Southeast Missouri State University Preview
Marcus Gronauer | TSR Intern
http://www.southeastarrow.com
The University of Memphis football team, led by first-year head coach Mike Norvell, opens the season Saturday night against Southeast Missouri State at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. So without further or due, let’s take a look at an in-depth preview of both teams.
The Tigers, who finished fifth in the American Athletic Conference last season with an overall record of 9-4, are looking to win nine regular-season games for a third consecutive year. Much of that success is accredited to the tremendous job that former Memphis head coach Justin Fuente did in his tenure at the University of Memphis.
But now it’s Coach Mike Norvell’s turn. Norvell, who was the offensive coordinator at Arizona State from 2014-2015, is the youngest FBS college football coach in the country at age 34. He and his staff have spent countless hours in the offseason not only on recruiting, but also on installing their new offensive and defensive schemes.
Offensively, there will be more built-in options on individual plays and it will operate at a very fast tempo, even faster than Justin Fuente’s offense.
“We had tempo with Fuente, (but) this is just constant tempo, said senior tight end Daniel Montiel. “With Fuente, we would slow it down if we needed to slow it down. We’re just moving constantly with this offense.”
Despite the loss of quarterback and first-round draft pick Paxton Lynch to the NFL, both the coaches and the team have confidence in their new starting quarterback, Riley Ferguson.
“Riley’s got a great skill set,” Norvell said. “He’s a guy that’s got a strong arm. He’s a very intelligent football player. And he plays with extreme accuracy.”
The highly touted 6-4, 210-pound signal caller from Matthews, North Carolina, signed with the University of Tennessee out of high school in 2013 before suffering a leg injury and redshirting his freshman season.
Ferguson, who enrolled at the University of Memphis this January, has plenty of talented players surrounding him, mainly wide receiver Anthony Miller. The local product caught 47 passes for 694 yards and five touchdowns last season. Joining Miller at wide receiver is Phil Mayhue, who caught 51 passes for 670 yards and a touchdown in 2015.
Despite the transfers of running backs Jamarius Henderson and Jarvis Cooper, the Tigers feature an exciting group of running backs this season. The starter, Doroland Dorceus, returns for his junior season after running for 661 yards and eight touchdowns in 2015.
Joining Dorceus in the backfield is freshman Darrell Henderson. The speedy tail back from Batesville, Mississippi ran for 5,801 yards in his high school career, which ranks 8th all time in Mississippi high school football’s history.
On the other side of the ball is the defense, a unit that struggled mightily at times last season. In 2015, the Tigers gave up an average of 27 points per game to opposing teams, which had Memphis tied at 64th in the country to finish the season.
If there’s one thing for sure, it’s that Memphis’ defense can only get better. And many people believe it will too, primarily because of the new schemes that new defensive coordinator Chris Ball has installed this offseason.
“You’re going to see an exciting style of defense. We’re going to try to impact the quarterback as much as we can, with looks--not just pressures--and play fast,” Ball told the Commercial Appeal.
The Tigers certainly have the personnel to do so, especially with the return of many starters from a year ago including Genard Avery, DeMarco Montgomery, and Ernest Suttles to name a few. Memphis also added talent to its secondary this summer with the addition of safety Jonathan Cook. Cook, an ex-Alabama player, will be crucial to the success of the defense this year.
“He’s our quarterback of the defense. He’s got to be a great communicator, and he’s got to know this defense inside and out,” defensive coordinator Chris Ball told the Commercial Appeal.
The Southeast Missouri State Redhawks, who finished fifth in the Ohio Valley Conference last season with an overall record of 4-7, head to the Liberty Bowl with a great deal of experience on their side.
Southeast returns 17 starters from a season ago and enters this season with 25 seniors, its largest senior class in four years. The Redhawks bring back eight starters on offense, seven starters on defense and their starting kicker and punter. But don’t be fooled by this tight-knit group because the star player for Southeast may in fact be newcomer Jesse Hosket.
Hosket, who started at quarterback for East Central Community College last season, enrolled at Southeast this January. The 6-foot-4, 222-pound signal caller won the starting job over sophomore Dante Vandeven in an intense quarterback battle this offseason. Vandeven was named OVC Freshman of the Year last year after throwing for 1,558 yards and compiling 17 total touchdowns.
