Southeast Missouri State University
Indiana State
Football Opens 2026 Season at Indiana State Saturday
8/24/2026 12:00:00 AM | Football
Game Information
Date: Saturday, August 29, 2026
Kickoff: 5 p.m., CT
Site: Terre Haute, Ind.
Facility: Memorial Stadium (12,764)
Surface: FieldTurf
Series Record: INS leads, 5-4
Last Meeting: INS 27, SEMO 24 | 9/17/16 | Cape Girardeau, Mo.
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Video: ESPN+ (Brian Jennings, Austin Osborn)
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Live Stats: GoSycamores.com
X: @SEMOFootball
Ready, Set, Go!
• Southeast Missouri kicks off its 2026 season at Missouri Valley Football Conference member Indiana State Saturday. Game time is set for 5 p.m., CT at Memorial Stadium.
• SEMO starts its 2026 campaign with three-straight road games.
• After Saturday's matchup with the Sycamores, the Redhawks travel to Big 12 Conference and Football Bowl Subdivision member Iowa State (Sept. 5) and longtime rival #16 Southern Illinois (Sept. 12).
• SEMO's other non-conference foes include Central Arkansas (Sept. 19) and West Florida (Sept. 26), both of which come to Cape Girardeau this year.
Series Tidbits
• Southeast Missouri and Indiana State meet for the 10th time.
• INS holds a slight 5-4 edge in the overall series between the teams.
• This year marks the first time in 10 years the Redhawks and Sycamores face each other.
• INS won the last matchup, 27-24, in Cape Girardeau on Sept. 17, 2016.
• The Sycamores overcame an 11-point deficit in the final three minutes to get by the Redhawks that year.
• SEMO is 0-2 against INS under Head Coach Tom Matukewicz.
• The Redhawks started a home-and-home series with the Sycamores during Matukewicz's second year as head coach in 2015.
• SEMO dropped its 2015 (29-28 in Terre Haute) and 2016 (27-24 in Cape Girardeau) by a combined four points.
• The Redhawks rallied for 21 fourth-quarter points and missed a two-point conversion with no time on the clock in a 29-28 loss the last time they played the then-#23 Sycamores in Terre Haute on Sept. 19, 2015.
• SEMO is 1-3 all-time at Indiana State's Memorial Stadium.
Season-Openers
• The Redhawks are 11-24 all-time in season-opening games during their NCAA Division I era.
• Southeast Missouri is 3-9 in season-openers under Head Coach Tom Matukewicz. Seven of those losses were to Football Bowl Subdivision opponents.
• SEMO begins its season away from Cape Girardeau for the fifth year in a row.
Receiving Votes
• Southeast Missouri received votes in both the preseason Stats Perform and American Football Coaches Association polls.
• SEMO earned 10 votes in the Stats Perform Media Poll and 27 votes in the AFCA Coaches Poll.
• The last time the Redhawks were nationally ranked was the end of the 2024 campaign.
• SEMO finished that year #16 and #17 in the final Stats Perform and AFCA Coaches polls, respectively.
Redhawks Second in 2026 OVC Preseason Poll
• Southeast Missouri was picked second in the 2025 Ohio Valley Conference Preseason Poll.
• SEMO accumulated 38 points and one first-place vote in the balloting by the league's head coaches and communication directors.
• UT Martin (47 pts.) was tabbed this year's preseason favorite with six first-place votes.
Against the Missouri Valley Football Conference
• The Redhawks play Missouri Valley Football Conference opponents during two of their first three weeks of the 2026 campaign.
• Southeast Missouri will also make the short trip to #16 Southern Illinois on Sept. 12.
• SEMO is 81-102-8 all-time against MVFC schools in its program history.
• The Redhawks are 3-8 vs. Illinois State, 4-5 vs. Indiana State, 28-46 vs. Missouri State, 44-41-8 vs. Southern Illinois, 0-1 vs. North Dakota State and 1-0 vs. Western Illinois (now in the OVC).
• In all, SEMO has played 191 football games vs. MVFC teams.
Roster Breakdown
• Southeast Missouri's 2026 roster consists of 107 players with a program record 53 newcomers.
• SEMO has 10 graduates, 10 fifth-year players,. 21 seniors, 23 juniors, 20 sophomores and 23 freshmen.
• The Redhaks also have 11 new transfers from Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools.
