Austin Peay (1-4, 1-1 OVC) vs. Southeast Missouri (1-2, 1-1 OVC)

Game Information
Date: Sunday, March 14, 2021
Kickoff: 2 p.m., CT
Weather Forecast: Showers, 57 degrees
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Facility: Houck Field (10,000)
Surface: FieldTurf
Series: SEMO leads, 16-8
Last Meeting: APSU 28, SEMO 24 (Oct. 12, 2019 | Clarksville, Tenn.
Head Coaches: Tom Matukewicz (35-40 overall; 34-40 at SEMO; 26-23 OVC). Scott Walden (1-1 overall; 1-1 at APSU).

Follow the Redhawks
Radio: Real Rock 99.3 FM (Erik Sean, Rick Wieser)
Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoSoutheast.com
Twitter: @SEMOfootball
Game Notes: Southeast Missouri (PDF)

Redhawks Host Governors
Defending Co-Ohio Valley Conference Champions Southeast Missouri (1-2, 1-1) and Austin Peay (1-4, 1-1) meet Sunday. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m., CT at Houck Field.

Follow the Redhawks
Fans can listen live on the radio at Real Rock 99.3 FM. Erik Sean and Rick Wieser will be on the call. Watch on ESPN+. Live stats are available at GoSoutheast.com and Twitter updates will be provided @SEMOfootball.

Home Again
Southeast Missouri plays at home for the second-straigh week when it welcomes Austin Peay Sunday. The Redhawks dropped their home-opener to Murray State, 24-21, on Mar. 7. SEMO has three home games scheduled this spring with the other being Mar. 28 (vs. Tennessee Tech).

Series History
Southeast Missouri and Austin Peay meet for the 25th time. SEMO leads the all-time series between the teams, 16-8. The Redhawks have won eight of the last 10 games of the series. Each of the last three contests were decided by seven or less points.

About Austin Peay
Austin Peay is 1-4 overall and 1-1 in Ohio Valley Conference play this year. Two of the Governors three games in the fall were against nationally-ranked opponents (#11 Central Arkansas, #13 Cincinnati). After going 0-3 in its fall campaign, APSU is presently 1-1 in league play this spring. The Governors picked up their first conference win with a 27-20 victory at home against Tennessee State (Feb. 28). APSU is under the direction of Scott Walden who was hired as the Governors new head coach last November. APSU is last in the Ohio Valley Conference in red zone defense. Opponents have scored 88.9 percent (24-of-27) of the time in the red zone against the Governors this season.

Custis Goes Over 2,000 All-Purpose Yards
Zion Custis recently surpassed 2,000 all-purpose yards in his career when he finished with 103 vs. Murray State (Mar. 7). Custis had 41 rushing yards, 17 receiving yards and 45 kick return yards against the Racers. He now has 2,052 all-purpose yards in his career (1,162 rushing, 74 receiving, 816 kick return yards).

Pick Six
The Redhawks returned an interception for a touchdown in each of their first two games this spring. Al Young had a 25-yard interception return for a touchdown at Eastern Illinois (Feb. 28) and Shabari Davis ran back his interception 33 yards vs. Murray State (Mar. 7). Davis' touchdown gave the Redhawks a 21-17 lead with 11:47 remaining in the game. Young and Davis are tied for first on the team with two interceptions each. Southeast Missouri ranks second in the Ohio Valley Conference with seven interceptions.

Donnell Gets Career-High in Tackles
Defensive tackle Bryson Donnell turned in a career-high 10 tackles against Murray State (Mar. 7). Donnell tallied one solo tackle and assisted on nine others. He is the first Redhawk to get double-digit tackles in a game this season.

Regular-Season Home Games
Southeast Missouri saw its 12-game winning streak in regular season home games end with a 24-21 loss to Murray State (Mar. 7). SEMO has won 12 of its last 13 regular-season home games at Houck Field. The Redhawks started that 12-game winning streak with a victory over Murray State on Nov. 18, 2017 and end in their recent loss to the Racers on Mar. 7, 2021.

