Southeast Missouri State football team focuses on red zone after area haunts in one-point loss

Southeast Missouri State's Jesse Hosket delivers a pass during a drill at practice Tuesday, Oct. 25. 2016 at the Rosengarten Athletic Complex.

Trent Singer

An inability to score in the red zone had not figured into the outcome of a game all season for the Southeast Missouri State football team before Saturday's game against Tennessee Tech.

The Redhawks had come away empty-handed inside the 20 only four times all season, all of which came in consecutive wins against Murray State and Eastern Illinois.

SEMO's red-zone offense became an issue of concern in a 21-20 loss against the host Golden Eagles, finishing 2 of 4 inside the 20 with a touchdown, a field goal and a pair of misses by senior kicker Ryan McCrum.

While most of the fine-tuning for those situational scenarios was saved for today's practice, an upbeat Redhawks squad opened practice with a renewed vigor heading into Saturday's Pink Up game against visiting Austin Peay.

"When the field shrinks, it's just hard work down there, and you've got to be able to throw it and run it," Southeast coach Tom Matukewicz said. "More importantly, you've got to stay out of negative-yardage plays. ... We're just going to make a priority of repping it.

Southeast Missouri State's Will Young rushes the ball during a drill at practice Tuesday, Oct. 25. 2016 at the Rosengarten Athletic Complex.

Trent Singer

"We're going to come up with a good plan, and the guys have to execute."

Southeast (2-5, 2-2 Ohio Valley Conference) has converted on 71 percent of its 21 red-zone opportunities this season, which ranks in a tie for last in the conference. The Redhawks have scored 15 times in the red zone, settling for eight field goals and crossing the goal line seven times -- four rushing and three passing.

Redhawks offensive coordinator Jon Wiemers knows his players are more than capable of handling high-leverage situations but wants to see his offense develop more of a killer instinct inside the 20.

"There comes a point where, in the red zone, it comes down to somebody has to make a play," Wiemers said. "When you end up throwing it, you're going to have a one-on-one. ... You miss a throw by two feet or you miss a throw by a foot and somebody has to make a play. Well, we're not.

"You have to be a little more precise on your throws. And then on the other hand as a receiver, it may not be perfect, but you just have to come down with it."

The Redhawks marched 70 yards down the field on their opening drive against TTU and scored the first of their two touchdowns inside the red zone on a 1-yard run by senior running back Will Young. A 44-yard pass from junior quarterback Jesse Hosket to redshirt freshman wide receiver Kristian Wilkerson placed the ball at the 12 before Young found pay dirt with three straight carries.

"As an offense, you just can't change your mindset when you get in the red zone. You can't press," Wiemers said. "There's kind of a mentality to it that you just have to smell the end zone, so to speak. We've really been finding that when we run the ball into the end zone, but the times where you get in the third-and-6s, you have to make a play in the pass game. And that does involve a lot of one-on-ones.

"In a game like that, you miss two, and then you miss a couple field goals. And then you're in trouble. That's how critical it is."

Wiemers said the offense has done an exceptional job practicing one-on-one matchups in the red zone but realizes there's still plenty of work to be done in live-game situations.

"All you can really do is just continue to work on it and progress," Wiemers said, "and when you get in that situation, your mentality has to be that we're getting the ball in the end zone."

Running wild

Southeast Missouri State's Cameron Sanders receives the handoff from teammate Nick Sprague during a drill at practice Tuesday, Oct. 25. 2016 at the Rosengarten Athletic Complex.

Trent Singer

Southeast had its best game of the season on the ground against the Golden Eagles, finishing with 41 combined rushes for 182 yards.

The Redhawks have rushed for over 100 yards in each of their games this season and are averaging 135.4 rushing yards per game, which ranks sixth in the OVC. Young leads the ground attack and is fifth in the conference with 71.1 rushing yards per game. He has amassed 498 yards and three TDs on 102 carries.

Wiemers was mostly pleased with the dominance on the offensive line, which allowed the Redhawks to generate 4.4 yards per rush against TTU.

"They had a great day," Wiemers said. "We had about three or four keys to victory, and a big one was to be physical. That's part of us, and in our run game, you can check that one off. We did what we needed to do. Our offensive line did what it needed to do."

Young is accompanied in the backfield by sophomore Cameron Sanders and junior Chase Abbington, while senior slot receiver Tremane McCullough has been sprinkled in to give Southeast a four-pronged tandem. All four players have more than 100 rushing yards on the year, while Young, McCullough and Sanders are each averaging more than 4 yards per carry.

"Cam's twice as good as what he was in the spring for never playing the position, and I'm really happy with his progress and where he's going. We've got him around here for a long time," Wiemers said. "... Obviously with Will, he runs like he's possessed. They all kind of add a different dynamic."

Wilkerson shines again

Southeast Missouri State receiver Kristian Wilkerson watches from the sidelines during a drill at practice Tuesday at the Rosengarten Athletic Complex. Wilkerson had six catches for 116 yards and a TD in Saturday's loss.

Trent Singer

For the second time in as many games, Wilkerson found the end zone on a big play.

The 6-foot-3 wideout hauled in a 47-yard TD reception that gave the Redhawks their final lead of the game, 17-14, with 5 minutes, 55 seconds remaining in the first half against TTU. He finished with four catches for 116 yards, which stands as SEMO's best individual performance of the year.

"He's strong, a guy that's strong at reception point," Wiemers said. "He does everything that's asked of him. He finds himself in the right place at the right times, and he catches it. ... We kind of knew Kristian was going to make some noise this year, and we're glad we've got him here for a little while."

Wilkerson now stands as the team's leading receiver with 21 receptions for 398 yards and three scores. He's averaging 56.9 yards receiving per game, which ranks 10th in the league, and is generating 19 yards per catch.

"It's the fun thing about being a coach -- you see kids improve and mature and continually take things off the film that they get better at, and so it's fun to see his progress," Matukewicz said.

Injury update

Southeast will be without one of its key players in the defensive backfield, as junior cornerback Mike Ford has been sidelined with a broken left forearm.

Ford sustained the injury against the Golden Eagles late in the first half when Krys Cates came down with a 24-yard reception on third-and-4 while running a fade route along the sideline. Ford stayed in for the next play, a 10-yard TD reception by Dontez Byrd that put TTU ahead for good, but was out for the remainder of the game.

Sophomore Steve Durosier, who got his first career start last week, and junior JJ Flye will take over as the starting CBs.

McCullough didn't participate in Tuesday's practice due to an illness, but sophomore QB Dante Vandeven appeared to be a full participant. Vandeven (strep throat) wasn't with the team for Saturday's game.

"He lost 10 pounds last week," Matukewicz said. "The sickness is hurting us more than anything."