• Tymere Burton (Utah State), Khyair Spain (Memphis), EJ Fisk (Utah State), Terrelle Elmore (Eastern Michigan), Josh Stone (Arkansas State), Teagan Cobb (Kansas State), KJ McRae (Northern Illinois), Toby Moore (UNLV), Clayton Leonard (Illinois), Titus Miller (Washington State) and Delano Brown (UConn) are in that group.
Redhawks from the Hoosier State
• Outside linebacker Terrelle Elmore and defensive linemen Adam Camphor and Quran Moore return to their home state of Indiana this weekend.
• Elmore is from Gary, Indiana and both Camphor and Moore are out of Merrillville.
• Gary and Merrillville are over two-and-a-half hours away from Terre Haute.
• Camphor is expected to make his first career start at nose tackle against Indiana State, while Elmore is currently listed second on the two-deep at outside linebacker.
Year 122
• Southeast Missouri kicks off its 122nd season of college football in 2026.
• SEMO enters its 36th year at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level.
• The Redhawks joined the FCS in 1991 and are 156-241 all-time in their Division I era.
Thirteenth Year for Matukewicz
• Tom Matukewicz, the third-longest tenured head coach in Southeast Missouri football history, begins his 13th year in 2026.
• Matukewicz has led SEMO to program records in Ohio Valley Conference championships (3), NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Playoff appearances (4), nine-win seasons (4), victories over ranked FCS opponents (9) and OVC wins (50).
• He is 67-71 overall and 50-37 in the OVC with the most overall and league victories of any head coach in the school's Division I era.
• Matukewicz's 13-year tenure ranks behind Kenneth Knox (16 years, 1952-67), Abe Stuber (15 years, 1932-46) and J.F. Corleux (15 years, 1915-29).
OVC Players to Watch
• Six Southeast Missouri players were named among the Ohio Valley Conference Preseason Players to Watch.
• Running back Khyair Spain, offensive lineman Rashad Turner, wide receiver/punt returner Jobe Bryant, kicker Justin Keller, linebacker Cole Dutkovich and cornerback Adrian Patterson earned that recognition.
Ragland Gets Starting Nod
• Alabama State transfer quarterback Braylen Ragland will make his first career for Southeast Missouri Saturday.
• Ragland, who hails from Memphis, Tennessee, played in one game with the Hornets a year ago.
• Before that, he redshirted at Georgia State in 2023 and did not see action there during the 2024 season.
Transfer Quarterbacks
• Braylen Ragland (Alabama State) is the ninth transfer quarterback to start for the Redhawks during Tom Matukewicz's stint as head coach.
• Jax Leatherwood (San Diego Mesa College, 2025), Paxton DeLaurent (Central Methodist, 2022-24), CJ Ogbonna (Hutchinson CC, 2021), Andrew Bunch (Nebraska, 2021), Daniel Santacaterina (Northern Illinois, 2018-19), Jesse Hoskett (East Central CC, 2016-17), Tay Bender (Iowa Western CC, 2015) and Kyle Snyder (Ohio University, 2014) are SEMO's other transfer starting quarterbacks under Matukewicz.
Week Zero
• The 2026 season marks the first year that all Football Championship Subdivision programs are permitted to begin play during Week Zero.
• A total of 69 games involving FCS teams are scheduled for Week Zero.
• All eight Ohio Valley Conference schools will be in action this week.
• Eastern Illinois (at Murray State), Gardner-Webb (at Austin Peay), Charleston Southern (at Lindenwood), Western Illinois (vs. Northwestern College (Iowa) and UT Martin (vs. Central Arkansas) play Thursday.
• Southeast Missouri (at Indiana State) and Tennessee State (vs. Jackson State) then conclude the week with Saturday matchups.
• SEMO played a Week Zero game only one other time in its program history when it beat North Alabama, 37-15, in the FCS Kickoff Classic in Montgomery, Alabama on Aug. 24, 2024.
SEMO Connection
• Dr. Mike Godard was Southeast Missouri State University's Provost before taking office as Indiana State's 13th President on June 1, 2024.
• Godard has over 25 years of higher education leadership spanning faculty and top administrative roles.
Returning All-OVC Performers
• Kicker Justin Keller, kick returner Cole Ruble and offensive lineman Sam Reynolds are Southeast Missouri's returning All-Ohio Valley Conference honorees from last season.
