Redhawks get breather after tasting first defeat

~ Southeast has an open week to iron out the rough spots that surfaced in Saturday's loss.

As far as Southeast Missouri State football coach Tony Samuel is concerned, his team's open date could not come at a better time.

After being hammered 38-7 at Jacksonville State Saturday in the Ohio Valley Conference opener, Samuel said Monday that not having another game until Sept. 30 should give the Redhawks (2-1) time to sharpen up things within their unit.

"We need this week off," Samuel said during his weekly media briefing. "There are a lot of fundamentals we need to clean up. We have to clean up a lot of things."

The Redhawks may have an altered look for their next game, an OVC home contest against Samford.

"We'll probably move some people around, make some changes," said Samuel, although he declined to go into specifics. "We're going to try and get the right people on the field."

After outscoring overmatched opponents Austin Peay and Missouri-Rolla 82-36 in their first two games, the Redhawks were throttled by a Jacksonville State team that has been the OVC's best since joining the conference in 2003.

The Gamecocks won OVC titles in 2003 and 2004, then finished third last year. They are 21-4 in OVC games since joining the league.

Jacksonville State outgained Southeast 473 to 163 in total yardage, and the Redhawks had only 70 yards through three quarters.

"First of all, Jacksonville State is a very good football team," Samuel said. "But we made them look better than they are. We didn't perform well."

As bad as things might have appeared Saturday, Samuel said the Redhawks are not that far off from competing with a top team like Jacksonville State.

"There are always positives," Samuel said. "If the kids look at the film and realize we are not that far off ... The biggest thing, getting into a heated battle, and everybody not being on the same page as far as assignments and technique. If we can get that cleaned up the next two weeks ..."

After giving the players Sunday and Monday off, Samuel said the Redhawks will practice today through Friday, then take Saturday off before beginning preparations for Samford (2-1) on Sunday.

Simonhoff nets OVC honor

Senior punter David Simonhoff had a big performance Saturday to earn OVC specialist of the week honors and also move to the top of the NCAA Division I-AA rankings.

Simonhoff, already a two-time All-American, averaged 51.2 yards on eight punts against Jacksonville State. He had five punts over 50 yards, including two over 60, with a long of 66 yards.

Simonhoff is averaging 48.3 yards per punt. Missouri State's Nathan Stokes is second nationally with a 45.8-yard average.

"He's punting the ball well," Samuel said.

Noteworthy

* Senior defensive end Edgar Jones ranks second nationally with six quarterback sacks. He is fourth in tackles for loss with 7.5.

* Tailback Tim Holloman (ankle) and linebacker Seth Harrell (shoulder) both suffered injuries during Saturday's game. Holloman missed the fourth quarter and Harrell missed the second half.

Samuel said he did not yet know the extent of the injuries, although he did not believe Holloman's is serious.