CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri will play an 11-game football schedule with five games at Houck Field in 2021.
Four opponents on the Redhawks schedule this fall ranked in the final STATS Perform Football Championship Subdivision Top 25, including Sam Houston (No. 1), Southern Illinois (No. 8), Murray State (No. 18) and Austin Peay (No. 23).
SEMO kicks off its season against longtime rival SIU (Sept. 2) at home. This year marks the 89th meeting in a series that dates back to 1909 when the teams crossed the Mississippi River by boat to play.
The game is now known as the "War for the Wheel" in reference to the ship's wheel trophy which goes to the winner. The wheel currently resides in Carbondale after the then-No. 24 Salukis kicked a last second field goal to beat then-No. 25 SEMO, 20-17, on Oct. 30, 2020.
SEMO will then travel to reigning FCS National Champion Sam Houston (Sept. 11) and Football Bowl Subdivision and Southeastern Conference member Missouri (Sept. 18) for its other non-conference games.
Sam Houston finished the spring with a perfect 10-0 record and edged South Dakota State, 23-21, to win their first national title.
The Redhawks square off against Missouri for the fifth time in program history. The Tigers won the first four games in the series, all of which were played in Columbia.
Ohio Valley Conference football-playing members will play six Conference games in a round-robin format as part of the official OVC schedule.
Furthermore, OVC Directors of Athletics agreed to schedule additional games against OVC opponents outside the structure of the Conference schedule as a way to play competitive games within the region. These designated matchups against OVC opponents will not count in the Conference standings. The dates of these matchups will be announced by the individual member schools as part of their full schedule release.
In developing this scheduling option, the Directors of Athletics worked together to ensure the unique scheduling needs of each program were addressed.
SEMO will begin its OVC slate at home against Tennessee State (Sept. 25). Murray State (Oct. 16), Eastern Illinois (Oct. 30) and UT Martin (Nov. 20) also come to Cape Girardeau, although the home game with Murray State will not count in the Conference standings.
The away portion of the Redhawks schedule includes trips to Tennessee Tech (Oct. 2), Austin Peay (Oct. 9), UT Martin (Oct. 23) and Murray State (Nov. 13). The road game at UT Martin is designated as SEMO's other matchup that will not count in the OVC standings.
The 2021 campaign will mark the 74th football season for the OVC.
Ticket Information
Season ticket renewals and new sales are now open for the upcoming fall season.
SEMO Athletics will return to full capacity for games at Houck Field this fall. Current season ticket holders will return to their original seat locations (same as the 2019 season). The deadline to renew season tickets is Friday, July 2.
A limited number of permanent chairback seats at the 50-yard line are available for the fall season. New this year, season ticket holders in Reserved Bleacher sections will have the option to add a padded chairback that will be installed for the season at their seat location. Season ticket options also include the Touchdown Plaza tailgate area, as well as the all-inclusive Field Goal Club, which features all-you-can-eat-and-drink provisions from Mary Jane bourbon + smokehouse, Kohlfeld Distributing and Pepsi.
For more information or to purchase fall 2021 SEMO Football season tickets, visit
GoSoutheast.com/FBtickets or call the Athletic
Ticket Office at (573) 651-2113.
