Samuel will keep focus on current season

With just three games left in the season and Southeast Missouri State sporting a 3-6 record, it might be tempting for a coach to start building toward next year.

Especially regarding the playing time of true freshman Matt Scheible, who is considered the Redhawks' quarterback of the future.

But Southeast coach Tony Samuel apparently is going to resist that temptation.

Samuel said at his weekly media briefing Monday that he will continue to play Scheible as he has most of the season.

That means Scheible likely will receive spot playing time in place of senior starter Houston Lillard based on the situation in a particular game.

"We'll keep playing [Scheible]," Samuel said. "You have to go on how things are going in the game."

Samuel said there was no special significance in Scheible replacing Lillard for the final two minutes of Saturday's 29-16 home loss to Eastern Kentucky.

On Southeast's previous offensive possession, Lillard threw his career-high fourth interception of the game, which came with just under six minutes remaining.

EKU bled nearly four minutes off the clock to virtually seal the outcome by the time Southeast regained possession with just more than two minutes left.

Samuel said he didn't put Scheible in because of Lillard's struggles, rather it was a good time to get Scheible more snaps.

"Matt really does deserve that," Samuel said. "[The game] really was out of reach."

Scheible has played in seven of Southeast's nine games, at times for just a play or two and other times receiving significant action.

Scheible saw his most extensive playing time during a 24-21 loss at Eastern Illinois on Oct. 18 after Samuel apparently was upset by an interception Lillard threw early in the game.

Scheible has completed just 40.4 percent of his passes (19 of 47) for 224 yards. He has thrown one touchdown and been intercepted once.

Scheible has been particularly impressive running, gaining 100 yards while averaging 5.3 yards per rush. His only play during an Oct. 25 upset of nationally ranked Tennessee State was a game-winning 5-yard touchdown run in overtime.

Despite throwing the four interceptions against EKU, Lillard has had a solid season. He has passed for 1,892 yards while completing 57.2 percent, with 12 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

Lillard led late comebacks during all three of Southeast's wins this season.

"You have to keep in mind Houston has done some great things for us," Samuel said.

Which is why, barring something unusual in practice this week, Lillard will again be the starter Saturday when the Redhawks visit Murray State.

The Redhawks have a 1-4 Ohio Valley Conference record, which has them seventh in the nine-team league.

Murray State (3-6, 2-3) is tied for fifth place.

Southeast still has a chance to finish with a .500 record. Southeast has had just two winning seasons during its 17 Division I-AA seasons.

"We're capable," Samuel said of Southeast potentially winning its last three games. "We'll see after the Murray game. We have to play them first."

Beating the Racers won't be easy. Despite not having an impressive record, they lead the OVC in total offense (462.2 yards per game) and are second in total defense (312.6) during conference play.

The Racers finished last in the OVC a year ago, but their only conference victory came at Southeast 31-17.

Upon further review

Looking back on Saturday's loss to EKU, Samuel only could shake his head over how close the Redhawks were to pulling off a second consecutive upset.

Even though the final score was 29-16, Southeast led 16-7 late in the third quarter before the Colonels scored the game's final 22 points.

Samuel lamented Southeast's four turnovers and its inability to capitalize on several good scoring chances.

The Redhawks had eight drives that reached relatively deep into EKU territory. Those resulted in just one touchdown and three field goals.

Southeast missed a field goal and had three passes intercepted on the other scoring opportunities.

"You want to say it was a good effort," Samuel said. "It's always disappointing when you feel like you have an opportunity to win the game and aren't able to pull if off."

Tackling machine

One of the big question marks on defense entering the season was how successful would Southeast be in replacing its top defensive player from the previous two years.

The answer has been very successful.

Senior middle linebacker Nick Stauffer already has more tackles than Adam Casper had the entire 2007 season, when Casper led the OVC with 112 stops as he earned the last of his two straight first-team all-OVC selections.

Stauffer's 115 tackles rank second in the OVC and fifth nationally. He had 18 tackles Saturday after posting a career-high 21 tackles in the win over Tennessee State.

Stauffer has nearly twice as many tackles as freshman linebacker Philip Klaproth, who is second on the team with 58 stops.

Asked if he was surprised how well Stauffer has played in his first season as a full-time starter, Samuel said yes and no.

"If you asked me that in January, I'd say yes," Samuel said. "If you asked me after the summer he put together, I'd say no.

"He's worked at it. He's a leader. He's stepped up unbelievably. He's a very special one. As a coach, he's the one you're going to remember."