Getting back on track: SEMO football preview vs Western Illinois

SEMO head coach Tom Matukewicz walks toward the sideline agains Tennessee Tech on Saturday, Oct. 12.

Kaiden Karper ~ kkarper@semoball.com

CAPE GIRARDEAU – Back to the drawing board.

The No. 12 SEMO Redhawks return home after suffering their second loss of the season, battered from much discussion of receiving a first-round bye in the FCS Playoff. The good news is that this program’s playoff and conference title hopes are far from dead.

All SEMO needs to do is win out.

The Redhawks (8-2, 5-1 Big South-Ohio Valley Conference) continue their conference stretch with a matchup against Western Illinois (3-7, 2-4) this Saturday in the final home game of the regular season.

Here are four storylines ahead of Senior Day:

Gut check time

To some, it might feel like the sky is falling in Cape Girardeau, but Matukewicz, who said the team had “good energy” in practice this week, trusts his team’s resilience and believes they can clean up the issues moving forward.

“I think you’ve just got to see the right kind of focus,” said Matukewicz after practice on Tuesday. “Maybe a guy that didn't make a play on Saturday has kind of got his head down or whatever. Those are the things as a coach that we’ve got to pick up. We're fine. Lost the game we could have won. Move on and focus on how you get better.”

SEMO has looked wobbly in recent weeks, almost losing to Gardner-Webb on homecoming before finally suffering an FCS defeat against Lindenwood. Now it’s a matter of immediate response and commitment.

Since 2018, SEMO teams that have finished with a winning record are 8-1 in regular-season games following a loss under Matukewicz.

If SEMO is going to meet its conference title expectations, the Lindenwood game will be the accelerant to fuel this team’s fire. Losing to the Lions might feel like a state of emergency, but Matukewicz has been here before, and he knows the way out.

Offense due for a bounce back

Blame it on the bad weather or SEMO just simply being out of sync, the offense appeared bent out of shape against Lindenwood this past Saturday, even with Payton Brown and Darrell Smith returning to the backfield.

For a unit that was averaging 31.4 points per game, the Redhawks had just 12 to show for it against a Lions defense that surrendered 44 points per game in its previous three leading up to the day.

A glaring issue for the SEMO offense was its inability to move the chains, as the Redhawks were 2-of-13 on third down. They were also outplayed in the trenches after only rushing for 62 yards on 16 carries compared to Lindenwood’s 192 yards. As a result, this put more pressure on star quarterback Paxton DeLaurent on those third-down situations, which goes to show why he had a season-low in passing yards (174) and yards per attempt (4.7).

On the bright side, SEMO faces the worst rushing defense in the conference this weekend, as Western Illinois is currently giving up an average of 250.5 yards per game on the ground. As long as the Redhawks can stay ahead of the chains, where running the ball is more of an option, then this offense should regain its stride.

Limit explosive plays defensively

SEMO’s defense has been rock-solid for most of the season and is currently the best unit in the Big South-OVC from a statistical standpoint.

However, explosive plays hampered this side of the football this past Saturday.

In the first nine games of the season, the SEMO defense was only allowing an average of 2.8 plays of 20-plus yards per game. Lindenwood had four, including touchdowns of 20 and 27 yards.

Western Illinois has the ideal quarterback to pose similar issues, as the Leathernecks are led by senior gunslinger Nathan Lamb. The California native has thrown for 2,531 yards and has a conference-best 16-4 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Much of that production is attributed to first-year head coach Joe Davis – a renowned quarterback guru.

“I’d like to nominate Coach (Davis) as quarterback coach of the century,” Matukewicz said. “Last year he was at EIU with (Pierce) Holley, who tore it up, and now he’s at WIU and it’s the same thing. He’s a quarterback whisperer.

“The quarterback is the difference maker,” Matukewicz said. “If you’ve got a great one, you’re never out of games and that’s what they’ve been able to do. We’ve played consistently all year long. We’ve had a bad quarter or two, but not a real bad game. We’ve got to stay on top of that.”

Senior Day for a legendary class

SEMO will honor 16 seniors prior to kickoff on Saturday. Headlining the bunch are record-breaking quarterback DeLaurent and two-time All-Conference linebacker Bryce Norman.

“My last guaranteed game at Houck,” said Norman, who is on pace to lead the team in tackles for the fourth consecutive season. “It’s going to be kind of nice just to cherish this moment. You don't get these all the time and this could be my last game here. I just need to go out there and give it my all.

“Being a hometown kid and just all the support and stuff I get and then just becoming a leader for the younger guys. I feel like that’s very important to me and to this program.”

The 14 other seniors being recognized are Khalani Riddick, Dony’e Taylor, Dorian Anderson, Joedrick Lewis, Sam Cook, Mali Walton, Chris Daigre, JaQori Williams, Zi’kef Johnson, Mitchell Sellers, Adam Heston, DC Pippin, Kobe Sixkiller and Sam Keeper.

“Enjoy the memories,” said Matukewicz. “Take all the breaths in and enjoy it with your teammates. Make sure that you thank everybody that's been a part of your journey. No one got here by themselves. You've had family members, you've had teachers, you've had coaches, and all these people that impact your life. Make sure that you're thankful and you tell those guys."