Southeast Missouri State kicked off its football season last week at Ball State, losing 27-10.

But as far as the Redhawks are concerned, their real season begins at 6 p.m. Saturday in Murray, Ky.

That's when Southeast and Murray State, both 0-1, square off in the Ohio Valley Conference opener.

"That's the first game toward what we want to achieve," junior quarterback Matt Scheible said.

What the Redhawks want to achieve is a conference championship.

Cape Central line during a game against New Madrid. (Kristin Eberts)

While Murray State and Southeast -- who finished eighth and ninth, respectively, in 2009 -- rank as title long shots, their road will be even more difficult with a loss Saturday.

"The biggest thing about conference openers, you want to start right," Southeast fifth-year coach Tony Samuel said. "It's not the end of the earth [with a loss], but you really want to get started right."

Samuel still is trying to get Southeast's program going after last year's 2-9 record that featured a 1-7 OVC mark, the league win being a 49-13 home rout of Murray State.

The Racers' struggling 2009 campaign -- 3-8 overall and 2-6 in the OVC -- resulted in a coaching change. Chris Hatcher, who led Valdosta State to the 2004 Division II national title, took over the program.

"I do like my team," said Hatcher, who posted a 94-27 record in 10 seasons at Valdosta State and Georgia Southern. "But I just don't know my team that well yet as far as game-type situations."

Both squads dropped their season openers to Division I-A opponents last week. Murray State lost 41-10 at Kent State.

The Redhawks were tied 7-7 at halftime before Ball State pulled away. The Racers trailed 17-10 late in the first half before Kent State pulled away.

"I was a little disappointed in how we came out," Hatcher said. "We came out a little timid. That surprised me. Once we settled down, I thought we hung in there pretty good. We played hard the whole time."

The Racers were outgained 412 to 193 yards, and counting five sacks, wound up losing 65 yards on 22 rushing attempts.

While Hatcher wants to be able to run the ball better, passing figures to be MSU's staple. Hatcher has installed the spread offense and reinstated Jeff Ehrhardt as starting quarterback after he lost the job last year.

"We want to throw the ball a lot," Hatcher said.

Ehrhardt, the 2007 OVC freshman of the year while also earning second-team all-league honors, completed 30 of 47 passes for 258 yards and a touchdown at Kent State.

Ehrhardt threw for 2,567 yards and 21 touchdowns as a freshman, then passed for 1,885 yards and 11 touchdowns as a sophomore. He also rushed for more than 300 yards in those two seasons.

Ehrhardt has thrown for more than 5,000 yards and 35 touchdowns in his career. He ranks high on many of the program's career and single-season passing lists.

"He's been around and done some good things," Samuel said. "He's got size, mobility. ... We're aware of him."

Ehrhardt won't have his favorite target Saturday as senior wide receiver Marcus Harris -- who has caught 141 career passes after nabbing 11 balls at Kent State -- has been ruled out with an injury suffered in the opener.

Even without Harris, Samuel doesn't expect the Racers to go down easily.

"They've got a fair amount of people returning," Samuel said. "It's their home opener. They'll be ready."

MSU leads the all-time series with Southeast 36-7-1, but the Redhawks have won three of the last five meetings. That includes the 49-13 romp in 2009.

"There's a lot on the line for both teams," Hatcher said. "I know SEMO put a beat down on us last season. Hopefully our team will have a chip on its shoulder and be out to prove something."

Noteworthy

* Southeast will look to snap a six-game road losing streak Saturday. The Redhawks' last road win was 33-30 at Austin Peay on Nov. 22, 2008.