Southeast Missouri State University's football program has made major strides so far this season, but the Indians showed on a rainy Saturday afternoon in Cape Girardeau that they still have a ways to go before catching up to the Ohio Valley Conference's elite.

That really comes as no surprise to Southeast coach Tim Billings. He knows the Indians have narrowed the talent gap considerably on the upper-echelon teams in the league but realizes there is still plenty of work needed to catch up to the likes of perennial OVC powers Eastern Illinois and Eastern Kentucky.

Billings and his staff are in their third season of rebuilding Southeast's previously woeful football program and the progress the Indians have shown this year is fairly remarkable. But teams like Eastern Illinois and Eastern Kentucky have been consistently good for a long time, and you generally don't catch up to operations like that in only three years.

For a little more than a quarter Saturday, the Indians looked the part of legitimate OVC contenders as they stormed to a 21-7 lead. But then defending league champion Eastern Illinois scored 30 straight points and cruised to a 44-27 victory.

Eastern Illinois did it with a well-oiled offensive machine and a persistent defense that put the clamps on the Indians after their explosive first quarter.

But most of all, the Panthers did it with a tremendously savvy, poised and talented senior quarterback. A lesser signal caller than Tony Romo might not have been able to rally his team from that early 14-point deficit, but Romo showed why he is the two-time OVC offensive player of the year -- and likely headed for that award a third straight time.

In fact, had Romo not been on the Panthers' side Saturday, Southeast might very well have been the team walking out of Houck Stadium in sole possession of first place in the OVC.

Considering Romo will be out of eligibility after this season, you can make a case that Southeast just might be able to completely close the gap on Eastern Illinois next year -- although the Panthers still figure to be plenty tough.

But Southeast doesn't need to worry about that right now. Still on the horizon for the Indians are key OVC games against Murray State, Tennessee Tech and Eastern Kentucky -- three more teams that have consistently finished well above Southeast in the conference standings over the years -- in addition to a non-league game against Samford to close out the season.

The Indians will have plenty more opportunities to show how far they have come this year. And at 5-3, they are still very much alive for the program's first winning record since 1994 -- which would be a landmark accomplishment by anybody's standards.

While Romo was brilliant Saturday, he had nothing on Southeast senior wide receiver Willie Ponder, who put on another sensational performance with 10 receptions -- several of them spectacular -- for 153 yards and two touchdowns.

Ponder is on his way to shattering all the Southeast single-season receiving records. And he is fast becoming recognized as perhaps the OVC's premier professional prospect.

Watching Ponder consistently come down with balls in traffic -- despite being covered most of the time by two and sometimes three defenders -- has to be a real treat for any football fan.

One more quick note on Saturday's contest:

I had a problem last week with so many people saying without hesitation that it was the biggest football game in school history.

While it was definitely a big game -- and for sure the biggest since Southeast moved up to Division I-AA in 1991 -- calling it the biggest ever might be getting a little carried away.

It's definitely not showing much respect to some of Southeast's standout teams from the past, including a few that were undefeated and a few that won MIAA championships.

We all have a tendency to believe what's happening now is always bigger and better than anything that came before it, but that's not always the case.

And still on the subject of Southeast football:

My apologies if I offended the Indians' stellar offensive line when I wrote recently that the unit had allowed just eight quarterback sacks all season, including none in the past several games, prior to Saturday.

Although my intention was to compliment the group, it was pointed out to me that the line was not necessarily responsible for all the sacks. I would have been more accurate to simply write that Southeast quarterbacks have been sacked just eight times all season.

Sorry, guys. I sure don't want to get on the bad sides of those big fellas.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian