CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- Tennessee Tech took an unexpected detour
Saturday night in its Ohio Valley Conference opener, spinning into
the loss column as Southeast Missouri took advantage of some fourth
quarter breaks to claim a 23-21 victory in its home opener in Houck
Stadium.
Sophomore quarterback Tre Lamb threw two
touchdown passes to junior Tim Benford,
including a score in the final minute that brought Tech to within
two points but the Golden Eagles weren't able to come up with an
onsides kick and SEMO (3-1/2-0) claimed its second OVC victory of
the young season.
Tech fell to 1-3 overall and 0-1 within the league, and the Golden
Eagles must turn things around in just five days when they return
home to host UT Martin Thursday night at 7 p.m.
The SEMO offense ran off 87 plays in the game and marched around
its home turf in piling up 467 yards of offense and 31 first downs.
Henry Harris rushed 32 times for 196 yards and one touchdown and
quarterback Matt Scheible added 82 yards on 20 carries for the
Redhawks. Scheible also passed for 114 yards with a 13-for-18
effort and was not sacked.
Tech had 375 yards of offense, rushing for 127 and adding 246
through the air. The Golden Eagles had 47 plays. Jocques
Crawford led Tech's ground game with 79 yards on 10 carries.
Benford had eight catches for a career-high 177 yards and two
touchdowns. Lamb was 13-for-21 for 246 yards, also a career-high.
He was sacked once.
SEMO held the ball more than 37 minutes in the contest and
converted 10-for-16 on third down.
Defensively, Marty Jones and Dustin
Dillehay led the way with 14 tackles each and Kelechi Ordu added
11 tackles.
Tech had just 20 yards in penalties, but two in the fourth quarter
were costly. One was a pass interference call after Corbin Miles
appeared to have made a great play to break up a pass on a third
down. Later, when Tremaine Hudson
churned out a kickoff return to the SEMO 40, the play was called
back to the Tech 21 on a holding call.
PREGAME NOTES
* Tech is 1-2, following an abbreviated, 43-0 win over Lane
College last week in Tucker Stadium in a contest that lasted just
under 25 minutes before being called because of weather. SEMO is
2-1 overall/1-0 in the OVC, following a stunning win at FCS No. 5
Southern Illinois last week. The Redhawks own a win over Murray
State in OVC play.
* Tech has won four in a row over SEMO, including a 28-16 victory
last year in Tucker Stadium. The Golden Eagles own an 11-7 all-time
record against the Redhawks in a series that began in 1991.
* The Golden Eagles have won both games against the Redhawks under
head coach Watson Brown's direction. The teams didn't meet in 2007,
Brown's first season at the Tech helm, while Tech took victories in
Cape Girardeau in 2008 and Cookeville in 2009.
* The Golden Eagles have played two games this season without a
turnover (Arkansas and Lane). They had five turnovers in the other
game (TCU).
* The Golden Eagles have had a 100-yard runner in each of the past
two games with SEMO. In 2008, Henry Sailes rushed
for 113 yards and one touchdown in just eight carries. Last year,
Dontey Gay
rushed for 125 and two touchdowns in 20 carries.
* Tech's all-time rushing record and all-time passing record have
both come in Houck Stadium against the Redhawks/Indians. In 1993,
Michael Penix set Tech's single-game rushiing record with 261 yards
against the SEMO Indians. In 2006, Lee Sweeney passed for a
single-game record 437 yards against the Redhawks, going
32-for-57.
* The Golden Eagles will wear white jerseys and purple pants for
the road game. SEMO will be dressed in red jerseys and black
pants.
* Weather conditions, unlike last week against Lane, will be
perfect for the game. Temperatures are expected to be around 75
degrees under party sunny/cloud skies at kickoff.
* SEMO won the toss and deferred to the second half, giving Tech
the ball on the kickoff.
FIRST QUARTER NOTES
* The Golden Eagle offense was a machine on the opening
possession, marching 77 yards in 11 plays for a touchdown and a 7-0
lead. The drive lasted 6:09 before Dontey Gay crossed the goal line
from the 11 for the score.
