Gardner-Webb (2-5, 1-2 Big South-OVC) vs. #6 Southeast Missouri (7-1, 4-0 Big South-OVC)

Game Information
Date: Saturday, October 26, 2024
Kickoff: 2 p.m., CT
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Facility: Houck Field (8,000)
Surface: Field Turf
Series: First Meeting

Head Coaches
Gardner-Webb: Cris Reisert (42-16 overall; 2-5 at GWU; 1-2 Big South-OVC)
Southeast Missouri: Tom Matukewicz (62-60 overall; 61-60 at SEMO; 45-30 Big South-OVC)

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

Redhawks Host Gardner-Webb
•    #6 Southeast Missouri plays host to Gardner-Webb during Homecoming weekend Saturday. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m., CT at Houck Field.
•    Gardner-Webb is the second-straight Big South school SEMO faces after beating Charleston Southern, 26-13, on the road Oct. 19.
•    The Redhawks are 1-2 against Big South schools. SEMO fell to Robert Morris (21-20) and Bryant (45-21) in 2023, and defeated Charleston Southern (26-23) in 2024.
•    Gardner-Webb is the first North Carolina school SEMO plays in its program history. It is located in Boiling Springs, N.C., 583 miles east of Cape Girardeau.

Series Notes
•    Southeast Missouri and Gardner-Webb meet for the first time in 2024.
•    Gardner-Webb is one of two Big South football schools. The other is Charleston Southern.

Seven Wins
•    The Redhawks picked up their seventh win of the season when they defeated Charleston Southern, 26-13, on Oct. 19.
•    Southeast Missouri won seven or more games in a season for the fourth time under Head Coach Tom Matukewicz.
•    SEMO is one of 10 teams in all of NCAA Division I football with seven or more wins.
•    FCS schools Montana State (8-0), UC Davis (7-1) and North Dakota State (7-1), and FBS schools Oregon (7-0), Miami (7-0), Iowa State (7-0), Indiana (7-0), BYU (7-0) and Army West Point (7-0) are the others.

Homecoming at SEMO
•    Gardner-Webb makes its first-ever trip to Cape Girardeau on Southeast Missouri's Homecoming weekend.
•    Saturday is SEMO's 33rd Homecoming game since it moved to the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision level in 1991.
•    The Redhawks are 17-15 all-time in those Homecoming matchups.
•    SEMO is 6-3 in Homecoming games under Head Coach Tom Matukewicz. The Redhawks did not play a Homecoming game in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
•    The Redhawks beat Eastern Illinois, 35-28, on Homecoming in 2023 (Oct. 14).

Six-Game Winning Streak
•    The Redhawks carry a six-game winning streak into this weekend's matchup with Gardner-Webb.
•    That stretch started with a 45-42 double overtime victory over Big South-OVC preseason favorite UT Martin on Sept. 7.
•    SEMO followed that up with a 38-21 road win at #7 Southern Illinois (Sept. 21), 19-0 home victory over Northwestern State (Sept. 28), 38-27 road win at Eastern Illinois (Oct. 5), 34-3 home win over Tennessee Tech (Oct. 12) and 26-13 road victory at Charleston Southern (Oct. 19).
•    One more victory will give Tom Matukewicz his longest winning streak as SEMO's head coach.
•    It will also give the Redhawks their longest winning streak since they won nine in a row in 2010.

Big South-OVC Play
•    The Redhawks are in Big South-OVC play for the rest of the season.
•    Southeast Missouri is in sole possession of first place in the standings with a 4-0 mark.
•    SEMO beat both teams (UT Martin, Eastern Illinois) ahead of the Redhawks in this year's Big South-OVC Preseason Poll.
•    The Redhawks took down Big South-OVC preseason favorite UT Martin, 45-42, in double overtime on Sept. 7, defeated Eastern Illinois (Oct. 5), 38-27, on the road, beat Tennessee Tech (Oct. 12), 34-3, and took down Charleston Southern (Oct. 19), 26-13, for their conference wins.
•    SEMO (3-0) and Tennessee State (3-0) are the only Big South-OVC schools undefeated at home this year.

