holds the record in receiving yardage and Paul McRoberts (29, 2012-15) has the record in receiving touchdowns.  

Returning Starters
The Redhawks return 15 starters, including five on offense and 10 on defense. Daniel Santacaterina (QB), Kristian Wilkerson (WR), Zack Smith (WR), Austin Crump (TE) and Elijah Swehla (LG) are the returning starters on offense. Defensively, Zach Hall (ILB), Omardrick Douglas (OLB), DJ Freeman (CB), Bydarrius Knighten (SS), Daterraion Richardson (NT), Justin Swift (OLB), Clarence Thornton (DT), Al Young (CB), Taj Jenkins (FS) and Ryan Ochoa (DT) are back. Santacaterina (First-Team), Hall (First-Team), Knighten (First-Team), Thornton (Second Team), Swift (Second-Team) and Wilkerson (Second-Team) each earned All-Ohio Valley Conference honors in 2018.

New Offensive Line
Junior college transfers Ja'Chai Baker (Iowa Western CC), Dane Nelson (Ventura College) and Jaden Rosenthall (Butler CC), and redshirt freshman Nate Korte will make their first career starts on Southeast Missouri's offensive line against Southern Illinois. Baker will start at left tackle, Nelson will start at center, Rosenthall will be at right guard and Korte will start at right tackle. Senior Elijah Swehla is the only returning starter on the offensive line at left guard. Swehla started all 13 games there last season.

Ball Security
Southeast Missouri lost only one fumble in 2018, the fewest in the Football Championship Subdivision and Ohio Valley Conference. The Redhawks fumbled the ball just seven times on a single-season school record 891 plays. SEMO has not lost a fumble in 10-straight games and 14 of its last 15 contests.

Racking Up Sacks
Southeast Missouri led the Ohio Valley Conference in sacks each of the last two seasons. The Redhawks finished with 29 sacks in 2018. SEMO has accumulated 129 sacks for an average of 25.8 per season under head coach Tom Matukewicz. The Redhawks twice finished a season with over 30 sacks (31 in 2015; 37 in 2017) during that span. Matukewicz's 2017 (2nd) and 2015 (4th) teams are among the school's top four single-season leaders in sacks.

About #13 Montana State
Montana State is one of only two NCAA Division I schools in the state of Montana. MSU, a member of the Big Sky Conference, is off to a 0-1 start this young season after falling, 45-10, at Football Bowl Subdivision Texas Tech on Aug. 31. Isaiah Ifanse ran for 77 yards and Casey Bauman threw for 120 yards and a touchdown in the Bobcats season-opener. MSU is coached by Jeff Choate. The Bobcats were 8-5 overall and advanced to the second round of the NCAA FCS Playoffs in 2018.

Scoring Streak
The Redhawks presently have the second-longest scoring streak in the Ohio Valley Conference. Southeast Missouri has scored in 91-consecutive games and ranks behind Murray State (153) in that category. The last time the Redhawks were shutout in a game was at Purdue (59-0) on Sept. 17, 2011.

Happy 150th Anniversary
This year marks the 150th anniversary of college football (CFB150). CFB150 is a year-long celebration at all levels to commemorate the first college football game, which was played on November 6, 1869. All teams across the country will wear special patches on their uniforms to honor the 150th Anniversary of college football.