COLUMN: Too much talk for Southeast in lopsided loss to EIU

Saturday afternoon was all about the Eastern Illinois football team at Houck Stadium.

The game plan was about the Panthers, the talk on the field was prompted by them, the play on the field was highlighted by them and the scoreboard was most definitely all about them after a 52-13 dismantling of Southeast Missouri State.

"When we got here, I really wanted a process-driven program, and unfortunately I felt like we focused too much on Eastern Illinois -- even game plans, it was all about what they do instead of what we do," Southeast coach Tom Matukewicz said after the loss. "Our kids were interested in doing a lot of talking and stuff like that. That's a sign that you're more worried about them than you are yourself. It may not have made the difference, but that's certainly not something that I want. We're going to get that fixed."

There will be plenty to correct this week as the Redhawks prepare for an even stiffer test next week on the road at OVC leader Eastern Kentucky, but the most important will be refocusing players who were too often caught up with what was happening between snaps.

"It was an execution thing, and like Coach Tuke said, we were trash talking," junior running back DeMichael Jackson said. "We bought into what they wanted us to do. They was trash talking. We trash-talked back, so they got us unfocused and made us do different things that we usually don't do. That's not us, and that's not what Coach Tuke and the coaching staff's taught us, so it was a focus thing. Everybody's emotions were just all off."

As Matukewicz said, it's unlikely that getting caught up in whatever nonsense the EIU players were spouting on the field accounted for the entirety of the 39-point gap between the teams, but there was a parallel between when the Redhawks' emotions started to show and when the Panthers started to pull away.

Southeast trailed 21-13 with just under two minutes to go in the first half when quarterback Kyle Snyder fumbled as he was sacked.

Jackson was exuberant on the sideline, screaming "Let's wake up" to his kneeling teammates as Snyder was attended to by trainers on the field.

"Kyle's our leader. He gets us going. He gets me going," Jackson said. "He gets the whole offense going. There was a comment made, a defensive player, that fired me up. I don't like seeing none of my teammates down. I love this game. I love my teammates, so just seeing him go down -- my leader -- that hurt. That hurt a lot."

Snyder returned to the game two snaps later, but the Redhawks didn't score again while the Panthers pulled farther and farther way.

Matukewicz spoke with multiple players on the sideline as the second half progressed, including an elongated visit with wide receiver Spencer Davis after he got tangled up with an EIU defender following a play.

What we're talking about here is not some reckless emotional meltdown that drew penalties, dangerous play or resulted in poor effort. There was nothing of that sort. It was just one, better team getting in the head of an inferior opponent for the afternoon. Because while EIU entered the game 1-5 following a brutal schedule to open the season, it is still the two-time defending Ohio Valley Conference champion. And while the Redhawks already have overachieved this season and have plenty to be proud of, they still have a long way to go before they start trash-talking with the league's elite.

Southeast trailed 38-13 at the end of the third quarter when Matukewicz started walking down the sideline with four fingers in the air. It was the traditional sign for calling focus to a team's fourth-quarter performance, but it doubles as a sign of the four pillars of the Southeast program -- attitude, effort, discipline and passion -- for Matukewicz.

"Don't look at the clock," Matukewicz yelled to no one in particular and everyone at the same time. "Don't look at the scoreboard. Play."

That thought should probably be expanded for the remainder of the season for the Redhawks.

Don't look at the clock. Don't look at the scoreboard. Don't look at the records, the standings or too closely at the other team.

Just play.