Record Smasher
•    Paxton DeLaurent broke three Southeast Missouri career records against Tennessee Tech (Oct. 12).
•    DeLaurent became the school's all-time career leader in passing yardage, passing touchdowns and completions.
•    He has thrown for 6,898 yards and 51 touchdowns, and completed 586 passes in his career.
•    DeLaurent surpassed Jason Liley (6,179, 1989-92) for the passing yardage record, Daniel Santacaterina (46, 2018-19) for the passing touchdowns mark and Liley (530) for the pass completions record.
•    He is only the second quarterback in program history to throw for over 6,000 yards.
•    DeLaurent has thrown a touchdown pass in all eight of his starts this season.

Another Career Record Ahead for DeLaurent
•    Paxton DeLaurent looks to break his fifth Southeast Missouri career record this weekend.
•    DeLaurent, presently with 7,270 yards, needs 167 more to become the school's all-time career leader in total offense.
•    Matt Scheible (2008-11) currently holds the record with 7,436 total yards.
•    DeLaurent also broke SEMO's all-time career records in passing yards, pass attempts, passing touchdowns and completions this year.

DeLaurent Clears 2,000 Passing Yards
•    Paxton DeLaurent went over 2,000 passing yards this season when he threw for a career-high 418 against Tennessee Tech (Oct. 12).
•    DeLaurent is one of six FCS quarterbacks over 2,000 passing yards. 
•    He is third nationally in that category behind Abilene Christian's Maverick McIvor (2,552) and UC Davis' Miles Hastings (2,515). Monmouth's Derek Robertson (2,274), Missouri State's Jacob Clark (2,252) and Western Carolina's Cole Gonzales (2,148) are the others with over 2,000 passing yards.
•    DeLaurent surpassed 2,000 passing yards in a season for the second time in his career.
•    He leads the Big South-OVC and ranks third in the FCS in passing yards.

Riddick Leads Big South-OVC in Punt Returns
•    Khalani Riddick leads the Big South-OVC and ranks 16th in the FCS in punt returns.
•    Riddick returned 17 punts for 200 yards averaging 11.8 yards per return through eight games.
•    His 200 punt return yards rate 10th among Southeast Missouri's all-time single-season leaders in that category.

Flight Trip Win
•    For the first time, Southeast Missouri won a game on a flight trip during its NCAA Division I era when it beat Charleston Southern, 26-13, on Oct. 19.
•    SEMO flew for the second time this season when it made the trek to Charleston, South Carolina.
•    The Redhawks previously were 0-7 in games they flew to since joining the NCAA Division I FCS ranks in 1991.
•    SEMO has flown two seven games under Head Coach Tom Matukewicz making trips to Weber State (Loss, 2018), Montana State (Loss, 2019), Sam Houston State (Loss, 2021), Montana (Loss, 2022), Bryant (Loss, 2023), New Mexico State (Loss, 2024) and Charleston Southern (Win, 2024).

Big South-OVC Update
•    At 7-1 overall, Big South-OVC leader Southeast Missouri has the best record of anyone in the league this season.
•    Only three teams in the Big South-OVC have winning overall records, including SEMO, Tennessee State (6-2) and UT Martin (4-3).
•    The Redhawks are the only undefeated team in Big South-OVC play with their 4-0 mark.
•    Three teams are behind SEMO with one conference loss. Tennessee State (3-1), UT Martin (2-1) and Western Illinois (2-1) are in that group.
•    SEMO (6 games), TSU (4 game) and UTM (3 games) are all on winning streaks of three or more games.

Road Winning Streak
•    Southeast Missouri picked up its third-straight road win when it defeated Charleston Southern, 26-13, on Oct. 19.
•    SEMO (3-1) is the only Big South-OVC team with a winning record on the road this season.
•    The Redhawks also beat then-#7 Southern Illinois, 38-21, on Sept. 21 and Eastern Illinois, 38-27, on Oct. 5 during that stretch.
•    SEMO last won three-consecutive road games in 2022.
•    Overall, the Redhawks are 4-1 outside of Cape Girardeau this season with its other victory coming at a neutral site against North Alabama in the FCS Kickoff in Montgomery, Alabama on Aug. 24.

Over Halfway to 100
•    Bryce Norman leads Southeast Missouri with 74 tackles through eight starts this season.
•    Norman is 26 tackles away from getting 100 in a season for the second time in his career.
•    He recorded a career-best 119 tackles in 2022. 
•    Norman led SEMO in tackles every year he has been in a Redhawk uniform.
•    He leads the Big South-OVC and ranks 17th in the FCS in total tackles. Norman is averaging 9.3 tackles per game and has recorded double-digit stops three times this year.

