Southeast Missouri (1-1) at #1 North Dakota State (2-0)

Game Information
Date: Saturday, September 13, 2025
Kickoff: 2:30 p.m., CT
Location: Fargo, N.D.
Facility: Fargodome (19,000)
Surface: Artificial Turf
Series: First Meeting

Head Coaches
Southeast Missouri: Tom Matukewicz (65-64 overall; 64-64 at SEMO; 47-32 OVC-Big South)
North Dakota State: Tim Polasek (16-2 overall; 16-2 at NDSU; 7-1 MVFC)

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

Redhawks Travel to #1 North Dakota State
•    Southeast Missouri (1-1) faces its first ranked opponent of the season when it travels to reigning FCS National Champion and #1 North Dakota State (2-0) Saturday. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m., CT at the Fargodome.
•    Fargo, North Dakota is SEMO's longest trip of the season. It is located 894 miles from Cape Girardeau, roughly a 13-hour and  40-minute drive.
•    The Redhawks will board a charter flight departing Cape Girardeau Regional Airport Friday.
•    North Dakota State is one of only two Division I schools in North Dakota. The other is the University of North Dakota, which is located in Grand Forks.
•    SEMO has never played a Division I opponent from either North Dakota or South Dakota in its football history.

Series History
•    Saturday marks the first meeting between Southeast Missouri and North Dakota State.
•    North Dakota State is the first North Dakota school SEMO faces in its program history.

SEMO vs. #1
•    This year marks the sixth time in program history where Southeast Missouri squares off against the #1 team in the Football Championship Subdivision.
•    SEMO is 0-5 in such games.
•    The Redhawks last played a #1-ranked team on Sept. 11, 2021. #1 Sam Houston beat SEMO, 52-14, in Huntsville, Texas that year.
•    SEMO also faced #1 Tennessee State (L, 28-35) in 1999, #1 Southern Illinois (L, 24-42) in 2009,  #1 Eastern Washington (L, 17-37) in 2010 and #1 Jacksonville State (L, 28-56) in 2015.

Brickyard Game
•    Saturday is another "Brickyard" game for the Redhawks.
•    Anytime SEMO upsets a FBS or ranked FCS opponent, it displays the winning scores of those games permanently in the "Brickyard."
•    The "Brickyard" resides in the Redhawks locker room located at the Rosengarten Athletic Complex.
•    Against ranked FCS opponents, Matukewicz has a program record nine victories. His last "Brickyard" win was at then-#7 Southern Illinois (38-21, Sept. 21, 2024).

Ranked Opponents
•    #1 North Dakota State is one of three ranked Football Championship Subdivision opponents on Southeast Missouri's schedule.
•    SEMO has a total of 12 wins over ranked FCS opponents during its NCAA Division I tenure, nine of which have come with Tom Matukewicz at the helm.
•    The Redhawks upended then-#3 Southeastern Louisiana (24-23) in Cape Girardeau on Sept. 20, 2014. It was the highest ranked opponent SEMO defeated in program history.
•    The Redhawks wins over ranked FCS foes are:
#17 Illinois State - W, 28-25 (Sept. 16, 2000)
#19 Tennessee State - W, 27-20 (Oct. 25, 2008)
#5 Southern Illinois - W, 24-21 (Sept. 18, 2010)
#3 Southeastern La. - W, 24-23 (Sept. 20, 2014)
#20 Tennessee State - W, 28-21 (Oct. 4, 2014)
#13 Eastern Illinois - W, 21-14 (Oct. 1, 2016)
#4 Jacksonville State - W, 37-14 (Oct. 19, 2018)
#15 Stony Brook - W, 28-14 (Nov. 24, 2018)
#14 Jacksonville State - W, 24-21 (Oct. 19, 2019)
#8 UT Martin - W, 31-14 (Nov. 20, 2021)
#17 Southern Illinois - W, 34-31 (Sept. 10, 2022)
#7 Southern Illinois - W, 38-21 (Sept. 21, 2024)

Against the Missouri Valley Football Conference
•    The Redhawks play Missouri Valley Football Conference opponents in back-to-back weeks.
•    After Southeast Missouri visits #1 North Dakota State Saturday, the Redhawks host #14 Southern Illinois on Sept. 20.
•    SEMO is 81-100-8 all-time against MVFC schools.
•    The Redhawks are 3-8 vs. Illinois State, 4-5 vs. Indiana State, 28-46 vs. Missouri State, 44-40-8 vs. SIU and 1-0 vs. Western Illinois (now in the OVC-Big South).
•    In all, SEMO has played 189 games against MVFC members.

Brown Brothers
•    Sophomore Southeast Missouri running back Payton Brown and freshman North Dakota State quarterback Preston Brown will play each other for the first time as Division I athletes.
•    Preston signed with the Bison last December and Payton was SEMO's top rusher with 310 yards and five touchdowns in eight games as a freshman in 2024.