However, on September 3rd at the Liberty Bowl it will be Hosket under center with a variety of weapons surrounding him. One of which is slot wide receiver Tremane McCullough.
McCullough, who played running back for the Redhawks last year, ran for over 1,000 yards last season, averaging over 100 yards per game. Although only 5-10, 170-pounds, he’s got the speed and shiftiness to outrun defenders on any defense. Want proof? He was an All-Ohio Valley Conference performer just a season ago.
The strong suit by far for Southeast seems to be the defensive unit, which returns seven starters from a year ago. The leader of the Redhawks defense is senior middle linebacker Roper Garrett. Garrett, who recorded 106 tackles last season, was a second-team All-OVC selection in 2015.
“Roper is crazy,” said backup quarterback Dante Vandeven. “He’s laid some big hits on me in some practices, so it’s definitely a sad sight and really a scary sight when he’s coming through the O-line.”
Also returning in the secondary is junior Mike Ford, who at 6-0, 190-pounds, has shown to be a great vocal leader. Junior outside linebacker Chad Meredith is another guy to look out for on Saturday night. But it should not be too difficult to look out for him because at 6-5, 228-pounds, he is pretty noticeable.
Coaching for Southeast is Tom Matukewicz who enters his third season coaching the Redhawks. He has been rebuilding the football program ever since he got the job on day one. Now, he believes he has the pieces in place to turn the corner in 2016.
“When I look back at the programs I’ve been a part of turning around in my career, year three or four was the time you’d start seeing signs of progress,” Matukewicz said.
Now at the culmination of the rebuild, the Redhawks have the pieces in place for a big year under Coach Matukewicz.
“We have a good football team and have a lot of experience coming back,” Matukewicz further stated. “Consistency is going to be a big thing we attack this season. We’ve proven we can beat some pretty good teams, but haven’t been able to sustain it.”
The Redhawks will have a shot at beginning that consistency come kickoff at 6:04 pm CT at the Liberty Bowl. Coverage begins at 6:00 pm CT on ESPN3.
Marcus Gronauer | TSR Intern
http://www.southeastarrow.com
The University of Memphis football team, led by first-year head coach Mike Norvell, opens the season Saturday night against Southeast Missouri State at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. So without further or due, let’s take a look at an in-depth preview of both teams.
The Tigers, who finished fifth in the American Athletic Conference last season with an overall record of 9-4, are looking to win nine regular-season games for a third consecutive year. Much of that success is accredited to the tremendous job that former Memphis head coach Justin Fuente did in his tenure at the University of Memphis.
But now it’s Coach Mike Norvell’s turn. Norvell, who was the offensive coordinator at Arizona State from 2014-2015, is the youngest FBS college football coach in the country at age 34. He and his staff have spent countless hours in the offseason not only on recruiting, but also on installing their new offensive and defensive schemes.
Offensively, there will be more built-in options on individual plays and it will operate at a very fast tempo, even faster than Justin Fuente’s offense.
“We had tempo with Fuente, (but) this is just constant tempo, said senior tight end Daniel Montiel. “With Fuente, we would slow it down if we needed to slow it down. We’re just moving constantly with this offense.”
Despite the loss of quarterback and first-round draft pick Paxton Lynch to the NFL, both the coaches and the team have confidence in their new starting quarterback, Riley Ferguson.
“Riley’s got a great skill set,” Norvell said. “He’s a guy that’s got a strong arm. He’s a very intelligent football player. And he plays with extreme accuracy.”
The highly touted 6-4, 210-pound signal caller from Matthews, North Carolina, signed with the University of Tennessee out of high school in 2013 before suffering a leg injury and redshirting his freshman season.
Ferguson, who enrolled at the University of Memphis this January, has plenty of talented players surrounding him, mainly wide receiver Anthony Miller. The local product caught 47 passes for 694 yards and five touchdowns last season. Joining Miller at wide receiver is Phil Mayhue, who caught 51 passes for 670 yards and a touchdown in 2015.
Despite the transfers of running backs Jamarius Henderson and Jarvis Cooper, the Tigers feature an exciting group of running backs this season. The starter, Doroland Dorceus, returns for his junior season after running for 661 yards and eight touchdowns in 2015.
