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SEMO FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK: Southeast Missouri State hopes to emulate Weber State's rise to prominence
Southeast Missouri State players huddle up before the FCS Playoff second round game at Weber State University on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018.
Courtesy of Weber State athletics
OGDEN, Utah — When Weber State football coach Jay Hill looks at the Southeast Missouri State program, he sees a lot of similarities.
Yes, the Wildcats are the second seed in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, and Southeast hadn't won an FCS postseason game until last week. But last year, Weber State hosted an FCS postseason game for the first time in program history.
This is also the first time Weber State has been seeded.
Southeast Missouri State linebacker Justin Swift (33) flexes after a play during the FCS Playoff second round game at Weber State University on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018.
Courtesy of Weber State athletics
So Hill believes the Redhawks and coach Tom Matukewicz will follow a similar trajectory despite a season-ending 48-23 loss to the Wildcats in a second-round playoff game Saturday.
"Before the game I was talking to him about how closely their program this year resembles where we were last year where we had won our first home playoff game ever," Hill said. "That program resembles a lot of where we were last year, maybe the year before. He's an unbelievable coach. He can do great things there."
Before last year, Weber State had won two playoff games, both on the road. Then, the Wildcats posted a school-record 11 wins last fall and advanced to the quarterfinals.
They repeated as Big Sky Conference champions again this year and earned a first-round bye.
"This is the kind of program we've trying to be," Matukewicz said.
Southeast is headed in the right direction after putting together the third-best turnaround in the FCS, going from 3-8 last year to 9-4 this season.
Southeast Missouri State left tackle Drew Forbes blocks during the FCS Playoff second round game at Weber State University on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018.
Courtesy of Weber State athletics
"There's nothing I can say to this group that will make this moment less painful, but as the days keep building and we get farther away, I hope that they take a lot of pride in the legacy they did," Matukewicz said. "There's just a school spirit that hasn't been there since I've been here. There's a buzz about SEMO. It's not just football. It's the university and Cape County and the bootheel. People are excited about Southeast Missouri State."
While the Redhawks fell one win short of setting a school record for victories, they return 16 starters, including 10 on defense.
"I think they're capable of doing anything they put their minds to," Southeast senior left tackle Drew Forbes said. "There's just a great group of men coming back that are going to be hungry for it, even hungrier than this year."
Last week, Southeast won an FCS playoff game for the first time ever. Is a national championship a possibility in the near future? Senior linebacker Demarcus Rogers, who had a 33-yard fumble return for a touchdown Saturday, certainly hopes so.
"Keep on moving forward," Rogers said. "I want them to win a national championship because those are my brothers and I love them."
No matter what, Southeast's future certainly looks bright.
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"As a team, we've seen what SEMO is capable of," Forbes said. "In the past, I don't think there was that belief."
Terry held out
Southeast was without the services of the Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Year for most of the game Saturday as Marquis Terry did not return after the opening offensive series.
He finished with one rush for three years.
Prior to Saturday, Terry suffered a knee injury. He tried to play through it, but the coaching staff determined he wasn't healthy enough to play.
Teaser
"He was banged up all week," Matukewicz said. "Tried to get him to go and just wasn't able to."
Terry is a finalist for the Walter Payton Award, which is given to the national offensive player of the year in the FCS, and finished his senior season with 1,229 rushing yards.
Terry struggled, by his lofty standards, since the regular-season finale against Eastern Illinois. Terry had 22 yards on five rushes against EIU, including a 10-yard touchdown, but did not play in the final three quarters due to what the team called "concussion-like symptoms."
It appeared he might have also re-aggravated a leg injury from earlier this season.
In the first-round playoff game against a tough Stony Brook defense last week, Terry had 64 yards on 19 rushes.
Then Saturday, his college career ended with him on the sidelines.
Faking out SEMO
The Redhawks defense held Weber State in check on third down as the Wildcats were 4 of 14 on third-down conversions.
Unfortunately for Southeast, it couldn't stop Weber State on fourth down. The Wildcats were 4 of 5 on fourth down, including a 4-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-goal in the fourth quarter.
Weber State's fourth-down effectiveness was apparent from the opening drive when the Wildcats ran a fake punt on fourth-and-2 and got the first down thanks to a 3-yard Tye Mason run.
While that drive didn't result in any points, Weber State took the lead for good on a drive that was extended by another fourth-down conversion on a fake punt.
Punter Doug Lloyd found Jared Schiess for an 11-yard gain on fourth-and-10. Four plays later, the Wildcats scored.
"They made those plays, those critical special teams plays, those critical fourth-down plays and give those guys credit," Matukewicz said.
Lloyd, who is the holder for field goal and extra-point attempts, scored on a 4-yard run on a fake field goal late in the fourth quarter.
"If they give it to us, we have the ability to run those plays, and if the look is wrong, we can check out and not have to do them," Hill said. "We got the looks we wanted today, and the players did an outstanding job of executing them, obviously."