Familiar Face
•    Ryan Napoli, who was Southeast Missouri's football strength & conditioning coach in 2017 and 2018, and SEMO's director of sports performance from 2020-23, is North Dakota State's director of athletic performance for football.
•    Napoli is in his second year working under Tim Polasek. 
•    He spent six seasons at NDSU earlier in his career from 2011-16 and was on staff for the program's first five FCS national championships.

Redhawks Pick Up First Win 
•    Southeast Missouri earned its first win of the season when it beat North Alabama, 30-21, in its home-opener on Sept. 6.
•    SEMO fell behind, 7-0, early but scored 30-straight points to pull away from the Lions.
•    UNA made a late push by scoring two touchdowns in the final five minutes, but it wasn't enough.
•    SEMO improved to 8-4 in home-openers under Head Coach Tom Matukewicz.
•    The victory also marked the Redhawks fifth-straight home-opening win.

Pedro Clears 1,000 Receiving Yards
•    Cam Pedro went over 1,000 receiving yards in his Southeast Missouri career when he finished with four receptions for 82 yards and a touchdown vs. North Alabama (Sept. 6).
•    Pedro scored on a 55-yard reception in the third quarter to surpass the 1,000-yard mark.
•    He had 71 yards after the catch against the Lions.
•    Pedro has caught 94 passes for 1,033 yards and six touchdowns as a Redhawk.
•    He scored a receiving touchdown in both of his starts this year.

Leatherwood and Keller Earn OVC-Big South Weekly Honors
•    Quarterback Jax Leatherwood and kicker Justin Keller earned Ohio Valley Conference-Big South Offensive Player and Specialist of the Week honors, respectively, on Sept. 8.
•    Leatherwood completed 21-of-33 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for another score vs. North Alabama (Sept. 6).
•    Keller scored 12 points on a perfect 3-of-3 field goals and 3-of-3 extra points against the Lions.
ª    It is the first OVC-Big South weekly honors for the Redhawks this year.

Fourth Down Stops
•    Southeast Missouri's defense has stopped opponents four times on fourth down through two games this season.
•    SEMO recorded three of those stops in its win over North Alabama (Sept. 6).
•    Opponents are 2-of-6 on fourth down against the Redhawks defense.

Leading Tackler
•    Safety Landon Sylvie leads the Redhawks with 20 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).
•    Sylvie ranks 23rd in the Football Championship Subdivision in total tackles.

First Pick for a Dollar
•    Inside linebacker Slade Dollar recorded Southeast Missouri's first interception of the season.
•    Dollar intercepted Ari Patu's pass in the second quarter vs. North Alabama (Sept. 6).
•    It marked the second interception of his career.

Strong Start for Leatherwood
•    Jax Leatherwood is off to a strong start out of the gate as Southeast Missouri's new starting quarterback.
•    Leatherwood threw his first 69 passes of 2025 without an interception.
•    He completed 26-of-36 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns in his first career start at Arkansas State (Aug. 31).
•    Leatherwood then threw for 225 yards and two touchdowns on 21-of-33 passes vs. North Alabama (Sept. 6). He also ran three yards for his first career rushing touchdown against the Lions.
•    Leatherwood ranks among national leaders in completions per game (7th, 23.5), completion percentage (21st, 68.1), passing touchdowns (11th, 4), passing yards (15th, 497), passing yards per game (16th, 248.5) and points responsible for (14th, 30).

Takeaway Time
•    Southeast Missouri had a takeaway in each of its first two games this season.
•    Jeremy Walton forced a fumble and Nasim Cairo recovered in the third quarter at Arkansas State (Aug. 30) and Slade Dollar intercepted a pass in the second quarter vs. North Alabama (Sept. 6).
•    SEMO has forced a turnover in 11 of its last 15 games dating back to last season.

Mr. Perfect
•    Justin Keller has not missed a kick in his first two starts as Southeast Missouri's kicker.
•    Keller recently scored 12 points on 3-of-3 field goals and 3-of-3 extra points vs. North Alabama (Sept. 6).
•    For the season, he has scored a team-high 18 points on 4-of-4 field goals and 6-of-6 PATs.

About North Dakota State
•    Reigning national champion North Dakota State is 2-0 on the young season with wins over The Citadel (38-0) and Tennessee State (59-3).
•    The Bison, currently the #1 team in the Football Championship Subdivision, is 16-2 all-time under Head Coach Tim Polasek.
•    NDSU has three players under consideration for national player of the year awards. Wide receiver Bryce Lance is on the preseason watch list for the Walter Payton Award. Defensive end Toby Anene and linebacker Logan Kopp are both on the watch list for the Buck Buchanan Award.
•    Southeast Missouri is the second-straight OVC-Big South opponent the Bison will face.
•    NDSU has won 10 national championships since 2011.