SOUTHEAST NOTEBOOK: Redhawks defense shines again, Will Young enjoys big day

Southeast Missouri State's Will Young carries the ball while Tennessee Tech's Maleek Hall attempts to bring him down during a game Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016, in Cookeville, Tennessee.

TTU Sports Information

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. — Despite holding one of the Ohio Valley Conference’s top passers in check for the final two quarters, the Southeast Missouri State defense was left empty-handed.

Heading into Saturday’s game, only Jacksonville State had been able to slow down Tennessee Tech senior quarterback Michael Birdsong, limiting the 6-foot-5 signal caller to 167 yards passing earlier in the season.

The Redhawks’ defense wasn’t perfect, but slowing down Birdsong to 170 yards seemed like a good start in picking up a crucial OVC road win.

That didn’t prove to be the case, as TTU managed to escape with a 21-20 victory in spite of gaining only 244 yards of total offense.

After the game, Southeast junior outside linebacker Chad Meredith still believed there was plenty that could’ve been done on the defensive side to prevent Saturday’s outcome.

“We’ve just got to do what we can do and do what we can control and put faith in our brothers to do what they can do,” Meredith. “I still have all the faith in the world in them. Each side holds each other accountable. We pick each other up when we’re down.”

Meredith, who finished with a game-high eight tackles and two sacks, was more concerned about the defense’s inability to get a turnover. TTU entered the game with a turnover margin of minus-8.

“That’s one of the biggest stats in football,” Meredith said. “When you don’t win that, winning the game becomes a whole lot harder.”

Birdsong threw his only touchdown of the game on a 10-yard pass to Dontez Byrd in the second quarter. He was elusive in breaking out of the pocket on several key plays in the first half before the Redhawks tightened up their containment in the final two quarters.

“It was just that when our edge rushers were coming off the edge, occasionally we were taking bad angles and allowing him to extend the pocket outside and extend the plays,” Meredith said. “We just got that adjusted, which obviously helped out.”

The focus on containment paid dividends in the second half, as Birdsong threw for only 54 yards. In fact, TTU was never able to drive the ball beyond the Southeast 44-yard line in the second half. The Golden Eagles churned out 101 total yards in the final two periods.

“I think our pressure was really good,” Meredith said. “I’m really proud of the D-line with how they got back there and pressured the quarterback. They were getting good penetration and kicking it out to our outside backers to get upfield and make a play on the ball.”

SEMO’s defensive line was anchored by 6-3, 296-pound nose tackle Anthony Cheatum, who replaced the injured Marlon Hampton as a starter. Hampton’s season is done after sustaining an injury to his ACL.

“He did good. I’m proud of him that he came in and performed,” Meredith said. “Marlon was a big piece of the defense, and to see another guy come in and step up, I was real proud of him.”

While the pass defense showed more cohesion from all 11 players, Matukewicz understands there’s nothing that can sugarcoat the outcome.

“We can’t blame, complain and defend it,” Matukewicz said. “At the end of the day, we didn’t make the plays we needed to make to win the football game. ... They finished it on offense.”

Young’s big day

The Golden Eagles didn’t appear to have much of an answer for Will Young until a lingering injury came roaring back.

Young had 93 yards rushing in the first half but was forced to watch most of the second half from the sideline after re-tweaking his ankle underneath a pile of players early in the third quarter.

“It’s just one of those injuries that kind of lingers throughout the season, so depending on how it gets rolled on determines how fast I’m able to come back into the game,” said Young, who finished with 16 carries for 102 yards (6.4 ypc). “During that play, it just got twisted the wrong way, and I had to sit out a couple plays and let it recuperate.”

Matukewicz was pleased with the performance from his offensive line in the early going.

“He made a lot of yards after contact, broke several tackles,” Matukewicz said. “I think our offensive line got him going, so once he got 4 or 5 yards, he was able to get another 4 or 5.”

Young’s injury didn’t prevent Southeast from continuing its effort on the ground. The Redhawks finished with 182 yards rushing, as Cameron Sanders contributed 31 of those yards, all coming in the second half. Chase Abbington wrapped up his day with 30 yards on six rushes.

“Everyone has their own little flavor they bring to the table,” Young said. “Cameron’s more of a speed player. If he gets to the sideline, nobody can catch him. Chase can make everybody miss. Nobody can tackle him, and then I just bring the power to the game.

“The coaches do a good job of mixing it up and giving the defense a new look so they’re always off-balanced.”

Fourth-down gambles

From the first quarter on, Matukewicz was prepared to test his offense on fourth down.

At their own 39 on the opening drive, the Redhawks converted on fourth-and-1 when Will Young carried the ball off tackle for a 7-yard gain, and five plays later, they found themselves in the end zone with an early 7-0 lead.

Southeast finished 3 of 4 on fourth down, failing only once in the second quarter on fourth-and-3 at the TTU 35.

“We just had success,” Matukewicz said. “We were moving the ball well. It just felt like that was a key to our offense.”

The Redhawks converted twice more on fourth-and-short in the second half, but it was the decision not to go for it that bothered Matukewicz the most.

Trailing 21-20 with the ball spotted at the TTU 13 early in the final period, Matukewicz sent senior kicker Ryan McCrum out to try a 30-yard field goal on fourth-and-1. McCrum’s kick went wide right.

It was the last chance Southeast had in the red zone.

“I wish I would’ve went for it because we were moving the ball really well,” Matukewicz said. “It was just that once we got down there, we teetered out.”