Ready or not, it's the initial game week for Southeast Missouri State University's 2001 football team.

And Southeast coach Tim Billings figures Saturday is just about the right time for the Indians to test themselves against an opponent other than their teammates. They'll open the campaign at Division I-A Eastern Michigan.

"You'd always like to have more time to prepare, but we're ready. We're tired of beating on each other," said Billings during his weekly media conference Monday morning. "We're excited to see what kind of progress we've made. And I'd rather open with a Division I team than a Division III team."

Even though Eastern Michigan -- which like Southeast went 3-8 last year in its first season under a new coach (Jeff Woodruff) -- has been picked to be among the worst I-A teams in the nation, Billings knows the Eagles still figure to be quite a bit bigger and stronger than the Indians.

"I think skillwise we can run with them, but the game is won in the trenches. They're bigger and stronger than we are and that will be the big difference," he said. "But we'll find out a lot about our offensive and defensive lines in this game. It's going to be a good barometer for us of where we are."

Depth chart updated

Billings released his game-week depth chart Monday and there were a few changes from the Indians' most recent depth chart that had been made public.

Offensively, junior West McKee has moved into the starting spot at center. Other starters up front are sophomores Justen Meyer and Eugene Amano at left tackle and left guard, along with freshmen Dan Bieg and Dan Connolly at right guard and right tackle. Sophomore Chuck McElroy is at tight end.

As previously announced, redshirt freshman Jeromy McDowell will open at quarterback, with senior Curtis Cooper as his running back. Starting in the three-receiver set will be juniors Willie Ponder, Tarik Simpson and Adrian Sanders.

Defensively, freshman Adam Jones from North County High School is now No. 1 at left end. Juniors Jermaine Motley and James Jennette are at the tackles, with redshirt freshman John Paul Usrey at the other end.

Sophomore transfer Mike Irving is now No. 1 at an outside linebacker, with senior Corey Mathis on the other side and sophomore Ricky Farmer in the middle.

In the secondary are freshman Dimitri Patterson and junior Demar Winston at the corners, with senior Leotis Belcher at strong safety and junior Prince Anderson at free safety.

In the kicking game, Billings said freshman Brian Emmendorfer (Cape Central) will kick off Saturday while freshman Derek Kutz (St. Vincent) will likely handle the bulk of the field goals and extra points.

"It's been close between them all along and that may be nip and tuck all year," Billings said.

Junior Kyle East will do the punting.

Counting the kicker and punter, seven freshmen and five sophomores will be among Saturday's 24 starters, with numerous other youngsters slated for backup duty. All told, the Indians have 47 freshmen and sophomores on their 76-man roster.

Locals in the mix

In addition to Emmendorfer and Kutz, several other true freshmen from Southeast Missouri figure to receive their share of playing time Saturday.

Tight end Ray Goodson (Jackson) is listed No. 2 on the depth chart but Billings said he and McElroy will basically split the duties.

Caleb Daniel (Jackson) is listed No. 2 at one of the defensive tackle positions while O.J. Turner (Cape Central), who was expected to help out primarily on special teams, has moved up to No. 2 at one of the outside linebacker spots.

"All those local freshmen have really looked good and they'll play a lot," said Billings.

Other area products on the depth chart are senior quarterback Bobby Brune (Cape Central), senior wide receiver Andy Dunaway (Cape Central), junior running back Mark Blissett (Sikeston), junior defensive end Tatum Kitchen (Cape Central) and senior free safety Mike Gross (Jackson).

All figure to see their share of playing time, although Dunaway is doubtful for the opener as he recovers from a broken finger.