Southeast Missouri State football readies for season opener against FBS program Arkansas State

Southeast Missouri State coach Tom Matukewicz talks to his team after a scrimmage Aug. 18 at Houck Field.

Fred Lynch

The Southeast Missouri State football team taking the field Saturday for its season opener will look markedly different from last year's squad.

There are new faces scattered across the field, and a new offensive system in place under the watch of a first-year offensive coordinator. The Redhawks hope all that change pays off this year with their first winning season since 2010, when they won the Ohio Valley Conference championship. An upset victory over Football Bowl Subdivision opponent Arkansas State would be quite the start for the new-look team.

The Red Wolves, who compete in the Sun Belt Conference, are coming off a 7-5 campaign and have been to a bowl game for seven consecutive seasons.

Meanwhile, SEMO competes in the lower Football Championship Subdivision and hasn't won more than four games since coach Tom Matukewicz's fist season in 2014.

"I'm just excited to play such a great program. I have dreams that maybe we can be them someday, so this is going to be a fun trip," Matukewicz said. "I realize this is a really good football team, but I'm excited about playing them, I really am."

After another ho-hum season offensively, SEMO changed coordinators in the offseason, bringing in former Redhawk quarterback Jeromy McDowell. He was the offensive coordinator at Division II Colorado Mesa the last two seasons and in 2017 coached an offense that was second in the nation with 46.4 points per game.

McDowell, who also serves as the quarterbacks coach, brings an up-tempo, attacking style to SEMO. His quarterback, Daniel Santacaterina, has FBS pedigree, having started four games at Northern Illinois last season. He completed 62 of 97 passes for 712 yards and seven touchdowns but lost his job after a 34-28 loss to San Diego State.

He transferred to Southeast in the winter but had to sit out spring practice while he recovered from rotator cuff surgery. He still won the staring job by the end of fall camp.

"He's also a kid that just gets the people part. He has a relationship with everybody on our team -- the poorest kid, the richest kid, the blackest kid, the whitest kid," Matukewicz said. "He just gets the people part. Why that's so important is a lot of belief and enthusiasm, and just confidence, comes from your quarterback. Even our defense feels better, and obviously the quarterback position drives so much of that.

"I think he's just been able to get guys to really believe. That's how we're going to be able to turn the corner this season. In large part because of his leadership, but also what he puts out there on the field."

Santacaterina is replacing two-year starter Jesse Hosket, who recently signed with the Memphis franchise in the fledging Alliance American Football League.

He certainly has a safety blanket in running back Marquis Terry, the Preseason OVC Offensive Player of the Year and only returning 1,000-yard rusher in the league. Terry averaged 4.5 yards per carry last year and 97.8 yards per game, finishing 13th in the FCS with 1,076 rushing yards.

Along the offensive line, SEMO brings back three senior starters, including center Lucas Orchard and Preseason All-American left tackle Drew Forbes.

"We have a left tackle that I think is an NFL guy that can be drafted, combine-type guy," Matukewicz said. "He's a legitimate prospect."

The sole returning starting wide receiver, Kristian Wilkerson, leads a position group the coaches describe as deep and one SEMO will need production from if it hopes to have a turnaround year.

Southeast lost six starters on defense, including four players who ended up in NFL camps this summer and the first SEMO draftee since 2004.

Star linebackers Chad Meredith and Kendall Donnerson, the draftee, are gone along with cornerbacks Rico McWilliams and Mike Ford. All four were brought into NFL camps. Defensive lineman Joshua Wilson and the team's leader in interceptions, Omar Pierre-Louis, also are gone.

The defense does bring back several key pieces, including last year's leading tackler Zach Hall, but will be faced with a tall task in stopping Arkansas State's high-powered attack.

Quarterback Justice Hansen returns after being named the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year last year and throwing for 3,967 yards. He has also thrown a touchdown pass in 17 consecutive games and he has a bevy of receivers over 6 foot 3 to target. Four of the five starting offensive linemen are back, and coach Blake Anderson returns for another season.

Anderson, who took over in 2014, is the first Red Wolves coach to win more than 22 games in his first four seasons.

"Of course you love the talent and things like that, but I think I just appreciate the coach and what he's been able to do there," Matukewicz said. "I know he stood on the shoulders of a lot of previous coaches."

Matukewicz has an idea of what the Redhawks are up against. He visited Arkansas State's facilities back in 2000 and faced the Red Wolves in bowl games when he was an assistant at Northern Illinois and Toledo.

Now, he hopes SEMO can give Arkansas State a game.

"All those things are a challenge, but also why not?" Matukewicz said. "Let's throw it in there. Let's see what it looks like and let's have a little fun."