WILLIAMS NOT HURT AS BADLY AS FIRST FEARED

Southeast Missouri State University tailback Corey Williams received a couple of doses of good news Sunday.

First, X-rays showed that the dislocated left elbow Williams suffered Saturday night against Tennessee-Martin does not contain as much damage as had been previously feared, meaning Williams could return to action relatively soon.

And second, Williams was named the Ohio Valley Conference Ofensive Player of the Week after rushing for 131 yards and scoring four touchdowns during the 41-14 rout of UTM at Houck Stadium.

"Corey has a little chip on the outside of elbow, which is good news," said Southeast head coach John Mumford. "It's not in the joint, which would have been much worse. Now it's just a matter of his ligaments getting strong and tightening down."

Mumford said Williams is doubtful for Saturday's game at Eastern Illinois, but he's not about to count out the Indians' rugged senior.

"It could be a week, it could be two weeks," said Mumford. "But knowing that kid, there's a chance he could play (against Eastern Illinois). Corey is just a tough kid and I wouldn't put it past him. We'll just have to see."

Added Mumford, "Overall, it was much better news than it could have been. Dr. (William) Thorpe did great job putting it (the elbow) back in place."

Williams scored on runs of 6, 1, 4 and 3 yards as the Indians piled up 345 yards on the ground against the Skyhawks. Williams, who matched his career high with four touchdowns, leads the OVC this season with nine touchdowns.

Southeast is 2-2 overall and 1-1 in OVC play.