Bluegrassrivals

RICHMOND, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University football team hits the road for the final time in the regular season this Saturday, Nov. 3 at Southeast Missouri. Game time is set for 2 p.m. ET.

The No. 23 Colonels (6-3, 4-2 OVC) need to win their final two games of the regular season to have any hope of making the 2012 NCAA FCS playoffs. Eastern’s offense will have to put up more than the seven points scored last week in the loss to EIU for the Colonels to return to the win column. QB T.J. Pryor was held without a touchdown pass for the first time all year in the game against Eastern Illinois.

On the defensive front, EKU continues to produce plenty of turnovers. The Colonels forced four turnovers versus Eastern Illinois and now rank second nationally in turnover margin at +14. Senior DB Brooklyn Fox and senior LB Kevin Hamlin each recorded interceptions one week ago.

Southeast Missouri (3-5, 2-3) scored a season-high 48 points in an easy win over Austin Peay last Saturday. The Redhawks have piled up more than 400 yards of total offense in three straight games including 510 yards in a 40-28 loss to Tennessee State on Oct. 13. SEMO leads the league in rushing offense (255 yards per game) while the Colonels rank first in rushing defense (99.6 ypg).

Eastern Kentucky leads the all-time series over Southeast Missouri, 19-3, and the Colonels are 9-1 all-time in Cape Girardeau. Last year, the Colonels forced six SEMO turnovers in a 41-17 victory. EKU has scored at least 20 points in the last 13 contests against the Redhawks.
EKUSports.com

Who you got?

When Eastern has struggled on defense this year it has been against up-tempo short passing teams. SEMO likes to run it and I think the Colonel defense will be able to stop that okay. I'm concerned about the offense however. Eastern Illinois had been giving up a ton of points but totally shut us down last week. The offensive line is really beat up right now and couldn't give T.J. any time to pass last week. Hopefully they're a little bit more healthy this week. We're here in Cape Girardeau and looking for a Colonel win. I think this one is tight through three quarters and EKU pulls away for a 28-17 win. Colonel Up!

Norm Peterson Wrote:When Eastern has struggled on defense this year it has been against up-tempo short passing teams. SEMO likes to run it and I think the Colonel defense will be able to stop that okay. I'm concerned about the offense however. Eastern Illinois had been giving up a ton of points but totally shut us down last week. The offensive line is really beat up right now and couldn't give T.J. any time to pass last week. Hopefully they're a little bit more healthy this week. We're here in Cape Girardeau and looking for a Colonel win. I think this one is tight through three quarters and EKU pulls away for a 28-17 win. Colonel Up!

Norm, do you care to post the final score and a run down of the game?