Gameday blog: Southeast at Missouri

Posted Saturday, September 5, 2015, at 6:24 PM

The Southeast Missouri State football team opened its season with a 34-3 loss to No. 24 Missouri on Saturday at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri.

The Redhawks were shut out in the second half.

The Tigers' second-half points came on a 23-yard Andrew Baggett field goal, a 41-yard blocked punt return by Aarion Penton and a 78-yard pass from freshman quarterback Drew Lock to Tyler Hunt.

Mizzou led 17-3 at halftime and scored both touchdowns in the first quarter. They took a 7-0 lead on a 27-yard pass from Maty Mauk to J'Mon Moore 3 minutes, 32 seconds into the game and extended it to 14-0 with a 23-yard catch by Nate Brown with 4:49 left in the quarter.

Mizzou made it 17-0 on a 39-yard field goal by Andrew Baguette with 9:54 to play in the half.

Southeast, which had 8 total yards of offense in the first quarter, moved the ball into Mizzou territory twice in the second quarter.

The first time the Redhawks got it across midfield quarterback Tay Bender had the ball poked out from behind and the Tigers recovered the fumble on their own 41.

Southeast's defense forced a three-and-out and began the ensuing drive on its own 6 with 8:39 left in the half.

The Redhawks got to the Mizzou 46 on a third-down pass to star receiver Paul McRoberts for a 21-yard gain. It was his second catch of the game.

Three plays later he had a 19-yard reception.

The Redhawks moved to the Tigers' 17 before an intentional grounding penalty on Bender pushed them back to the 24. The drive ended with a 35-yard field goal by Ryan McCrum for the final score of the half with 2:19 remaining.

Southeast finished the half with 147 yards of offense while Mizzou had 179. The Tigers had 123 yards of offense -- 93 yards passing -- in the first quarter.

McRoberts leads the Redhawks with 43 yards receiving on three catches. Bender has 56 yards rushing on 19 carries.

Brown leads Mizzou with 69 yards receiving on three catches and Moore has 49 yards on two catches. Mauk completed 6 of 13 passes for 98 yards. He had one pass intercepted by Eriq Moore.

Southeast's sophomore linebacker Kendall Donnerson was called for targeting Mauk and ejected from the game during the first quarter.

Gameday has finally arrived for the Southeast Missouri State football team.

The Redhawks face No. 24 Missouri at 3 p.m. today at Faurot Field, and Rachel, Laura and I are en route to Columbia for the game.

You can follow along with us on Twitter @semoballErin or @semoballRachel. We'll provide updates throughout the game and you don't have to have a Twitter account to see our posts.

Over the past five days we've provided complete SEMO football coverage in the Southeast Missourian and on semoball.com. Below are the links to each preview article so you can prepare yourself for the season opener.

Southeast Missouri State football team braces for season opener vs. Mizzou

SEMO football preview: From almost quitting football to NFL prospect, Paul McRoberts' story is filled with unexpected turns and excellence

SEMO football preview: Three starters return to offensive line that surrendered fewest sacks in OVC

SEMO football preview: QBs, receivers focused on small details as season starts

SEMO football preview: Running backs hope to present challenge with versatility

SEMO football preview: Transfer players arrive at OVC schools via varied paths but play important roles

SEMO football preview: Specialists bring their own brand of toughness to the Redhawks

SEMO football preview: Field goal defense critical in Redhawks' red zone success

SEMO football preview: Top players make up kickoff, punt coverage teams

SEMO football preview: Redhawks return specialists ready to react

SEMO football preview: Staff analyzed plethora of injuries to devise plan to strengthen, protect players this season

SEMO football preview: Redhawks secondary focused on 'vision and break'