Redhawks Receiving Votes
After its loss to Murray State, Southeast Missouri dropped out of this week's STATS Perform Media Poll. The Redhawks were No. 16 prior to their loss to the Racers. SEMO received 77 votes and Austin Peay garnered 10 votes in the Mar. 8 poll. STATS Perform Media Poll Rankings
Preseason    #25
2/22/21    #21
3/1/21    #16
3/8/21    RV

Fourth Down Stops
The Redhawks have stopped their opponents on fourth down eight times this year. Opponents are 1-of-9 against Southeast Missouri's defense on fourth down. That equates to just 11.1 percent. SEMO is second in the Ohio Valley Conference in opponent fourth down conversions.

Scoring Offense
Southeast Missouri is first in the Ohio Valley Conference in scoring offense entering this weekend's matchup with Austin Peay. The Redhawks are averaging 28.3 points per game through three contests. Austin Peay is second-to-last in the league in scoring defense allowing 36.2 points per contest.

Haynes Leads OVC in Punting
Redshirt-freshman Zach Haynes punted for the first time in his Southeast Missouri career at Southern Illinois (Oct. 30). Haynes' first career punt sailed 50 yards and was downed at SIU's 1-yard line. He punted three times for 135 yards, averaging 45 yards per punt that game. Two games into the spring, Haynes is atop the Ohio Valley Conference in punting with 41.7 yards per punt.

Bye Week Game
The Redhawks hosted the Racers in their spring opener on Mar. 7. That game was rescheduled to the Ohio Valley Conference's by week after a winter storm wiped out the original Feb. 21 date. Cape Girardeau was slammed with large amounts of sleet, snow and ice the week before the initial Feb. 21 contest.

Spring Opening Blowout
The Redhawks opened their Ohio Valley Conference spring season with a dominating 47-7 win over Eastern Illinois on Feb. 28 in Charleston. Defensively, Southeast Missouri put together an outstanding performance recording four takeaways (three interceptions) and stopping EIU five times on fourth down. SEMO limited the Panthers to only 114 yards in the game's opening two quarters.

High Scoring Affair
Southeast Missouri's 47 points against Eastern Illinois were its most in 28 meetings with the Panthers. SEMO also scored its most points in an Ohio Valley Conference road game since finishing with 56 at UT Martin on Oct. 27, 2018.

Quite Awhile
When Southeast Missouri took the field for its Ohio Valley Conference opener at Eastern Illinois (Feb. 28), it was the first OVC game SEMO played in 463 days. 

Congratulations Coach Tuke!
With Southeast Missouri's 47-7 win at Eastern Illinois (Feb. 28), Tom Matukewicz claimed its 34th victory at SEMO. As a result, Matukewicz passed John Mumford (1990-99) for the most wins of any head coach during its NCAA Division I era. The conference win also gave Matukewicz the most OVC victories of any SEMO head coach since the Redhawks moved to Division I. Matukewicz (26) also surpassed Mumford for that mark.

Margin of Victory
The 40-point win (47-7) over Eastern Illinois (Feb. 28) was the Redhawks largest in an Ohio Valley Conference game. Southeast Missouri's +40 margin of victory surpassed its previous +36 (49-13) win over Murray State on Nov. 14, 2009. 

King Reaches First 100-Yard Receiving Game
Newcomer Johnny King posted the first 100-yard receiving game of his Southeast Missouri career when he caught seven passes for 115 yards and a touchdown at Eastern Illinois (Feb. 28). King scored his second touchdown of the season on a 17-yard reception with 1:28 left to play in the second quarter. He has caught a touchdown pass in two of his first three games as a Redhawk. King has 13 receptions for 181 yards and two touchdowns as SEMO's leading receiver thus far. He ranks eighth in the Ohio Valley Conference in receiving yards per game (60.3) and seventh in receptions per game (4.3).

