Notebook: Southeast Missouri State football team struggles to adapt to UT Martin run game

Southeast Missouri State junior safety Eriq Moore was ready for the chance to face an opponent that relied heavily on its passing game coming into the Redhawks' season finale vs. UT Martin on Saturday afternoon.

The Skyhawks entered the game ranked second in the Ohio Valley conference in passing yards, averaging 306.4 per game. They also led the conference in third down conversions and red-zone offense.

Quarterback Jarod Neal threw the ball 382 times in the first 10 games of the season, completing 60.2 percent of his passes for 2,953 yards and 27 touchdowns. The Skyhawks rushed for 1,548 yards on the season prior to facing Southeast.

"Every time we get to play these passing teams I'm like, 'Let's go,'" Moore said. "I love when the games are more in the DBs (defensive backs) hands, like they tell us, 'You're going to either win or lose the game. You all play great, we win it. You all play bad and we lose it.' So really I get excited when we play these teams. I see teams' 50 [passing] attempts [per game], I'm like, 'Let's go. Let's get it.' I was really ready for them to come out passing."

Except the Skyhawks didn't come out passing.

Matukewicz said his players had to adjust on the sideline and do things that they hadn't practiced in the week leading up to the game.

Neal attempted just 11 passes in the first half, completing seven of them for 73 yards and a touchdown.

Five of those pass attempts came on the opening drive of the game, including one that Moore picked off at Southeast's 13-yard line when the Skyhawks went for it on fourth-and-18.

UTM ran it seven times on that drive to get to the Redhawks' 22 before a Skyhawks' false start, a loss of 4 on a run by Neal and a John Popovich sack set up the fourth-down play. Moore's interception was one of two fourth-down stops for the Redhawks. UTM converted its other three attempts.

"They came out running a lot and I was kind of upset, then we got them in a situation where they kind of had to pass it," Moore said. "I really just read the quarterback, broke on the ball. We were in a 2-man high, man underneath. The guys underneath were in perfect coverage. We had a lot of pressure. We had just got a sack the play before. That front seven has been good to us all year so us DBs we just play off them. They make us look good. I kind of say they do the work and then we cash the check. That's kind of how it goes."

Garland rushed for 78 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown in the first half. RB Ladevin Fair, who left the game early in the second half with an injury, had 91 yards rushing on six carries, including the Skyhawks' season-long 52-yard run that set up UTM's second TD.

Garland finished with a season-high 138 yards rushing on a 26 carries, which tied a season high.

The Skyhawks finished with a season-high 247 yards rushing on 41 carries. Their previous season-high was 241 yards vs. Murray State.

Neal completed 16 of 29 passes in the game for 164 yards. It was the fewest passing yards for UTM this season. The Skyhawks' previous low was 174 yards vs. Ole Miss in the season opener.

"They'd been 70 percent of a one-back type of formation and they were about opposite of that, about 80 percent two-back," Matukewicz said. "Maybe it was the weather. I'm not sure. But it took us a little bit. I was disappointed they were able to run the ball like that. You've got to give credit to their O-line, and their running backs just ran extremely hard and were able to break some tackles.

"We've got to find a way on defense to have more discipline and do our job. We start doing other people's job and no one's in our gap and then the ball squirts on us."

Roper Garrett led the Southeast defense with 14 tackles, which put him at 106 on the season. The junior linebacker is the first Redhawk to surpass 100 since 2012 when Blake Peiffer recorded 117.

"Tackles, those are just numbers. My plan is to make sure they can't run the ball or they can't throw the ball," Garrett said. "Every tackle I make is just to help the team out, something to just get closer to our goal and that's to make this program great. I think we're slowly getting there.

"I know [the seniors] definitely wish they could be on this team next year and I wish they could be because I think we're going to be really good next year. I think we're going to build off of what these seniors have done. I'm super proud and I love every one of them and I think what they've done for us can't be put into words."

McRoberts' last game

Southeast receiver Paul McRoberts put an exclamation point on his senior season with a pair of second-half touchdowns to boost the Redhawks' in their near comeback.

McRoberts had 127 yards receiving and two TDs on 10 catches vs. UTM, bringing his four-year career totals to 2,435 yards receiving and a school-record 29 touchdowns on 175 receptions.

"Everything I did in that second half was for these guys," McRoberts said. "I know I'm a senior and I should do it for myself, but it's never for me. *... I just look at these guys and they say, 'Come on, let's do it. I need you. Let's go.' That's all I need to hear and see. It's over now. Just came up with two great plays, two great touchdowns and Dante [Vandeven] threw me the ball. I love that kid and I love these guys sitting next to me to death."

It's highly unlikely that McRoberts has played his last football game, though. NFL scouts have flocked to practices this season to watch the 6-foot-3 standout.

"You love that he went out like that," Matukewicz said. " *... You're just very thankful that he ended his career that way. He's such a special and dynamic player, and man, I hope we see him get an opportunity in the NFL and represent Southeast Missouri State. He's always going to be a Redhawk. He's very appreciative of the people here. It's exciting for him."

Junior running back Tremane McCullough concluded his first season at Southeast by becoming the first Redhawk since 2012 to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season.

He had 101 yards on 14 carries vs. UTM, including a 30-yard touchdown on the second play of the second half.

The 5-10 McCullough looked like he'd been stopped by a swarm of Skyhawks before bouncing off a tackle and racing up the right sideline. He was grabbed by a couple defenders around the 3-yard line but drug them into the end zone for the score.

"Very proud of Tremane, and he is a warrior. He is tough, tough, tough," Matukewicz said. "We didn't bring him in for that role. We thought we'd be able to give him the football but we didn't know he was going to do all the dirty work too. Man, he impacted our offense and our team in a big way. The best thing about it is he's coming back. Hopefully we'll get him a little better and get him a little bigger and he can impact next year also."

McCullough picked up most of the rushing efforts after senior DeMichael Jackson tore his ACL in the third game of the season.

Jackson plans to get a medical redshirt and return next season. Matukewicz is also excited that quarterback Dante Vandeven and most of the offensive line return as well as sophomore WR Adrian Davis, who tore his ACL in Game 5.

"The No. 1 thing I'm going to tell them is, 'I'm going to do everything I can to out-recruit you,'" Matukewicz said. "I'm going to try to out-recruit Dante Vandeven, and it's his job to never, ever, ever, ever let that happen. That's what good teams do is you bring in talent and some of the best motivation there is is the two-deep. You get the two-deep better. As long as we're a hungry football team, hungry to get better, I feel great because you just bring so many people back that've seen a lot of football. I'm just excited about recruiting and improving."