Southeast Missouri State football preview: Question marks face reigning OVC champs

What to do for an encore.

That's the situation facing a Southeast Missouri State football team coming off a historic, record-setting season that arguably ranks as the best in the program's 104-year history.

"It was a great experience for everybody on the team last year, a lot of fun. We're proud of what we did," all-Ohio Valley Conference senior quarterback Matt Scheible said. "But last year was last year. It's a new team. Our goals are the same. We don't want to just be a one-year thing."

"We lost a lot of good seniors, but we have a good core group coming back and some guys are going to step up. Hopefully we can put out a good product again. We're looking to try and win the conference again."

Attaining the heights of last year won't be easy for the 2011 Redhawks, but it is a goal they're shooting for.

Southeast Missouri State captured its first Ohio Valley Conference championship in football after going 7-1 in the league last season. (Southeast Missourian file)

"It was a great season. We accomplished a lot and hopefully we can build off that," sixth-year coach Tony Samuel said. "But it's a new season and we have to see how everything develops."

The Redhawks entered 2010 picked tied for seventh in the OVC's preseason poll after finishing last the year before with a 2-9 overall record and a 1-7 conference mark. They had not won more than four games in any of Samuel's first five seasons.

All the Redhawks did was go 9-3, including 7-1 in league play to win the program's first OVC title and earn the program's first playoff berth on any level.

The Redhawks, who received the program's highest-ever national ranking of No. 7 and finished the year 13th, lost in the second round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs at eventual national champion Eastern Washington after receiving an opening-round bye.

That landmark season, just Southeast's third winning campaign since moving up to the FCS level in 1991, earned Samuel the Eddie Robinson national coach of the year award. He also was rewarded with a five-year contract extension.

"We love what happened last year," Samuel said. "Our goals haven't changed. Every year our goal is to win the conference. We're trying to start a tradition. It's not easy."

Samuel knows Southeast faces plenty of question marks.

The Redhawks must replace 14 starters, including three All-Americans. That departed group is led by tailback Henry Harris, the OVC's offensive player of the year who rewrote the school's single-season rushing records lists. Southeast also is breaking in four new coaches.

But the Redhawks do welcome back quite a few key pieces among 40 returning lettermen.

"We lost some very good players. We have some key people back. A lot of guys are showing promise," Samuel said. "They're working hard. I think we have good leaders. The biggest thing is chemistry, how it all jells."

Three of Southeast's key returning players -- Scheible, junior offensive tackle Evan Conrad and junior safety Tylor Brock -- were voted all-OVC preseason selections after earning first-team all-conference honors last year.

Scheible became the first Southeast quarterback to make the all-OVC first team. He passed for 1,246 yards and eight touchdowns against just three interceptions while ranking third in the OVC in rushing with 887 yards and seven touchdowns. He has made 24 consecutive starts.

"It's always good to have a senior quarterback," Samuel said. "He did a lot of great things for us last year. He's really a great player and a great leader. He's like a coach on the field."

Brock, who led the OVC and tied the school record with six interceptions last season, made one All-American squad in 2010. He and Conrad, Southeast's lone returning offensive line starter, have been selected to various preseason All-American lists this year.

"We lost some guys, some great players, but we have a lot of young guys who will be very successful in those positions," Conrad said.

Southeast isn't projected to repeat as OVC champion, but the Redhawks did earn their highest preseason conference ranking since 2004, being picked fourth in the nine-team league.

Jacksonville State, which handed Southeast its only conference loss in 2010 and also earned a playoff berth while going 9-3, is the OVC preseason favorite. Murray State, Eastern Kentucky and Southeast follow.

"This league is so tight ... I wouldn't be surprised if anybody won it," Samuel said. "It's wide open every year."

Southeast's schedule, which features six games at home and five on the road, again is challenging.

Regional rival Southern Illinois visits Houck Stadium in Saturday's season opener. The Salukis will be out for revenge after the Redhawks pulled off a big upset in Carbondale, Ill., last year.

Southeast visits Purdue of the Big Ten Conference on Sept. 17 after an open date Sept. 10. The Football Bowl Subdivision opponent is paying Southeast a school-record $315,000 in the university's annual money game to generate revenue for the athletic department.

After that it's all OVC matchups save for the Nov. 5 home contest with NAIA Central Methodist.

The Redhawks play four of their first six games on the road but finish with four of five at home, including their final two against Jacksonville State and Murray State, the top two squads in the OVC's preseason poll.

"We've got an interesting schedule, a good schedule," Samuel said.

Southeast hopes to continue building interest in the program that peaked last year with a school-record average home attendance of 8,342 -- up from 5,835 in 2009 -- along with a school-record 11,126 fans for a win over Tennessee-Martin.

"The fan support we had last year was unbelievable," Scheible said. "Hopefully people will keep supporting us."

The Redhawks can bank on it with another season like last year.