COLUMN: Dante Vandeven proves he's ready to be SEMO's quarterback

When Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz closed practices this week, I had a feeling.

When he inserted his freshman quarterback into Saturday's game against nationally-ranked Indiana State and confirmed my suspicions, I suddenly felt sick.

Dante Vandeven apparently felt fine.

The Jackson graduate seemed in command from the moment he stepped onto the field in the third quarter, even when the first snap to him nearly sailed over his head.

"My No. 1 goal was just to get out there and do good," Vandeven said. "That's pretty much it. Just don't make stupid mistakes. I threw that one pick in the very beginning. I came back and fixed it. I did my best to. Like I said, I had great help behind me. The O-line blocked great, the wide receivers did great. It was really a team effort there."

Matukewicz admitted after the game that closing practices and keeping Vandeven in the No. 3 quarterback jersey was part of an effort to keep attention away from the fact that he was pondering handing him the reins to the Redhawks offense.

I casually, if not convincingly, speculated this was the case, but now we all know. Vandeven is prepared to be Southeast's quarterback. Already.

"Just it was time," Matukewicz said after the game. "Probably won't get into it much just because I want to watch the film. You know when you know, and I just at that point in the game knew."

It was a precarious point in the game to insert Vandeven. The Sycamores had just tied the game following an interception thrown by starter Tay Bender that was returned more than 100 yards for a touchdown.

The momentum was clearly with the Sycamores, and it stayed that way when the high snap and loss of yards was followed by two Vandeven handoffs for short yardage. After the three-and-out, ISU scored four minutes later, and Southeast suddenly faced a 21-7 hole.

That's doesn't sound so bad until you consider that the Redhawks had scored just two offensive touchdowns in the season up to that point.

"It's all about the OVC, which I keep saying," Matukewicz said of inserting Vandeven into the game at a critical point. "So ... if he's the guy, let's just go through the issues we're going to have and get him ready. We've got one more non-conference game, and I just felt like now was the time. And as long as he showed some plays, we'll get him ready for OVC play."

Matukewicz said he wouldn't name Vandeven next week's starter until he watched film from the game, but any other decision seems laughable after Vandeven led the Redhawks on three scoring drives in the fourth quarter in what proved to be a 29-28 loss.

Vandeven didn't do it by himself of course -- he got help from all over the field and in particular from running back Tremane McCullough -- but there was new life in the Redhawks' offense that stemmed in part from Vandeven extending plays on ISU's field the same why he did at The Pit.

Facing third-and-10 on his third drive, he escaped pressure coming both directly at him and from behind him to find wide receiver Paul McRoberts for a first down on what turned into a touchdown drive.

It was third-and-6 on the Redhawks' next possession when he was chased well behind the line of scrimmage only to roll away from the defenders and rush to the up the sideline for another first down on another touchdown drive.

I hate to admit it, but I was nervous and at times a bit nauseous as I watched Vandeven on Saturday. He may be Dante Vandeven, starting quarterback for the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks soon enough, but he's still Dante Vandeven, the kid from Jackson who made us all of us in the newsroom roar with laughter as he convinced his teammates to line dance to "Uptown Funk" during an all-Missourian photo shoot.

His debut was at once everything I expected to see from Vandeven in a Southeast uniform -- and stunning. He wasn't supposed to be this good this soon. He wasn't supposed to have to be. This was Tay Bender's team, and Vandeven was No. 4 on the depth chart just last month when I foolishly assumed he was being fitted for a redshirt.

It's probably partly due to that and partly due to his personality and character that Vandeven was almost sheepish after the game as he talked about his success.

"I really didn't," he replied when asked if he expected to play Saturday. "Tay's a good player. I was there to support him, support everything. It worked out the way it did. I got in, drove the ball a couple times."

He'll have his struggles, of course. He completed eight of his first nine passes, but the one he didn't was picked off in the end zone when he failed to spot a safety. He might lose the job or Bender might win it back, but Saturday afternoon he stepped onto the field as a true freshman. And it was obvious to everyone -- teammates included -- that he belonged there.

"[Before] I don't think we all would've had confidence in Dante coming in, but we've done grown together. And we automatically said, 'Hey, bring that Jackson swag,'" the senior captain McRoberts said. "We just told him, 'Bring that Jackson swag and lead us. Be that leader. We have faith in you, now how much faith do you have in your own self?' I said, 'Just act like you're out there with your cats from Jackson,' and he got the job done."

Rachel Crader is the sports editor of the Southeast Missourian and semoball.com.