Bunch Clears 300 Passing Yards
In his first career Ohio Valley Conference start, quarterback Andrew Bunch threw for 302 yards and one touchdown at Eastern Illinois (Feb. 28). Bunch completed 23-of-37 passes and did not throw an interception. He also completed five passes of 25 or more yards against the Panthers. Bunch ranks fourth in the OVC in passing average (155.7 ypg) and second in total offense (187 ypg).

Two For Me, Two For You
Running backs Zion Custis and Geno Hess each scored two rushing touchdowns in Southeast Missouri's first win of the spring at Eastern Illinois (Feb. 28). Custis scored the game's first touchdown on a 9-yard run and hit paydirt on a 1-yard plunge in the second quarter. Meanwhile, Hess scored from a yard out early in the second quarter and had an 8-yard TD run in the third quarter. Both Custis and Hess now have three games with multiple rushing touchdowns in their careers. 

Multiple Touchdowns
Zion Custis scored two rushing touchdowns in each of his last two games. Custis most recently scored on a 5-yard run in the first quarter and hit paydirt on a 1-yard rush in the fourth quarter vs. Murray State (Mar. 7). He has scored multiple rushing touchdowns four times in his career. 

Fast Scoring
Southeast Missouri scored three of its touchdowns at Eastern Illinois (Feb. 28) in less than a minute. SEMO's first two touchdowns came in 38 and 46 seconds, respectively. Al Young's interception return for a 25-yard touchdown was the other score.

Season 116
The 2020-21 campaign is Southeast Missouri's 116th season of college football. The Redhawks begin their 30th season at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. SEMO joined the FCS in 1991 and is 123-210 with two Ohio Valley Conference titles (2010, 2019) and three NCAA Playoff appearances (2010, 2018, 2019) as a Division I program. The Redhawks are also 86-139 all-time in OVC games.

Matukewicz vs. Austin Peay
Tom Matukewicz is 4-2 against Austin Peay. Matukewicz has defeated the Governors the most of any Ohio Valley Conference opponent along with Murray State (4-3) and Tennessee Tech (4-2).

Most in the OVC
The Redhawks won 14 Ohio Valley Conference games over the last two-plus seasons and lead the league during that span. Southeast Missouri is 1-0 this year went 7-1 in 2019 and 6-2 in 2018 for a combined 14-3 record vs. league foes.

Matukewicz Momentum
Southeast Missouri is in its seventh year under the direction of Head Coach Tom Matukewicz. Matukewicz led the Redhawks to back-to-back nine-win seasons for the first time in program history (9-4 in 2018; 9-4 in 2019). The defending Ohio Valley Conference Champions, SEMO is also coming off back-to-back FCS Playoff appearances. Matukewicz is 34-40 overall and 26-23 in the OVC as the Redhawks head coach.

Games with a Catch
Aaron Alston has caught a pass in 18-straight games dating back to the 2018 season. Alston finished with four receptions for 83 yards at Eastern Illinois (Feb. 28).

FBS Transfer Quarterbacks
Andrew Bunch is the fourth quarterback to transfer to Southeast Missouri from a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) school in seven years with Tom Matukewicz at the helm. Bunch moves under center after Daniel Santacaterina (Northern Illinois) started at quarterback the last two seasons. Kyle Snyder (Ohio) and Alex Niznak (Central Michigan) are the other FBS transfer quarterbacks that played at SEMO since 2014. 

Quite a Turnaround
Prior to the 2018 season, Southeast Missouri had a combined 18 wins over a five-year period (2013-17). The Redhawks matched that win total in the last two seasons alone. SEMO went 18-8 with one Ohio Valley Conference title, one postseason win and two FCS Playoff berths during the 2018 and 2019 campaigns. The 18 victories are the most in a two-year span in program history. SEMO's highest two-year win total during the Redhawks NCAA Division I era was 13 (8 in 2002; 5 in 2003) before SEMO topped that mark last season.

Senior Driven
Southeast Missouri's current group of 18 seniors is just three victories away from becoming the all-time winningest senior class in program history. This senior class (2017-present) has 22 wins. The senior class from 2016-19 holds the record with 24 victories.