#12 Illinois State (9-3) vs. Southeast Missouri (9-3)

Game Information
Date: Saturday, November 30, 2024
Kickoff: 11 a.m., CT
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Facility: Houck Field (8.000)
Surface: Field Turf
Series: ILS leads, 8-3
Last Meeting: ILS 24, SEMO 6 | 11/30/19 | Cape Girardeau, Mo.

Head Coaches
Illinois State: Brock Spack (110-73 overall, 110-73 at ILS, 70-54)
Southeast Missouri: Tom Matukewicz (64-62 overall; 63-62 at SEMO; 47-32 Big South-OVC)

Follow the Redhawks
Video: ESPN+   (Shawn Kenney, Jay Sonnhalter)
Live Stats: NCAA.com
Radio: Real Rock 99.3 FM (Erik Sean, Rick Wieser)
Twitter: @SEMOfootball
Game Notes: Southeast Missouri (PDF)  | Illinois State (PDF)

Redhawks Begin Playoff Action
•    Southeast Missouri hosts #12 Illinois State in the first round of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Saturday. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m., CT at Houck Field.
•    SEMO is in the FCS Playoffs for the fifth time in program history. The Redhawks last made the 24-team bracket two years ago during the 2022 campaign.

FCS Playoff Appearances
•    The 2024 season marks Southeast Missouri's fifth Football Championship Subdivision Playoff appearance.
•    SEMO claimed its fourth playoff berth since 2018.
•    For Head Coach Tom Matukewicz, this is the fourth time he has guided the Redhawks to the NCAA Division I Football Championship.
•    SEMO also made the playoffs in 2018, 2019 and 2022 with Matukewicz at the helm.
•    Matukewicz has the most playoff appearances of any head coach in program history.
•    SEMO's other playoff berth was in 2010 under then-Head Coach Tony Samuel.

FCS Playoff Record
•    Southeast Missouri is 1-4 all-time in the FCS Playoffs.
•    SEMO's only playoff win was a 28-14 victory over #15 Stony Brook on Nov. 24, 2018. That game was played at Houck Field in Cape Girardeau.
•    The Redhawks won their first FCS Playoff game with Tom Matukewicz as their head coach when they beat Stony Brook.
•    SEMO also faced #1 Eastern Washington (L, 7-37, Dec. 4, 2010 in Cheney, Wash.), #3 Weber State (L, 23-48, Dec. 1, 2018 in Ogden, Utah), #13 Illinois State (L, 6-24, Nov. 30, 2019 in Cape Girardeau, Mo.) and #17 Montana (L, 24-34, Nov. 25, 2022 in Missoula, Mont.) in FCS Playoff action.
•    This is the second time Illinois State comes to Cape Girardeau for a playoff game.

Co-Big South-OVC Champions
•    The Redhawks finished the regular-season in a four-way share with Tennessee State, UT Martin and Tennessee Tech for the Big South-Ohio Valley Conference Association title. 
•    All four teams ended with a 6-2 Big South-OVC record.
•    SEMO clinched the automatic berth by virtue of its 2-1 composite record which included wins over both UT Martin and Tennessee Tech.
•    The Redhawks, Tennessee State and UT Martin are in this year's FCS Playoffs giving the league three teams in the playoffs for the first time since 2013.
•    Tennessee State, Jacksonville State and Eastern Illinois all won playoff games during the 2013 playoffs.

Undefeated at Home
•    Southeast Missouri went undefeated at home during the regular-season for the third time under Head Coach Tom Matukewicz.
•    SEMO posted a 5-0 record at Houck Field this season after beating UT Martin, 45-42, in double overtime (Sept. 7), Northwestern State (Sept. 28), 19-0, Tennessee Tech (Oct. 12), 34-3, Gardner-Webb (Oct. 26), 30-24, and Western Illinois (Nov. 16), 54-45.
•    The Redhawks also went unbeaten at home during the 2018 (5-0) and 2019 (6-0) regular-seasons.

Nine Wins
•    The Redhawks picked up their ninth win when they defeated Western Illinois, 54-45, on Nov. 16.
•    Southeast Missouri won nine games in a season for the fourth time under Head Coach Tom Matukewicz.
•    The Redhawks' nine-win seasons with Matukewicz at the helm include 2018 (9-4), 2019 (9-4), 2022 (9-3) and 2024 (9-3). SEMO made the FCS Playoffs in 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2024.

One Win for the Record
•    A win Saturday will break Southeast Missouri's program record in victories.
•    SEMO has never had 10 wins in a season during its entire football history.
•    Including 2024 (9-3) the Redhawks posted nine wins in a season a total of seven times also going 9-0 in 1937, 9-0 in 1955, 9-3 in 2022, 9-3 in 2010, 9-4 in 2018 and 9-4 in 2019.

Big South-OVC Championships
•    This year's Big South-OVC title is Southeast Missouri's fourth all-time in program history and third under Head Coach Tom Matukewicz.
•    SEMO shared the Big South-OVC title in 2019, 2022 and 2024 with Matukewicz at the helm. The Redhawks came one win away from giving Matukewicz his first outright conference title this year. 
•    The Redhawks other championship came during the 2010 campaign, four years before Matukewicz took over as head coach.

Big South-OVC Playoff Matchups
•    Of the three Big South-OVC teams in this year's FCS Playoffs, Southeast Missouri is the only one that has a home game.
•    UT Martin will travel to #16 New Hampshire and Tennessee State will head to #14 Montana for the league's other first round playoff matchups.
•    The Skyhawks and Tigers made the field among the 14 at-large selections.

Single-Season Records Fall
•    Paxton DeLaurent has broken four Southeast Missouri single-season records in 2024.
•    He needs one more passing touchdown to break his fifth single-season mark. DeLaurent has 29 touchdown passes through 12 games and is tied with Jack Tomco (2002) at the top of that list.
•    DeLaurent also set new single-season marks in passing yards (3,520), completions (320), pass attempts (533) and total offense yardage (3,616) during the 2024 campaign.
•    DC Pippin established a new SEMO single-season record in field goals made (26).

Series History
•    Southeast Missouri and Missouri Valley Football Conference member Illinois State will square off for the 10th time in 2024.
•    ISU holds a 6-3 advantage in the overall series. 
•    Two of SEMO's three wins against the Redbirds came in Cape Girardeau. The Redhawks beat ISU, 26-20, on Nov. 22, 1969 and, 28-25, on Sept. 16, 2000 in those contests.
•    ISU won the only playoff game played between the two teams at Houck Field on Nov. 30, 2019 (24-6). SEMO had a 13-game home winning streak ended by the Redbirds that year.

Against the Missouri Valley Football Conference
•    Illinois State is the second Missouri Valley Football Conference team Southeast Missouri faces in 2024.
•    SEMO knocked off then-#7 Southern Illinois, 38-21, on Sept. 21 in Carbondale, Illinois.
•    Saturday marks the 190th time SEMO plays a MVFC opponent.
•    The Redhawks are 81-100-8 all-time against MVFC schools.
•     SEMO is 3-8 vs. Illinois State, 4-5 vs. Indiana State, 28-46 vs. Missouri State, 1-1 vs. Northern Iowa, 44-40-8 vs. SIU and 1-0 vs. Western Illinois (now in the Big South-OVC).
• The Redhawks will travel to nine-time Football Championship Subdivision National Champion and MVFC member North Dakota State in 2025.