• Keller, a second-team selection, was the Redhawks' leading scorer with 72 points in 2025. he made 13-of-17 field goals and did not miss a PAT going a perfect 33-of-33. Keller also kicked off 55 times for 3,485 yards with an average of 63.4 yards per kick and 30 touchbacks.
• Ruble topped the team in all-purpose yards racking up 381 on kick returns. He ended the season with 811 all-purpose yards for an average of 71.3 per game.
• Reynolds started the final eight games at center during his first year at SEMO in 2025.
Experienced Offensive Line
• The bulk of Southeast Missouri's starting experience is on the offensive line.
• Rashad Turner (LT, 5th), Demoni Taylor (LG, Sr.), Sam Reynolds (C, Jr.), Jalen Nettles (RG, Gr.) and Wilbert Phillips (RT, 5th) will start the season-opener at Indiana State.
• Nettles, Phillips, Reynolds, Turner and Taylor combined for 38 starts up front last season.
• That group also has a total of 55 starts between them in their SEMO careers.
Staff Additions
• Southeast Missouri has eight new coaches on its football staff.
• Brendan Boylan (offensive coordinator), Will Heck (tight ends), George Sanders (cornerbacks), Curtis Akins (outside linebackers), Cole Dobbins (director of recruiting & player personnel), Nate Adams (director of sports performance), Mario McClendon (nickelbacks) and Connor Tollison (offensive assistant) are in their first year at SEMO.
• Boylan spent the last three years as pass game specialist, running backs and tight ends coach at Missouri. There, he collaborated directly with the Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator in weekly offensive game planning and managed in-game analytics, down and distance tendencies and coverage identification among other duties.
• A native of Corvallis, Oregon, Heck was the tight ends coach at Oregon State in 2025 and worked the 2024 season in an offensive quality control position for the Beavers.
• Sanders comes to Cape Girardeau from the University of Incarnate Word, where he was pass game coordinator and defensive backs coach for three years. Before that, he was cornerbacks coach for three seasons at Pittsburg State University.
• Akins oversaw defensive quality control for the 2024 and 2025 seasons at Memphis. He played linebacker for the Tigers for four years, graduating in 2018 and finishing his college career with 276 tackles. Akins went on to play in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals before starting his coaching career at East Central Community College and then the University of Arkansas-Monticello.
• Dobbins was the University of Alabama's recruiting specialist for four years from 2022-25. He primarily assisted Assistant Head Coach and Running Backs Coach Robert Gillespie in that position. Dobbins was responsible for reviewing high school recruit profiles, analyzing and cutting film for recruit and transfer player files and monitoring transfer portal and reporting on new prospects among other duties.
• Adams comes to SEMO after working two years as an athletic performance coach with the Indiana football program which won its first-ever national title on Jan. 19, 2026, completing a historic 16-0 season. Prior to Indiana, Adams spent three seasons with the football program at James Madison (2021-23).
• McClendon was cornerbacks coach at Central Connecticut State. He made previous stops at New Mexico State and Arkansas-Pine Bluff, as well.
• Tollison started four years on the offensive line at Southeastern Conference member Missouri. He is back working close to his hometown of Jackson which is just 10 miles away from Cape Girardeau.
About Indiana State
• Indiana State was picked eighth out of the nine teams in this year's Missouri Valley Football Conference Preseason Poll.
• The rugged MVFC has six ranked teams in the Preseason Top-25 Football Championship Subdivision polls, including #3 South Dakota State, #4 Illinois State, #9 Youngstown State, #10 North Dakota, #12 South Dakota and #16 Southern Illinois.
• INS went 3-9 overall and had only one conference win (1-7) in 2025.
• The Sycamores ended the year with a 31-17 home loss to Murray State. For the Racers, it was their lone win of the season.
• Quarterback Elijah Owens, wide receiver KeShon Singleton, offensive lineman Drew Page, defensive lineman Jayden Childers, defensive lineman Kolten Gajewski, defensive lineman Mason Knipp, linebacker Braxton Sampson, defensive back Xavian Andrews, defensive back Jorge Valdes and defensive back Nic Yatsko are on the MVFC Preseason Watch List.
• Curt Mallory enters his ninth year as INS's head coach. Mallory is 27-61 overall and 17-47 in MVFC play. The Sycamores had a losing season in each of the last six years. The last time INS finished with a winning record was 2018 (7-4).
