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SEMO NOTEBOOK: Young takes center stage for Southeast Missouri State football
Southeast Missouri State quarterback Jesse Hosket hands the ball off to running back Will Young during Saturday's game against Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee.
Andrew Breig ~ Special to the Southeast Missourian
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- In Will Young's first year with the Southeast Missouri State football team after transferring from Highland (Kan.) Community College in 2015, the running back appeared in just five games. He carried the ball in only two of those and garnered positive yardage in only one -- a three-carry, 23-yard effort against Austin Peay that also included a touchdown.
Five career carries, only two for positive yardage. But in Saturday's season opener at Memphis, Young boosted his resume a bit.
The senior carried the ball 17 times for 114 yards and a touchdown against the Tigers.
"Honestly, it does feel good, but I honestly didn't know I ran for 100 yards during the game," Young said. "It feels good. The O-line, it starts up front. They just did their thing."
Saturday night was not one to remember for the Redhawks' offense. Out of 14 offensive drives in the game, Southeast moved more than 21 yards on just three; it stalled out in less than 10 on seven. One of the bright spots, though, was Young.
"He just really did a great job of running strong," Southeast coach Tom Matukewicz said. "He was his own blocker some of the time, and that was great to see. For him to go over 100 yards, I'm very, very proud of him.
"Our team voted him team captain, so he's on our leadership council, and I just really think he's enjoying his senior year and coming on and really excited about seeing where he goes from here."
Matukewicz called Young his team's player of the game.
The first quarter was rough in every aspect for Southeast, but by halftime, Young had carried the football nine times for 38 yards -- a solid 4.2 yards-per-carry clip. At that point, the Redhawks had just 30 total yards of offense.
Then, on the second play of the second Southeast drive of the second half, Young burst through the line, lowered a shoulder, bounced off a tackler and broke into the secondary. As he headed down the right sideline, a Memphis defensive back ripped at Young's ankles, but the running back slipped out, maintained his balance in bounds and scampered into the end zone for a 61-yard touchdown.
It was the longest play of the game for either team.
"At about the 20-yard line, I was about out of gas," Young said. "But starting out, the O-line just did their job and blocked everyone they were supposed to. Coach always tells me, 'If you can make one man miss, you'll be the best running back in the nation.' I was able to make somebody miss, and I got in the end zone. It felt good."
The Southeast coaching staff preaches the importance of explosive plays. Young said the players are told that three explosive plays a game increases the odds of winning to 60 percent -- "That's an NFL statistic," he said. There were signs that the Redhawk offense began to come together a little as the night went on, but as for explosive plays, there was only one that truly fit that definition. And it was Young's.
"Its hard to drive it 12 plays," Matukewicz said. "You've got to be able to break big plays, and he did that against a really good defense. Credit to the O-line, and then he was able to make a play down field to be able to keep in bounds on the touchdown."
In the end, Young accounted for 45 percent of all of the Redhawks' yards.
The next closest runner in terms of carries in the game was Tremane McCullough and Chase Abbington, with four each.
McCullough, who was used as a running back last year but is a more versatile weapon this season, had seven rushing yards. He got the ball coming out of the backfield just three times, once on a pass. He also was credited with a rush after splitting out wide and receiving a lateral. The senior led all receivers with nine catches for 69 yards.
Abbington had little success, finishing with negative yards rushing; he also had two catches for two yards.
Clearly leading the rotation to start the season, Young's coach believes he is an every-down type of back.
"I think he can be [every down] -- he can be a third-down back, he catches the ball, he blocks well," Matukewicz said. "If it wasn't for fatigue, you'd want him in there a lot."
After the game, Matukewicz called the offense a "work in progress." In Week 1, Young made a claim to be a big part of that progress this season.
Home cooking
Saturday may have marked the first meeting in 82 years between the Tigers and Southeast, but for a number of Redhawks, the trip to Memphis was a return home.
Seven players on the Redhawks' roster are Memphis natives, plus defensive back JJ Flye hails from Southaven, Mississippi, a suburb of the city. So there were familiar faces in the stands at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.
"I have a lot of friends I went to high school with and some coaches and a lot of people supporting me, so that was a good thing," Flye said. "It felt good. Most of us have been here most of our lives, so it was good to see everyone we grew up with supporting us and welcoming us back."
Flye was third on the team with six tackles in the 35-17 loss, and he led the squad with two pass breakups.
Memphis products Byron Wilson, Cameron Sanders, Rudie Frye, Marquette Murdock, Justin Swift, Clarence Thornton and Kristian Wilkerson all had a chance to return to familiar ground.
Wilson is the only senior in the group, while Flye is a junior. The other six figure to be a part of the team's plans for a while.
"They loved [the trip back]," Matukewicz said. "... Even when we were recruiting them, we talked about this game. It was great for them to come here. When you think about college football in general, the Liberty Bowl is a prestigious place to play, and they have it looking nice."
Linebacker Wilson had four tackles in the game, and wide receiver Wilkerson was second on the team with five catches for 48 yards.
Matukewicz believes Southeast is a natural fit for players coming out of Memphis.
"It's two and a half hours away," Matukewicz said. "When I came here, there wasn't one guy on our roster from Memphis. I think it's a good fit. When you look at the OVC, other than Tennessee Tech, we have a city. So Memphis kids come there, and it's not like Martin or Murray -- they fit in because there's other places to eat besides McDonald's.
"A lot of recruits that we talk to, some were here tonight. If Memphis doesn't offer and recruit you, you know, take a look at SEMO."
Self-inflicted damage
Taking on Football Bowl Subdivsion teams offers a few things for programs like Southeast, including a solid payday (the Redhawks' brought home $250,000 for making the trip to Memphis) and a chance for the program to test itself against a higher level of competition. To actually win? It takes a near-perfect performance, and Southeast didn't have that against the Tigers.
Part of that was self-inflicted, as a blocked punt and an interception in the first quarter made the challenge greater and penalties often dug the hole deeper.
Southeast was flagged eight times for 80 yards in the season opener.
"Eight for 80 is way too many," Matukewicz said. "We'll see [on film] what they look like. Sometimes I felt like we were playing Memphis and the officials there for a minute. I didn't see any ignorant penalty. Pass interference could have gone either way. We had the late hit on the quarterback -- we'll have to see the film to see where that's at. It's something we'd like to cut in half -- 45, probably."
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