Southeast Missouri State defense shows positive signs, offense stumbles in season-opening loss at Mizzou

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The Southeast Missouri State football team's defense surrendered touchdown passes on two of the No. 24 Missouri Tigers' first three drives of both team's season opener on Saturday afternoon.

After that the Redhawks allowed just one more defensive touchdown -- a wide-open completion with 5 minutes, 13 seconds remaining in the game -- but a subdued Southeast offense and a blocked punt returned for a touchdown propelled the Tigers to a 34-3 victory at Faurot Field in front of a crowd of 64,670.

"If someone told me we were going to come into Missouri and hold them to 20 defensive points going into the fourth quarter, I'd take it, to be honest with you," Southeast defensive coordinator Bryce Saia said. "But giving up the last one late, that hurts. ... We've got to bite this bullet, we've got to learn from it tomorrow and get ready for a good Southern Illinois team."

With the game well out of reach and the defense worn down, Missouri backup quarterback and true freshman Drew Lock found receiver Tyler Hunt wide open down field for a 78-yard touchdown for the final score.

It was the first touchdown the Southeast defense had allowed since the 4:49 mark of the first quarter.

"Super, super proud of our defense," Southeast coach Tom Matukewicz said. "What we asked for them is almost embarrassing and they responded."

"We had to stop the run, and if we could do it against them we feel like we can do it against anybody in the OVC," Matukewicz said of what was asked of his defense. "They completed some balls, but all of those balls were contested. Late in the fourth quarter we had some breakdowns on the sideline. We had five guys cramp, and we were just throwing bodies out there and at the end it just got away from us."

Southeast Missouri State takes on Mizzou, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2015, at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri. Mizzou defeated Southeast 34-3. (Laura Simon)

Mizzou compiled 417 yards of total offense to Southeast's 201 offensive yards, but 123 of them came in the first quarter.

The Tigers finished with 319 yards passing on 18 completions. They were held to 98 yards rushing, but starting running back Russell Hansbrough left the game with a sprained ankle after two carries for 23 yards. Starting center Evan Boehm also sprained his ankle on the first drive. He re-entered the game but didn't play in the second half.

The Tigers needed just five plays and 1:15 to move the ball 64 yards and score after Southeast punted on its opening drive.

Junior quarterback Maty Mauk completed a 27-yard pass to J'Mon Moore on third-and-11 on Missouri's first series to take a 7-0 lead.

Mauk was intercepted by Redhawks safety Eriq Moore at the Southeast 4-yard line on the next drive before leading the Tigers down the field for their second score on their third possession.

Mizzou took over on its own 46 after a punt and capped a five-play drive with a 23-yard completion to Nate Brown in the end zone to extend the Tigers' lead to 14-0 with 4:49 left in the quarter.

"Their first couple touchdowns were balls in the air and we were in good position but there's one ball, there's two athletes, and we have to win those reps sooner or later," Saia said. "I mean, the ball is going to be in the air a lot next week, too. It wasn't bad all game, but we just need to get consistent on some of the deep balls."

Mauk completed 12 of 22 passes for 181 yards. He threw five passes for 93 yards and both of his touchdowns in the first 10:11 of the game. Lock added 138 yards passing on six completions in the game.

Southeast Missouri State's DeMichael Jackson runs the ball against Mizzou in the first quarter, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2015, at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri. Mizzou defeated Southeast 34-3. (Laura Simon)

"I think they were some great athletes," Southeast cornerback Ryan Moore said of Mizzou's receivers. "I think that was some great work that we got in with those guys."

Tigers kicker Andrew Baggett made it 17-0 with 9:54 left in the half with a 39-yard field goal. Mizzou moved the ball to the Southeast 16, but an incompletion and a sack by defensive lineman John Popovich pushed the Tigers back five yards to set up fourth-and-11 before the FG.

Southeast's offense finally moved into Mizzou territory on the next drive when quarterback Tay Bender rushed for 13 yards on the first play from scrimmage to the Mizzou 48, but defensive lineman Charles Harris tipped the ball out from behind, allowing safety Ian Simon to recover on the Tigers' 41.

"There's stupid turnovers, and that wasn't one of them," Matukewicz said before demonstrating how Bender could have secured the ball better. "... So that's the coaching point was (against) a good defense they'll expose you every time. They hit the ball a lot. We ran him a lot, and I thought his ball security was really good. I know he'll learn from the one (fumble)."

The Southeast defense forced a three-and-out and allowed just two yards on the next drive, and the Redhawks were backed up to their own 6 after the punt.

A 21-yard pass to star receiver Paul McRoberts on third-and-9 -- his first catch of the game -- moved the Redhawks across midfield to the 46.

Bender followed that with a 19-yard pass to McRoberts, and running back Tremane McCullough had an 8-yard carry to get inside the red zone.

Bender was called for intentional grounding on a pass into the end zone, and the 10-yard penalty pushed them to the 24 as the drive stalled out. Junior Ryan McCrum put the Redhawks on the board with a 35-yard field goal with 2:19 to go before the break.

"Our defense held their own," senior running back DeMichael Jackson said. "Our defense, they come to play every game. As an offense we've got to step up and play on their level. They came with fire, we got to come with fire. We can't start out slow. We start out slow and it puts us behind, so we've got to come fast and be ready to play."

Baggett made a 23-yard field goal 4:05 into the second half to make it 20-3. The Tigers punted on their next two drives while Southeast attempted a punt on each of its next three drives of the third quarter.

The final punt attempt, by Bender, was blocked and returned for a 41-yard touchdown by Aarion Penton to push the deficit to 27-3 with 22 seconds left in the third before adding the final touchdown in the fourth.

"We learned that we can play with anybody," Southeast sophomore linebacker Chad Meredith said. "When we go all-out and leave everything on the field and we play our best, it's hard to beat us."

Meredith finished with a team-high eight tackles while Moore had seven. Linebackers Roper Garrett and Terrance Hill each had five.

Mizzou's Kentrell Brothers had a career-high 16 tackles, with 10 of them coming in the first 24 minutes of the game.

Southeast Missouri State head coach Tom Matukewicz coaches from the sideline as the Redhawks take on Mizzou, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2015, at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri. Mizzou defeated Southeast 34-3. (Laura Simon)

Bender was 12-of-22 passing for 56 yards and was sacked twice. He rushed for a team-high 69 yards on 14 carries.

"Play hard. Play harder," Bender said of what he learned in his first game at Southeast. "You can't sell yourself short. Just keep playing until the fourth quarter, and we did that. To be honest, the scoreboard doesn't show how hard fought that game was."

Jackson had 57 yards rushing on 18 carries, and McRoberts had 40 yards on four catches.

The Redhawks (0-1) host Southern Illinois in their home opener on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. from Houck Stadium.

"I just want them to understand what it takes to win," Matukewicz said. "The first thing you've got to learn is to not beat yourself, so the things that we could've controlled -- the penalties and the blocked kick and some things like that -- we have to take off the film a week from now or we won't win. So that's what I want them to understand -- we've got a good football team, now we've got to start acting like one."