Program History
• Southeast Missouri's football program began in 1904 and moved to the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in 1991.
• SEMO's all-time program record stands at 501-570-36.
• Since it joined the Ohio Valley Conference, SEMO has won four conference championships (2010, 2019, 2022, 2024) and made the FCS Playoffs on five occasions (2010, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2024).
• Three of the Redhawks OVC titles (2010, 2022, 2024) and four of their FCS Playoff berths (2010, 2018, 2022, 2024) were during even years.
Conference Success
• The Redhawks posted a winning record in Ohio Valley Conference play during six of their last eight seasons.
• Since 2018, Southeast Missouri has a record of 38-18 against league opponents.
• The Redhawks posted five or more conference wins a total of four times in that stretch.
• SEMO also won three OVC titles and advanced to the FCS Playoffs four times since the 2018 campaign.
2026 Schedule
• Southeast Missouri plays a 12-game schedule with five home dates in 2026.
• SEMO's non-conference slate includes trips to Indiana State (Aug. 29), Iowa State (Sept. 5) and Southern Illinois (Sept. 12), and home
matchups with Central Arkansas (Sept. 19) and West Florida (Sept. 26).
• Longtime rivals SEMO and SIU hook up in the annual War for the Wheel game, the 84th meeting for the schools located 48 miles apart.
• The Redhawks host UCA in their home-opener and welcome first-year United Athletic Conference affiliate West Florida. UWF will be transitioning its athletics programs to the NCAA Division I level beginning this fall and will compete in the Atlantic Sun as a full multi-sport member and the UAC as a football-playing member.
• SEMO begins its seven-game Ohio Valley Conference schedule with the Game Ball Brawl at Lindenwood (Oct. 10).
• The rest of the Redhawks conference games include home contests against Western Illinois (Oct. 17), Gardner-Webb (Oct. 31) and UT Martin (Nov. 21), and road games at Eastern Illinois (Oct. 24), Tennessee State (Nov. 7) and Charleston Southern (Nov. 14).
Winning Seasons
• The Redhawks have put together four winning seasons with Tom Matukewicz as their head coach.
• Southeast Missouri posted winning records under Matukewicz in 2018 (9-4), 2019 (9-4), 2022 (9-3) and 2024 (9-4).
• The Redhawks have accumulated seven or more wins in a season a total of seven times in their NCAA Division I era.
• In all, SEMO has seven winning seasons during the program's NCAA Division I FCS tenure.
OVC Announces Return to Traditional Branding in 2026
• The Ohio Valley Conference announced on June 18 that its football-playing members will once again compete under the OVC name and logo beginning with the 2026 season.
• The return to the OVC identity follows three successful years of partnership with the Big South Conference under the names Big South-OVC Football Association (2023, 2024) and OVC-Big South Football Association (2025).
• The move reflects the league's continued evolution and its commitment to providing a unified, streamlined home for its football programs.
• Schools who will play OVC football in 2026 are Charleston Southern (Charleston, S.C.), Eastern Illinois (Charleston, Ill.), Gardner-Webb (Boiling Springs, N.C.), Lindenwood (St. Charles, Mo.), Southeast Missouri (Cape Girardeau, Mo.), Tennessee State (Nashville, Tenn.), UT Martin (Martin, Tenn.) and Western Illinois (Macomb, Ill.).
Championship Culture
• Overall, Southeast Missouri's Department of Athletics has won an unprecedented 41 conference titles since the start of the 2019-20 season.
• Every sport won at least one Ohio Valley Conference championship in that span.
• In 2025-26, SEMO repeated as the OVC Commissioner's Cup Champion for the first time in school history.
• It was the fourth time in six years where the Redhawks claimed the prestigious honor that is a symbol of overall athletic excellence in Conference-sponsored championships.
• SEMO also won its first-ever OVC Institutional Academic Achievement Award.
• The overall Institutional Academic Achievement Award is presented annually to the member institution with the greatest percentage of its eligible student-athletes that earn a 3.25 grade point average or higher for that academic year. SEMO had over 75 percent of its student-athletes earn the honor in 2025-26.
Up Next
• Southeast Missouri travels to Big 12 Conference and Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) member Iowa State on Sept. 5.
• SEMO faces Iowa State for the second time in its program history. The Redhawks last played the Cyclones on Sept. 3, 2022.