Joining Dorceus in the backfield is freshman Darrell Henderson. The speedy tail back from Batesville, Mississippi ran for 5,801 yards in his high school career, which ranks 8th all time in Mississippi high school football’s history.
On the other side of the ball is the defense, a unit that struggled mightily at times last season. In 2015, the Tigers gave up an average of 27 points per game to opposing teams, which had Memphis tied at 64th in the country to finish the season.
If there’s one thing for sure, it’s that Memphis’ defense can only get better. And many people believe it will too, primarily because of the new schemes that new defensive coordinator Chris Ball has installed this offseason.
“You’re going to see an exciting style of defense. We’re going to try to impact the quarterback as much as we can, with looks--not just pressures--and play fast,” Ball told the Commercial Appeal.
The Tigers certainly have the personnel to do so, especially with the return of many starters from a year ago including Genard Avery, DeMarco Montgomery, and Ernest Suttles to name a few. Memphis also added talent to its secondary this summer with the addition of safety Jonathan Cook. Cook, an ex-Alabama player, will be crucial to the success of the defense this year.
“He’s our quarterback of the defense. He’s got to be a great communicator, and he’s got to know this defense inside and out,” defensive coordinator Chris Ball told the Commercial Appeal.
The Southeast Missouri State Redhawks, who finished fifth in the Ohio Valley Conference last season with an overall record of 4-7, head to the Liberty Bowl with a great deal of experience on their side.
Southeast returns 17 starters from a season ago and enters this season with 25 seniors, its largest senior class in four years. The Redhawks bring back eight starters on offense, seven starters on defense and their starting kicker and punter. But don’t be fooled by this tight-knit group because the star player for Southeast may in fact be newcomer Jesse Hosket.
Hosket, who started at quarterback for East Central Community College last season, enrolled at Southeast this January. The 6-foot-4, 222-pound signal caller won the starting job over sophomore Dante Vandeven in an intense quarterback battle this offseason. Vandeven was named OVC Freshman of the Year last year after throwing for 1,558 yards and compiling 17 total touchdowns.
However, on September 3rd at the Liberty Bowl it will be Hosket under center with a variety of weapons surrounding him. One of which is slot wide receiver Tremane McCullough.
McCullough, who played running back for the Redhawks last year, ran for over 1,000 yards last season, averaging over 100 yards per game. Although only 5-10, 170-pounds, he’s got the speed and shiftiness to outrun defenders on any defense. Want proof? He was an All-Ohio Valley Conference performer just a season ago.
The strong suit by far for Southeast seems to be the defensive unit, which returns seven starters from a year ago. The leader of the Redhawks defense is senior middle linebacker Roper Garrett. Garrett, who recorded 106 tackles last season, was a second-team All-OVC selection in 2015.
“Roper is crazy,” said backup quarterback Dante Vandeven. “He’s laid some big hits on me in some practices, so it’s definitely a sad sight and really a scary sight when he’s coming through the O-line.”
Also returning in the secondary is junior Mike Ford, who at 6-0, 190-pounds, has shown to be a great vocal leader. Junior outside linebacker Chad Meredith is another guy to look out for on Saturday night. But it should not be too difficult to look out for him because at 6-5, 228-pounds, he is pretty noticeable.
Coaching for Southeast is Tom Matukewicz who enters his third season coaching the Redhawks. He has been rebuilding the football program ever since he got the job on day one. Now, he believes he has the pieces in place to turn the corner in 2016.
“When I look back at the programs I’ve been a part of turning around in my career, year three or four was the time you’d start seeing signs of progress,” Matukewicz said.
Now at the culmination of the rebuild, the Redhawks have the pieces in place for a big year under Coach Matukewicz.
“We have a good football team and have a lot of experience coming back,” Matukewicz further stated. “Consistency is going to be a big thing we attack this season. We’ve proven we can beat some pretty good teams, but haven’t been able to sustain it.”
The Redhawks will have a shot at beginning that consistency come kickoff at 6:04 pm CT at the Liberty Bowl. Coverage begins at 6:00 pm CT on ESPN3.
