Southeast Missouri State football team's porous pass defense works on consistency

Southeast Missouri State cornerback Mike Ford tackles wide receiver Richie Eisenhart during a drill at practice Tuesday at the Rosengarten Athletic Complex.

Trent Singer

Each defensive back on the Southeast Missouri State football team appeared to have a distinct focus during practice Tuesday at the Rosengarten Athletic Complex.

After yielding a season-high 302 yards passing in a stunning 27-24 defeat in Saturday's home opener against Indiana State, the Redhawks appeared to be all business. They ran faster, tackled harder and listened closer, turning the bulk of their attention to the little things in order to help lift Southeast out of the doldrums in their 0-3 start.

Despite the missed chances that have plagued the Redhawks through the first three weeks of the season, they'll do their best to put it all in the past when they begin Ohio Valley Conference play on Saturday against host Murray State.

"No one is OK with us being 0-3," senior strong safety Eriq Moore said. "Everybody on that defensive side of the ball knows that's a problem. We're going to try get it fixed on Saturday."

Southeast Missouri State cornerback Taj Jenkins, right, runs a drill with teammate Marlon Eugene during practice Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016 at the Rosengarten Athletic Complex.

Trent Singer

No unit on Southeast's defense has been more battle-tested through three weeks than the defensive backs. The Redhawks rank 108th out of 122 teams in the Football Championship Subdivision and are second to last in the OVC with 287.3 passing yards allowed per game. They're giving up 13.5 yards per catch (7.8 per attempt), and opposing quarterbacks have completed 58 percent (64-of-111) of their passes.

Salim Powell, who's in his first year coaching the cornerbacks after overseeing the wide receivers the last three seasons, believes the unit's early struggles are what's commonly associated with being a DB. He's made a blatant effort to start from scratch and get his players to focus on the small things.

"As much as the ball gets chucked up there and as many times as we've defended a deep ball, it's the couple that they do get that are touchdowns, and that's the life of a DB," Powell said. "You can do four, five, six of them and play them great, but the seventh one, if you give it up, that's all that people will see. So it's kind of challenging because obviously that's your role.

"I think it's just the consistency factor. It's just about doing what we've been taught to do on a consistent basis, and there's times where you start pressing a little bit. You're not getting all the picks and start pressing, and then you start to make some mistakes and lose your eyes or lose your technique. And sometimes that's all it takes back there."

Southeast has seen three more-than-capable quarterbacks in as many weeks to start the season. Junior Riley Ferguson finished with 295 yards passing and three TDs in the Redhawks' 35-17 loss at Memphis in Week 1 before senior Josh Straughan gouged out 265 yards passing and a touchdown for host Southern Illinois in a 30-22 win over Southeast.

But no QB has been more damaging to the Redhawks than ISU redshirt sophomore Isaac Harker, who finished with 302 yards passing and three TDs in rallying the Sycamores from an 11-point deficit in the final minutes Saturday at Houck Stadium.

Southeast Missouri State cornerbacks coach Salim Powell talks to his players during practice Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016 at the Rosengarten Athletic Complex.

Trent Singer

"As DBs, we like the challenge, but it's been a little bit of a challenge," Moore said. "We've went against a lot of good offenses, a lot of good quarterbacks."

On the first play from scrimmage Saturday, ISU running back Dimitri Taylor burned Southeast in a Cover-3 defense when he caught a pass from Harker along the left sideline and scored on a 75-yard TD reception, but the Redhawks didn't allow another touchdown for 56 minutes, 47 seconds.

That all changed in the final three minutes, during which Harker threw back-to-back TD passes, the latter a 15-yard pass to Miles Thompson that gave ISU the lead for good with 10 seconds remaining. Junior CB Mike Ford had great coverage on Thompson but was unable to get his hands on a well-placed pass from Harker.

"When you get guys used to their assignment, used to their alignments -- we've got an experienced secondary that's been in this system -- it kind of becomes where they operate on an auto-pilot, which can be good and bad," Powell said. "It's good in the sense that they know their system, they know their checks, they're rolling to it, they're going. But bad in the sense that they start to let the little things slip, and I, as a coach, take full responsibility for letting those little things slip. So it's just a learning process for everyone.

"Sometimes you've just got to get back to the basics and really look at what we're doing. I think the guys have been playing fine. There's just a fine line between being OK, being good and being great, and that's the thing. We're at a place where we have the experience to go next level, and obviously we're not at that next level right now. Nobody's happy with where we are, but if you look at it in the grand scheme of things and the process, you see more and more good things come out of them each week."

There's plenty for the unit to continue to use as building blocks.

Starting free safety Ryan Moore, a senior, leads all Southeast defensive backs with 19 tackles and is one of three players with two pass breakups. Junior CB JJ Flye has 14 tackles and a pair of PBUs, while Eriq Moore has contributed nine tackles. Ford, a preseason All-OVC selection, has the unit's only interception to go along with 17 tackles and two PBUs.

Southeast Missouri State wide receiver CJ Curry catches the ball ahead of cornerback Mike Ford during practice Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016 at the Rosengarten Athletic Complex.

Trent Singer

There likely isn't anyone who realizes the potential of the Redhawks' defensive backfield more than Powell, who said he isn't concerned with the unit's ability to claw its way out of its current slump.

"Sometimes it just takes some patience, which in today's world, people don't have a lot of, and that's OK," Powell said. "Like I told Mike after giving up a couple last week, I said, 'Hey man, you had a bad day, but when the chips are down, what are you going to do?' One thing my high school coach used to tell me was, 'Hey, what have you done for me lately?' And that's true in the times that we live in today."

Southeast's pass defense faces another tough challenge Saturday against MSU redshirt sophomore KD Humphries, a 6-foot-3 QB who's thrown for 519 yards in two games this season. Humphries was a STATS Preseason Third-Team All-American and directs an up-tempo Racers offense that's averaging 514 yards per game.

As for now, Powell continues to focus on getting his players in the mindset of improving a different aspect of their game each day. He strongly believes the DBs possess the skill set that can drive them to "that next level."

"When you start trying to press and start trying to do all the extra things and try to force it, that's when it becomes an issue. You'll never get better at it," Powell said. "I've always told DBs, 'Let the game come to you. Do all the preparation and all the things you're supposed to do, and the game will come to you.' ... Crawl before you walk -- whatever you want to call it -- but that's really what it's about.

"It's just about honing in on your job and, every play, focusing in on it."