Oct. 21, 2003

THE TEAMS: Southeast Missouri is 2-5 overall and 2-1 in the OVC. Southeast has won two straight with a 30-17 win over Eastern Illinois and a 41-38 road win at Eastern Kentucky. The OVC loss was to Samford. In non-league play the Indians had losses to I-A opponents Ohio and Arkansas State and to Gateway Conference opponents Southwest Missouri and SIU-Carbondale.

Murray State is 2-6 overall and 1-3 in the OVC.

THE COACHES: Tim Billings, a former assistant at Marshall, Missouri and Oklahoma, is 17-24 in his fourth season at Southeast. He was the 2002 OVC Coach of the Year and the AFCA Region 3 Coach of the Year. Billings is 0-3 vs. Murray State.

Joe Pannunzio is 19-22 in his fourth year at Murray State. He is 3-0 vs. Southeast Missouri.

THE SERIES: Murray State leads the series 32-4-1 and has won 10 straight. The last Southeast win was 27-21 at Houck Stadium in 1992.

LAST SEASON: Murray State came from behind in the fourth quarter to claim a 38-31 win at Murray. Jack Tomco was 22-33 passing for 236 yards and two touchdowns.

STRENGTH VS. STRENGTH: Southeast has the top passing team in the OVC and ranks 16th nationally in passing offense while Murray State is first in the OVC and tops in the nation in pass defense. Southeast averages 260.7 yards per games passing while Murray State allows only 106.1 yards per game.

LAST WEEK: Southeast got a 39-yard field goal from Derek Kutz with just 9.9 seconds remaining to give the Indians a 41-38 win at Eastern Kentucky. Jack Tomco had three TD passes giving him seven TD's passing in two games played at Roy Kidd Stadium. Southeast had 430 yards in total offense and was 5 for 5 in red zone scoring chances.

SIMONHOFF HONORED: Freshman punter Dave Simonhoff was named the OVC Newcomer of the Week after averaging 47.3 yards per punt including two punts of over 60 yards. His 60-yard punt went out of bounds inside the one yard line. Simonhoff now leads the OVC in punting with an average of 42.3 yards per punt which ranks him 12th nationally.

IN THE RACE: Two straight OVC wins has put Southeast back in the race for the OVC title. The Indians are 2-1 in the league and only a half game out of first place. Jacksonville State and Samford are both 3-1 to lead Southeast and Tennessee State who are both 2-1.

OFFENSE IS BACK: After sputtering early in the season, the Southeast offense appears to be back. After scoring only 13 points (4.3 ppg) in the first three games, Southeast has scored 102 points (34 ppg) in the last three games.

THIRD DOWN EFFICENCY: Southeast leads the OVC in third down efficiency, converting on 41.3% of third down plays.

TOMCO BACK ON TARGET: After a slow start this season, Tomco is back on target. In the last three games, Tomco is 65-107 for 867 yards and four TD's while being intercepted only once. For the season, Tomco has passed for 1,308 yards and ranks third in the OVC in passing with 186.9 yards per game. Tomco is fourth in the OVC in total offense with 182.4 yards per game.

KUTZ CONNECTS: Kutz, who had the game winning field goal over Eastern Kentucky, ranks second in OVC kick scoring with 5.9 points per game which ranks him 13th nationally. He has made 7 of 9 field goals this season and is 14-14 in PAT's.

OLIVER MOVES TO BACKFIELD: Jamel Oliver moved to the Southeast offensive backfield for the first time in the Samford game and rushed the ball 15 times for 98 yards and one touchdown. He had previously played only as a wide receiver and return man. Against Eastern Illinois, Oliver had 20 carries for 79 yards including a 31-yard touchdown run.

GILLIAM SHAKES RUST: Anthony Gilliam, a transfer from TCU, who had not played in more than a year, had his best outing at Samford with eight catches for 104 yards and one TD. Gilliam had three catches for 81 yards and one TD at Eastern Kentucky.

TOMCO BACK ON TARGET: After a slow start this season, Jack Tomco was on target at Samford when he completed 23-32 passes for 291 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions. He came back to complete 19-32 passes for 224 yards in the win over Eastern Illinois. For the season, Tomco is 82-137 for 956 yards and one TD with seven interceptions.

TOMCO PICKED FOR ALL-STAR GAME: Senior quarterback Jack Tomco is among the first 50 players to be named to play in the inaugural I-AA College Football All-Star Classic on Dec. 30 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. The game will be televised by the Football Network. Tomco was on the initial Sports Network Payton Watch List. The list profiles 16 potential candidates for the Walter Payton Award which is the I-AA equivalent of the Heisman Trophy. Tomco, who passed for over 3,000 yards and 29 touchdowns last season, is just the second Southeast player to ever be on the watch list. Last season, Willie Ponder was added to the list at mid-season and ended up fourth in the Payton Award voting. Currently, Tomco has been removed from the Payton Watch List but could be added again later in the season.

OVC HONORS: 9-20 - David Taufoou, Newcomer of Week 10-4 - Ricky Farmer, Defensive Player of Week 10-4 - Derek Kutz, Special Teams Player of Week 10-18 - David Simonhoff, Newcomer of Week

INJURIES: Defensive backs Marco Tipton (knee) and Mike Miller (knee) are both out indefinitely. Defensive ends Edgar Jones (ankle) and Adam Jones (knee) are out for the Murray game. Running back David Taufoou (knee) and quarterback Jeromy McDowell (shoulder) are both questionable for the Murray State game.

NUMBER CHANGE WITH MEANING: Senior defensive end Ryan Roth will wear number 32 this season to honor the memory of a high school teammate who was killed in the collapse of an apartment deck near Wrigley Field in Chicago on June 28. Rob Koranda was captain of the Naperville (Illinois) North High School team when Roth was a junior. Koranda, who wore number 32, went on to play college football at Princeton before a shoulder injury ended his football career. "Koranda was a friend who was a real inspiration to me,: said Roth who is a preseason all-OVC selection at defensive end. "I want to wear number 32 to honor his memory."

BIG HOME CROWDS: A Houck Stadium record crowd of 11,100 and a regional television audience on Fox Sports Net Midwest and Fox Sports Net Chicago saw the home opener against SIU. The previous record crowd was 11,015 for the Family Weekend game vs. Eastern Kentucky in 1999. There were 9,800 fans on hand for the Family Weekend game vs. SMS. A crowd of 8,600 and a national television audience on The Football Network, saw the Indians win over Eastern Illinois. The three game average is 9,833 in 10,000 seat Houck Stadium.

NEXT GAME: Following the Murray State game, Southeast will go on the road to play at Tennessee-Martin, Nov. 1, 2 p.m.