Southeast Missouri (3-6, 2-3 OVC-Big South) at Gardner-Webb (5-4, 3-2 OVC-Big South)

Game Information
Date: Saturday, November 8, 2025
Kickoff: 12:30 p.m., CT
Location: Boiling Springs, N.C.
Facility: Spangler Stadium (8,500)
Surface: Field Turf
Series: SEMO leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: SEMO 30, GWU 24 | 10/26/24 | Cape Girardeau, Mo.

Head Coaches
Southeast Missouri: Tom Matukewicz (67-69 overall; 66-69 at SEMO; 49-35 OVC-Big South)
Gardner-Webb: Cris Reisert (49-23 overall; 9-12 at GWU; 6-7 OVC-Big South)

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

First Trip to Gardner-Webb
•    Southeast Missouri (3-6, 2-3) makes its first trip to Gardner-Webb (5-4, 3-2) Saturday. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m., CT at Spangler Stadium.
•    SEMO hits the road for its next two games with Gardner-Webb on the front end of that stretch. The Redhawks will then head to Western Illinois for their final road matchup of the season on Nov. 15.
•    GWU is located in Boiling Springs, North Carolina, 559 miles away from Cape Girardeau. It is the second-longest trip SEMO will make in 2025 behind its trip to #1 North Dakota State on Sept. 13.
•    The Redhawks will board a private charter flight out of Cape Girardeau Friday.

Series History
•    Saturday is the second meeting between Southeast Missouri and Gardner-Webb.
•    SEMO is 1-0 against GWU after beating the Bulldogs, 30-24, in Cape Girardeau on Oct. 26, 2024.
•    GWU is the other Big South Conference football member along with Charleston Southern.

Leatherwood Returns
•    Starting quarterback Jax Leatherwood returned after missing three weeks with a knee injury at Tennessee Tech (Oct. 25).
•    Leatherwood made his first start since his injury vs. Charleston Southern (Nov. 1).
•    He completed 27-of-49 passes for 274 yards and one touchdown in that game.
•    It was Leatherwood's fourth start with over 250 passing yards.

Patterson Notches Career-High
•    Cornerback Adrian Patterson registered a career-high 10 tackles to lead Southeast Missouri's defense vs. Charleston Southern (Nov. 1).
•    Patterson had eight solo tackles and assisted on two others.
•    He added two tackles for loss and one forced fumble in his first double-digit game as a Redhawk.

First in Passing Offense
•    Southeast Missouri leads the OVC-Big South in passing offense with 278 yards per game.
•    SEMO has 2,502 yards and 15 passing touchdowns through nine contests.
•    Jax Leatherwood tops the conference with 237.8 passing yards per game.
•    He is 16th in the Football Championship Subdivision in passing yards per game, as well.

Keeper Approaching 100 Career Tackles
•    Veteran defensive lineman Sam Keeper is closing in on 100 tackles in his Southeast Missouri career.
•    Keeper presently has 94 tackles in 47 games and 21 starts.
•    He is in his fifth season with the Redhawks.

Red Zone Offense
•    Southeast Missouri ranks second in the Football Championship Subdivision in red zone offense.
•    SEMO has scored on 21 of its 22 opportunities in the red zone thus far.
•    The Redhawks scored 120 of their 219 points inside the 20-yard line.
•    Additionally, SEMO has not turned the ball over in the red zone in 18 of its last 21 games dating back to last season.

Leading Tackler
•    Safety Landon Sylvie leads the Redhawks with 76 tackles this season.
•    Sylvie became the first Redhawk to reach double-digit tackles when he posted a career-high 12 at Arkansas State (Aug. 30).
•    He followed that up with eight tackles the following week vs. North Alabama (Sept. 6), nine at #1 North Dakota State (Sept. 13), nine vs. #11 Southern Illinois (Sept. 20), 11 at UT Martin (Sept. 27), seven vs. Tennessee State (Oct. 11), five vs. Eastern Illinois (Oct. 18), nine at Tennessee Tech (Oct. 25) and six vs. Charleston Southern (Nov. 1).
•    Sylvie was SEMO's leading tackler in seven games this season.
•    He ranks fourth in the OVC-Big South with 8.4 tackles per game. Sylvie also ranks 17th in the nation with five solo tackles per contest.

Kicking Strong
•    Kicker Justin Keller is Southeast Missouri's top scorer with 57 points.
•    Keller, a transfer from Coastal Carolina, is in his first season as the Redhawks starting kicker.
•    He scored a season-best 12 points on 3-of-3 field goals and 3-of-3 extra points vs. North Alabama (Sept. 6).
•    For the season, he is 10-of-13 on field goals and a perfect 27-of-27 on PATs.
•    Keller is fifth in the OVC-Big South in field goals made (10), third in field goal percentage (75.0), third in scoring (kick) (6.5 ppg) and tied for first in PAT kicking percentage (1.00).

About Gardner-Webb
•    Gardner-Webb is third in the Ohio Valley Conference-Big South Association standings with a 5-4 overall record and 3-2 mark in conference play.
•    GWU is one of only two teams in the league with overall winning records. The other is nationally-ranked Tennessee Tech (9-0).
•    The Bulldogs fell to TTU, 27-21, in Cookeville on Nov. 1.
•    GWU has the OVC-Big South's top rusher in Quasean Holmes. Holmes is averaging 80.7 rushing yards per game.
•    Carson Gresock tops the league with 11 rushing touchdowns, Chris Lofton is first among league leaders in receiving yards per game (65.2) and Anthony Lowe is first in all-purpose yards (116.3 ypg).
•    As a team, GWU is second in the conference in total offense (423.5 ypg), rushing offense (188.5 ypg) and rushing yards (1,697).