COLUMN: Southeast relegated back to underdog role after loss at Murray State

The Southeast Missouri State football team found itself in a new and unfamiliar role when it stepped onto the field at Murray State on Saturday afternoon.

Suddenly, a team that entered the season with three wins in each other last three seasons and little respect from anyone not on the payroll, on scholarship or on a booster list was a nationally-ranked team on a three-game winning streak and a favorite to play spoiler on the Racers' Homecoming.

The Redhawks didn't shine in that spotlight at Murray State, but they didn't wilt under it either. They mostly played as they had throughout the streak but with an unpleasant twist -- they lost a close game full of twists and turns instead of winning it.

"The difference between winning and losing is extremely small until you get really talented," Southeast coach Tom Matukewicz said after his team's 44-41 loss in double overtime. "So we have to do a better job controlling the things that we can control. The plan going into the game -- I still feel like I'd have the same plan. We've just got to execute better."

The biggest flaws were obvious. The Southeast offense had to kick six field goals in the game, twice on drives that advanced all the way inside the 10 before they stalled or were put in reverse by a penalty.

The defense, meanwhile, was burned in the passing game for a second week in a row, this time giving up 297 yards on 21-of-36 passing by quarterback KD Humphries. The big plays, as they typically do, hurt the most, particularly a 75-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter that came just three plays after Southeast had taken a lead.

The sideline grew raucous after the defense allowed just one yard on the first two plays of the drive only to be silenced a moment later.

Two of the field goals were missed on special teams and a poor punt early in the game delayed Southeast's typical advantage in the field-position battle.

In short, there were several of individual plays that could be pointed out as potential game-changers, something Matukewicz acknowledged.

"You can do that all night long, but really, at the end of the day, we could've played better and it came down to where it was just -- they played one more play better than we did and so we lost the game," he said.

After suffering losses at Kansas and Southern Illinois, the Redhawks won their next three games by a total of 12 points, including two over ranked opponents.

Southeast could have lost each of those games almost as easily as it won them, but it was a testament to the Redhawks that they came out on the winning side each time to earn themselves at least some of the respect they've been after.

Matukewicz, in his first year at Southeast, has been quick and consistent in reminding everyone that he expects every game the Redhawks play to be close throughout the season. His team simply isn't good enough and his roster simply isn't deep enough to blow out team -- especially when you add in the unfortunate number of injuries the team has had to endure.

Still, the Redhawks were facing a Murray State team that entered Saturday on a four-game losing streak with a 0-2 conference record. If the team wants to tout its David-like slaying of ranked teams at Houck Stadium, it should be weary of the hazards -- and expectations -- of becoming the defeated Goliath.

"This one really hurts, I'm not even going to lie to you," quarterback Kyle Snyder said.

But Snyder, his teammates and Matukewicz were all consistent in insisting that the ranking had nothing to do with how they prepared or viewed themselves.

"Not at all, honestly," Snyder said. "It's the OVC. It's very a competitive conference. ... You can't really look too much into that stuff."

Southeast will be back in the comforts of Houck next week against two-time defending conference champion Eastern Illinois, which took conference favorite Eastern Kentucky to overtime on Saturday before losing, and the Redhawks will likely be back in the role of unranked underdog.

"This is a marathon. It isn't a race," Matukewicz said. "You've never arrived, but it's never over either. It's how you handle the process and not make excuses -- accept the things that we can control and get better at and go to work on getting it better."