What a Turnaround
•    After finishing the 2023 season last in the Big South-OVC Association in sacks, Southeast Missouri is third in the conference in that category this year.
•    SEMO has 20 sacks and is averaging 2.5 per contest.
•    The Redhawks are +6 from their 14 sacks in 11 games during the 2023 campaign.
•    Nationally, the Redhawks are 28th in the FCS in sacks.
•    Nine different SEMO players have recorded a sack this season. Nasim Cairo and Jeremy Walton pave the way with four and 3.5 sacks, respectively.

Offensive Line Getting it Done
•    Southeast Missouri's offensive line has had to battle through an abundance of injuries this season.
•    Currently, SEMO is without three starters and has had seven offensive linemen affected by injury through eight games.
•    The Redhawks have powered through the adversity leading the Big South-OVC in sacks allowed. SEMO's offensive line allowed just 11 sacks for an average of 1.4 per game.
•    This is a big improvement for SEMO's O-line which gave up 34 sacks in 2023.

Redhawks Move to Highest Ranking in Program History
•    Southeast Missouri reached its highest ranking in program history at #6 in the American Football Coaches Association Coaches and Stats Perform Media polls on Oct. 21.
•    SEMO is a Top-10 team for the first time in 14 years.
•    The #6 ranking surpassed the Redhawks previous #7 ranking in the Stats Perform Media Poll on Nov. 8, 2010.
•    It is the sixth-straight week where the Redhawks are ranked in both Top-25 polls.
•    The Redhawks initially landed in the Top-25 in both polls on Sept. 16.
•    SEMO and Tennessee State (#25, Stats Perform Media Poll) are the only Top-25 schools in the Big South-OVC.
•    The Redhawks have been ranked a total of 38 weeks in either the AFCA or Stats Perform Top-25 polls under Head Coach Tom Matukewicz.

AFCA Coaches    Stats Perform
Sept. 16    #21    Sept. 16    #21
Sept. 23    #14    Sept. 23    #13
Sept. 30    #13    Sept. 30    #13
Oct. 7    #9    Oct. 7    #11
Oct. 14    #8    Oct, 14    #8
Oct. 21    #6    Oct. 21    #6

Pippin Propels Redhawks
•    DC Pippin matched his career-high of four field goals when he made 4-of-5 at Charleston Southern (Oct. 19).
•    Pippin finished with a career-best 14 points against the Buccaneers. He made field goals of 25, 24, 34 and 27 yards, and connected on 2-of-2 PATs 
in that game.
•    He also scored 13 of SEMO's points and made four field goals against Northwestern State (Sept. 28).
•    Pippin scored the final 12 points of that game on kicks of 30, 38, 37 and 24 yards. 
•    That performance came three weeks after he kicked his first career game-winning field goal to beat UT Martin (Sept. 7) in double overtime.
•    Pippin is SEMO's leading scorer this season with 75 points (17-of-24 field goals and 24-of-25 extra points).
•    He leads the Big South-OVC and ranks 13th in the FCS in scoring with 9.4 points per game.
•    Pippin made a field goal in eight-straight games and has scored double-digit points four times in 2024.
•    He is second all-time on SEMO's career point after touchdown list. Pippin (111-of-113) is behind Derek Kutz (136-of-143, 2001-04) on that list.
•    He is the third kicker in program history to make 100 PATs in his career joining Kutz and Ryan McCrum (100-of-104, 2013-16).
•    Pippin was named Big South-OVC Specialist of the Week on Sept. 30 and Oct. 7.

Defense Brings It
•    Southeast Missouri leads the Big South-OVC in total defense (309 ypg allowed), scoring defense (18 ppg allowed), pass efficiency defense (117.5 rating), opponent fourth-down conversions (35 pct.), and red zone defense (66.7 pct.).
•    SEMO forced five turnovers inside the red zone and stopped opponents on fourth down 13 times this year.
•    The Redhawks have given up 18 touchdowns through eight games for an average of 2.3 per contest.
•    SEMO also pitched a shutout and held opponents under 20 points four times in 2024.
•    Nationally, the Redhawks rank sixth in the FCS in red zone defense, 16th in total defense, 10th in scoring defense, 13th in rushing defense and 21st in opponent fourth-down conversion percentage. 
•    The Redhawks have not allowed a touchdown in their last two home games.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Great Start
•    At 7-1, Southeast Missouri has its best record in its first eight games of a season under Head Coach Tom Matukewicz.
•    Prior to this year, SEMO's best start to a season with Matukewicz at the helm was 6-1 in 2022.
•    The Redhawks surpassed their total number of wins from 2023 (4-7) by a +3 margin.
•    SEMO last began a season at 7-1 in 2010. That year, the Redhawks won nine of their first 10 contests en route to the program's first-ever Ohio Valley Conference title and NCAA FCS Playoff appearance.
•    The Redhawks are one of four teams that are 7-0 against FCS schools this season. The others are Montana State, UC Davis and North Dakota State.