* The Redhawks answered quickly as quarterback Matt Scheible
directed the offense 65 yards in eight plays on a 3:15 scoring
drive to tie the game, 7-7. Miles Edwards ran nine yards for the
touchdown.
* Tech stalled on its only other first quarter possession and Nick
Campbell's 33-yard punt put SEMO in motion at its own 15.
* The Redhawks closed the quarter by moving into Golden Eagle
territory.
SECOND QUARTER NOTES
* On the second play of the second quarter, Jake McIntosh
delivered a smashing tackle on Henry Harris, forcing a fumble that
Dustin
Dillehay recovered at the Tech 36.
* Campbell punted a second time after a three-and-out, and this
one forced a fair catch at the SEMO 11.
* The Redhawks didn't let the poor field position bother them,
mounting a long, 78-yard drive to the Tech two-yard line. However,
on third-and-goal, Scheible fumbled and McIntosh recovered at the
11 to snuff the potential go-ahead score.
* A 45-yard run by Jocques
Crawford came on the first play, moving the ball into SEMO
territory and Tech found itself knocking on the door. On third
down, Tre Lamb
made a great fake into the line and threw a strike over the middle
but the pass was dropped. It brought in Matt Barker to attempt a
44-yard field goal and the kick was long enough but wide to the
right.
* With 2:01 remaining, SEMO started at its own 27 and put together
a 12-play, 66-yard drive that ended with Drew Geldbach kicking a
24-yard field goal on the final play for a 10-7 Redhawk lead at the
intermission.
HALFTIME NOTES
* At the half, SEMO had 258 yards of total offense include 164 on
the ground and 94 passing. Tech had 174 yaards with 103 rushing and
71 passing.
* Crawford had 73 yards on eight carries in the first half for the
Golden Eagles while Henry Harris had 104 yards on 16 tries.
THIRD QUARTER NOTES
* Southeast Missouri drove the length of the field to open the
second quarter and built its lead to 17-7 on a TD pass from
Scheible to fullback Nathan Grass.
* Following a SEMO kickoff out of bounds, Lamb heaved a 60-yard TD
pass to Tim Benford on the first play from scrimmage. Benford went
up over the defender to make the catch then cruised 25 yards to the
end zone. Barker's PAT made it 17-14 with seven minutes remaining
in the third quarter.
* Dillehay delivered the best hit of the night just after the ball
arrived on a pass from Scheible to Miles Edwards, knocking it
incomplete on third down. A huge SEMO punt pinned Tech deep in its
own end, but Tech was able to march to midfield before Campbell
punted. His kick was just 22 yards, going out of bounds at the SEMO
35.
* Tech's defense came up with a couple of bigs stops and forced
SEMO to think about a third-and-eight as the third quarter
ended.
FOURTH QUARTER NOTES
* Geldbach narrowly missed a 44-yard field goal with 11 minutes
remaining. Tech went 3-and-out, and the punt was nearly blocked.
SEMO took possession at the Redhawk 42.
* Harris rushed for 51 yards on five carries during SEMO's
58-yard, seven-play scoring drive that put the Redhawks up 23-14.
The big play was a 27-yard run to the Tech three, and he went the
final yards for the score. The missed PAT left it a nine-point
margin with 7:02 remaining.
* Tremaine Hudson took the kickoff all the way back to the SEMO
35, but a holding call way back at the 31 left Tech at its own 21
to begin the next possession. A 24-yard pass to Demetrous
Garrett got the Golden Eagles moving, but on third-and-four at
the SEMO 20, Gay lost the handle and Justin Love receovered with
3:45 to play.
* The TTU defense held and forced a punt which Henry Sailes
returned 25 yards to the SEMO 43 with 1:15 to play. Lamb hit
Benford for 24 yards, then found the all-OVC receiver in the back
of the end zone for a TD with 56 seconds left. Barker's PAT made it
23-21.
* Tech lined up and tried an onsides kick, but SEMO receovered and ran out the clock.