Southeast Missouri (3-4, 3-3 OVC) at Tennessee State (2-4, 2-4 OVC)

Game Information
Date: Sunday, April 11, 2021
Kickoff: 2:30 p.m., CT
Location: Nashville, Tenn. 
Facility: W.J. Hale Stadium (15,000)
Surface: Bermuda Sod
Series: TSU leads, 14-13
Last Meeting: SEMO 32, TSU 13 (Nov. 2, 2019 | Nashville, Tenn.)
Head Coaches: Tom Matukewicz (37-42 overall; 36-42 at SEMO; 28-25 OVC). Rod Reed (58-60 overall; 58-60 at TSU).

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

Redhawks Close Out Season
Southeast Missouri (3-4, 3-3) closes out its season at Tennessee State (2-4, 2-4) Sunday. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m., CT at Hale Stadium.

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

Series History
Southeast Missouri and Tennessee State hook up for the 28th time Sunday. TSU presently holds a 14-13 edge in the overall series. SEMO ended an eight-game losing streak in Nashville with its 32-13 win on Nov. 2, 2019. The Redhawks go for their third-straight win over the Tigers in the series.

Season Finale
The Redhawks wrap up their seven-game Ohio Valley Conference spring season at Tennessee State. Southeast Missouri carries a two-game winning streak into Sunday's matchup after beating Tennessee Tech (Mar. 28), 24-21, at home and UT Martin (Apr. 3), 21-16, on the road. The Redhawks are 2-2 in road games this year.

Redhawks Take Down UT Martin
Andrew Bunch threw for two touchdowns and Geno Hess ran for a game-high 89 yards and one touchdown to lead Southeast Missouri to a 21-16 win over UT Martin (Apr. 3). SEMO scored 14 points in the third quarter and those held up big in the end. Defensively, the Redhawks had three takeaways and stopped the Skyhawks four times on fourth down.

Hess Leads FCS in Rushing Touchdowns
Geno Hess leads the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and Ohio Valley Conference with nine rushing touchdowns through seven games this season. Hess scored multiple rushing touchdowns on two occasions in 2020. He ranks sixth nationally with 579 rushing yards, as well. He scored a rushing touchdown in five of his seven games in 2020.

Pirtle Voted OVC Defensive Player of the Week
Bryant Pirtle was named Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Apr. 5. Pirtle finished with seven tackles, a sack, two tackles for loss, one forced fumble and a fumble recovery in the Redhawks win over UT Martin (Apr. 3). He recorded five solo tackles and assisted on two other stops. Pirtle had his first sack, forced fumble and fumble recovery of the season on the same play when he dropped John Bachus for a loss of seven yards in the first quarter. SEMO won one of the league's honors for the second-straight week.

Haynes Has Big Game
Redshirt-freshman Zach Haynes punted six times for 270 yards and averaged 45 yards per punt in Southeast Missouri's 21-16 win over UT Martin (Apr. 3). Haynes dropped two of his punts inside the 20-yard line and had a 50-yard punt on his second attempt of the game. His punts travelled distances of 45, 50, 40, 48, 38 and 49 yards in the game. Haynes' final punt pinned UTM at its 9-yard line and the Skyhawks last drive of the game resulted in a fourth-down stop at their own 24.

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

First Career Touchdown for Palmer
Rashaan Palmer scored his first career touchdown on a 74-yard pass from Andrew Bunch early in the third quarter at UT Martin (Apr. 3). Palmer caught a tipped pass in stride on his way to the end zone. The 74-yard reception ranks as the eighth-longest in program history.

Big Performance
Zack Smith's 173 receiving yards vs. Tennessee Tech (Mar. 28) stand as the second-most in a game of any Ohio Valley Conference player this year. Smith's strong effort against the Golden Eagles ranks 12th on Southeast Missouri's top-20 single-game receiving yards list. Additionally, Smith became the first Redhawk to get 10 catches in a game since Paul McRoberts accomplished that feat vs. UT Martin on Nov. 21, 2015.

Bunch Goes Over 1,000 Passing Yards
Andrew Bunch completed 18-of-24 passes for 259 yards and two touchdowns against Tennessee Tech (Mar. 28). As a result, Bunch went over 1,000 passing yards this season. His 1,188 passing yards rank third in the Ohio Valley Conference. Bunch is one of four quarterbacks in the OVC with over 1,000 passing yards in 2021. UT Martin's John Bachus (1,432), Austin Peay's Draylen Ellis (1,270) and Jacksonville State's Zion Webb (1,285) are the others.