Winning Season
•    With its seventh win at Charleston Southern (26-13) on Oct. 19, Southeast Missouri clinched its fourth winning season with Tom Matukewicz as its head coach.
•    SEMO also posted winning records under Matukewicz in 2018 (9-4), 2019 (9-4) and 2022 (9-3).
•    This is the seventh time during the school's NCAA Division I FCS era where the Redhawks accumulated seven or more wins in a season.
•    The 2024 campaign marks SEMO's seventh winning season in their NCAA Division I FCS tenure.

Offense Produces
•    Southeast Missouri leads the Big South-OVC in scoring offense (31.6 ppg), total offensive plays (590), touchdowns scored (29), total offense (407.1 ppg), points scored kicking (253), total offense (407.1), passing offense (315.7 ypg), pass attempts (368), pass completions (227) and passing touchdowns (21).
•    Nationally, SEMO is sixth in the FCS in passing offense, 25th in scoring offense, 23rd in total offense, 10th in red zone offense, 22nd in third-down conversion percentage (45 pct.) and second in fourth-down conversion percentage (91 pct.).
•    Nine different Redhawks have scored a touchdown through eight games this season, including Payton Brown (4), Carter Hensley (1), Dorian Anderson (7), Cam Pedro (3), Tristan Smith (4), Mitchell Sellers (6), Kyron Downing (2), Cole Ruble (1) and Paxton DeLaurent (1).

Big South-OVC Weekly Honors
•    In four of the last five weeks, Southeast Missouri earned multiple Big South-OVC Association weekly honors.
•    Quarterback Paxton DeLaurent was named Offensive Player of the Week and Bryce Norman was tabbed Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 14.
•    DeLaurent was named Offensive Player of the Week and DC Pippin was voted Co-Specialist of the Week on Oct. 7.
•    Pippin was also named the league's Specialist of the Week on Sept. 30.
•    DeLaurent was tabbed Big South-OVC Offensive Player of the Week and Payton Brown was the league's Freshman of the Week on Sept. 23.
•    Prior to that, DeLaurent won Big South-OVC Offensive and Bryce Norman earned Big South-OVC Co-Defensive Player of the Week honors on Sept. 9.
•    SEMO has won a total of nine Big South-OVC weekly awards this season.

Pulling Rank
•    Southeast Missouri ranks among the top 10 teams in the FCS in seven statistical categories. 
•    The Redhawks are second in fourth-down conversion percentage (91 pct.), sixth in first downs offense (187), sixth in passing offense (315.8 ypg), sixth in red zone defense (66.7 pct.), 10th in red zone offense (92.5 pct.), 10th in scoring defense (18 ppg allowed) and third in winning percentage (.875).

About Gardner-Webb
•    Gardner-Webb snapped a two-game losing streak with 42-35 win over Lindenwood last week.
•    The Runnin' Bulldogs are ranked second in the Big South-OVC in total offense behind Southeast Missouri with 366.7 yards per game.
•    Individually, quarterback Tyler Ridell leads the league in pass efficiency (140.2) and passing yards attempted (7.9 yards per pass), and is fourth in passing touchdowns (9).
•    Ridell initially committed to play football at Southeast Missouri, but opted to go to Gardner-Webb instead.
•    The Runnin' Bulldogs are last in the Big South-OVC in turnover margin (-4). Gardner-Webb has thrown a league-high nineinterceptions this year. 

Notable Streaks
•    Bryce Norman led Southeast Missouri in tackles for three-straight seasons. If Norman does that again in 2024, he will become the first player in program history to lead the team in tackles four years in a row.
•    Kobe Sixkiller, a four-year starter, made 22-straight starts on the offensive line.
•    The Redhawks have not had a losing record in Big South-OVC play for six-straight seasons. The last time that happened was in 2017 (3-5).

Good to Know
•    Bryce Norman ranks seventh among Southeast Missouri's career leaders in tackles (346), tackles for loss (29.5) and sacks (11.5). Norman became the 10th player in program history to go over 300 career tackles. 
•    Paxton DeLaurent broke SEMO's all-time career records in passing yardage (6,898), passing touchdowns (51), completions (586) and attempts (943). DeLaurent is only the second quarterback in program history to throw for over 6,000 yards.
•    DeLaurent's 376 passing yards against UT Martin (Sept. 7) ranked seventh in program history for most passing yards in a game. 
•    His 63 passing attempts against the Skyhawks surpassed Mike Haley (61, at Kent State, Sept. 10, 2005) for a new single-game record.
•    DeLaurent's six touchdown passes against UT Martin (Sept. 7) surpassed SEMO's previous single-game record of five thrown by Kyle Snyder (vs. Austin Peay, 2014) and Jack Tomco (vs. UT Martin, 2002).
•    His 34 completions tied the school's single-game record.
•    DeLaurent needs 167 yards to break SEMO's all-time career record in total offense. He has 7,270 yards and is behind Matt Scheible (7,436, 2008-11) on that list.

QB 1
•    Quarterback Paxton DeLaurent has started all eight games under center for the Redhawks this year. 
•    After leaving the FCS Kickoff game vs.North Alabama (Aug. 24) late in the second quarter with a shoulder injury, DeLaurent has since thrown for 295 yards and one touchdown at New Mexico State (Aug. 31), 376 yards and a school record six touchdowns vs. UT Martin (Sept. 7), 301 yards and four TDs at Southern Illinois (Sept. 21), 237 yards and one touchdown vs. Northwestern State (Sept. 28), 364 yards and three touchdowns at Eastern Illinois (Oct. 5), 418 yards and four TDs vs. Tennessee Tech (Oct. 12) and 335 yards and one touchdown at Charleston Southern (Oct. 19)..
•    He has thrown a touchdown pass to five different receivers in eight starts.
•    DeLaurent is 17-8 as SEMO's three-year starting quarterback.
•    DeLaurent started the first seven games of the 2023 campaign before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury early in the second quarter at Tennessee Tech (Oct. 21).
•    During the preseason, DeLaurent was ranked as the #8 returning quarterback in the FCS by HERO Sports.
•    DeLaurent also made the 2024 Stats Perform Walter Payton Award Preseason Watch List. A total of 35 players were selected to the initial list entering the season.
•    DeLaurent was one of 20 quarterbacks across all divisions of college football invited to participate as a counselor at the Manning Passing Academy from June 27-30, 2024.    

Let's Talk Tuke
•    Tom Matukewicz is in his 11th year as Southeast Missouri's head coach.
•    Matukewicz has been at SEMO his entire head coaching career.
•    He is 61-60 overall and 45-30 in Big South-OVC play.
•    Matukewicz guided the Redhawks to two conference titles (2019, 2022) and three FCS Playoff berths (2018, 2019, 2022), both program bests.
•    He also has a program record nine wins over ranked FCS opponents.
•    Matukewicz's 2018 (9-4), 2019 (9-4) and 2022 (9-3) teams each tied the school record in wins. 
•    He is the 13th head coach in SEMO football history and ranks third all-time in wins behind Kenneth Knox (88-59-4, 1952-67) and Abe Stuber (72-42-6, 1932-46).
•    Matukewicz's 61 wins are the most of any head coach in the Redhawks Division I era.
•    He was named the Roy Kidd Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year in 2018 and 2022.
•    Matukewicz has 62 total wins as a head coach, including 61 at SEMO and one as Northern Illinois' interim head coach.

About the Program
•    Southeast Missouri is in its 120th year of college football.
•    The 2024 campaign marks SEMO's 34th year at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level.
•    The Redhawks joined the FCS in 1991 and are 150-230 all-time in their Division I era.
•    SEMO won three conference titles (2010, 2019, 2022) and made four NCAA FCS Playoff appearances (2010, 2018, 2019, 2022) in program history.
•    The Redhawks have a total of seven winning seasons (7-5 in 1994, 8-4 in 2022, 9-3 in 2010, 9-4 in 2018, 9-4 in 2019, 9-3 in 2022, 7-1 in 2024) in their NCAA Division I tenure.