Punting Leader
Redshirt-freshman leads the Ohio Valley Conference and ranks 15th in the Football Championship Subdivision in punting with 42.2 yards per punt. Haynes has punted 34 times for 1,435 yards this year.

Receptions Per Game
Zack Smith is third in the Ohio Valley Conference in receptions per game. Smith is averaging 5.1 receptions per contest behind Austin Peay's DeAngelo Wilson (6.3) and UT Martin's Colton Dowell (5.7). 

Johnson Reaches Double-Digit Tackles Again
For the third time in four games, Lawrence Johnson notched double-digit tackles when he turned in 10 at UT Martin (Apr. 3). Johnson also had a career-high 12 tackles vs. Tennessee Tech (Mar. 28) and 10 vs. Austin Peay (Mar. 14). He leads the Redhawks with 49 tackles this season.

Doak Decides It 
Kenny Doak kicked a 23-yard field goal with 10:28 remaining in the fourth quarter that ended up being the difference in Southeast Missouri's 24-21 win over Tennessee Tech (Mar. 28). Doak did not miss a kick against the Golden Eagles with his field goal and 3-of-3 PATs.

PAT Streak 
Kenny Doak enters the weekend with a streak of 16-consecutive extra points. Doak has not missed a PAT since the 8:18 mark of the third quarter at Eastern Illinois on Feb. 28. He is 20-of-21 in PATs this year.

So Close
Three of Southeast Missouris four losses this season were by a combined 13 points. The Redhawks lost, 20-17, on a last second field goal at #24 Southern Illinois (Oct. 30). Against Murray State (Mar. 7), SEMO lost by a score of 24-21. And, the Redhawks suffered a 49-42 double overtime setback against Austin Peay (Mar. 14). In 2019, SEMO was involved in five games decided by seven points or less. The Redhawks, however, won all of those contests that year -- 43-37 vs. Tennessee Tech; 24-21 at Jacksonville State; 17-10 vs. UT Martin; 38-31 vs. Eastern Kentucky; 31-24 vs. Murray State.

Hess Express
Geno Hess ran for 115 yards and a career-high four touchdowns in Southeast Missouri's double overtime loss to Austin Peay (Mar. 14). Hess carried the ball 38 times en route to his second 100-yard game of the season. He scored the game-tying touchdown on a 5-yard run to force overtime with 23 seconds left in regulation. Hess then gave SEMO a 42-35 lead with a 2-yard touchdown on the Redhawks first possession of overtime. 

OVC Second-Leading Rusher
Geno Hess is second in the Ohio Valley Conference in rushing with 82.7 yards per game. Hess also leads the conference in scoring (TDs) and scoring with 7.7 points per contest.

Clutch Catches
Zack Smith finished with five receptions for 41 yards vs. Austin Peay (Mar. 14). All of Smith's catches came on third or fourth down and resulted in Southeast Missouri moving the chains. Smith also returned three kickoffs for 70 yards. He then followed that up by establishing a career-high eight catches at Jacksonville State (Mar. 21). Smith leads the team with 36 receptions and 378 receiving yards.

About Tennessee State
Tennessee State is seventh in the Ohio Valley Conference standings with a record of 2-4 in league play. The Tigers dropped two of their last three contests, including a 24-10 setback against Tennessee Tech (Apr. 3). TSU is last in the OVC in scoring offense averaging just 17.7 points a game. The Tigers are also last in total offense (290.2 ypg). TSU tops the league in both kickoff returns (22.9 ypr) and punt return average (11.1 ypr). The Tigers have the OVC's top rusher in Devon Starling. Starling is averaging 90.7 yards per game. Meanwhile, Dayron Johnson tops the conference in kick return average (25.8 ypr) and all-purpose yards (92.8 ypg). Antonio Zito leads the league in field goals (2.17 per game) and field goal percentage (13-of-19, 68.4 pct.), as well.

Bunch Among League Leaders
Andrew Bunch enters the weekend ranked third in the Ohio Valley Conference in passing average (169.7 ypg), seventh in pass efficiency (109.5) and fourth in total offense (183.9 ypg). Bunch's seven passing touchdowns are tied for fourth among league leaders, as well.

Red Zone Defense
Southeast Missouri boasts the top red zone defense in the Ohio Valley Conference this year. Opponents are 15-of-24 (62.5 pct.) against SEMO inside the 20-yard line. The Redhawks also forced two turnovers in the red zone. Additionally, SEMO ranks ninth in the FCS in red zone defense.

Third in Scoring
Southeast Missouri ranks third in the Ohio Valley Conference in scoring with 25 points per game. The Redhawks have scored over 40 points twice this year with a season-high 47 at Eastern Ilinois (Oct. 30).