2018 Southeast Missouri State Redhawks football team

The 2018 Southeast Missouri State Redhawks football team represented Southeast Missouri State University as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) during the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by fifth-year head coach Tom Matukewicz, the Redhawks compiled an overall record of 9–4 with a mark of 6–2 in conference play, placing second in the OVC. Southeast Missouri State received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, where they defeated Stony Brook in the first round before losing to Weber State in the second round. The team played home games at Houck Stadium in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

2018 Southeast Missouri State Redhawks football
NCAA Division I Second Round, L 23–48 vs. Weber State
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 15
FCS Coaches	No. 16
Record	9–4 (6–2 OVC)
Head coach	Tom Matukewicz (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Jeromy McDowell (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Bryce Saia (5th season)
Home stadium	Houck Stadium
Seasons ← 2017 2019 →

2018 Ohio Valley Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 10 Jacksonville State $^		7	–	1					8	–	3
No. 15 Southeast Missouri State ^		6	–	2					8	–	3
Eastern Kentucky		5	–	2					7	–	4
Murray State		5	–	3					5	–	6
Tennessee State		3	–	4					4	–	5
Eastern Illinois		3	–	5					3	–	8
Austin Peay		3	–	5					5	–	6
UT Martin		2	–	6					2	–	9
Tennessee Tech		1	–	7					1	–	10
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Preseason

OVC media poll

On July 20, 2018, the media covering the OVC released their preseason poll with the Redhawks predicted to finish in eighth place.^[1] On July 23, the OVC released their coaches poll with the Redhawks predicted to finish in seventh place.^[2]

Media poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Jacksonville State	134 (14)
2	Austin Peay	114 (1)
3	UT Martin	96
4	Tennessee State	91
5	Eastern Illinois	83
6	Eastern Kentucky	64
7	Murray State	39
8	Southeast Missouri State	35
9	Tennessee Tech	19

Coaches poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Jacksonville State	126 (14)
2	Austin Peay	112 (4)
3	UT Martin	95
4	Eastern Illinois	73
5	Eastern Kentucky	69
6	Tennessee State	64
7	Southeast Missouri State	62
8	Murray State	24
9	Tennessee Tech	23

Preseason All-OVC team

The Redhawks had thee players selected to the preseason all-OVC team.^[3] Running back Marquis Terry was also selected as the preseason offensive player of the year.

Offense Marquis Terry – RB Drew Forbes – T Defense Zach Hall – LB

Award watch lists

Award	Player	Position	Year
Walter Payton Award[4]	Marquis Terry	RB	SR

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	6:00 p.m.	at Arkansas State*		Centennial Bank Stadium Jonesboro, AR	ESPN+	L 21–48	20,184
September 8	1:00 p.m.	Dayton*		Houck Stadium Cape Girardeau, MO	ESPN+	W 40–21	4,273
September 15	6:00 p.m.	at Southern Illinois*		Saluki Stadium Carbondale, IL	ESPN+	W 48–44	8,592
September 22	3:00 p.m.	at Eastern Kentucky		Roy Kidd Stadium Richmond, KY	ESPN+	L 14–23	7,720
October 6	6:00 p.m.	at Tennessee Tech		Tucker Stadium Cookeville, TN	ESPN+	W 70–38	4,404
October 13	1:00 p.m.	Austin Peay		Houck Stadium Cape Girardeau, MO	ESPN+	W 31–27	6,467
October 20	1:00 p.m.	No. 5 Jacksonville State		Houck Stadium Cape Girardeau, MO	ESPN+	W 37–14	3,103
October 27	2:00 p.m.	at UT Martin		Graham Stadium Martin, TN	ESPN+	W 56–33	4,014
November 3	1:00 p.m.	Tennessee State	No. 25	Houck Stadium Cape Girardeau, MO	ESPN+	W 38–21	3,481
November 10	1:00 p.m.	at Murray State	No. 21	Roy Stewart Stadium Murray, KY	ESPN+	L 38–40	2,087
November 17	1:00 p.m.	Eastern Illinois	No. 23	Houck Stadium Cape Girardeau, MO	ESPN+	W 38–32	3,987
November 24	1:00 p.m	No. 15 Stony Brook*	No. 20	Houck Stadium Cape Girardeau, MO (NCAA Division I First Round)	ESPN3	W 28–14	5,679
December 1	1:00 p.m.	at No. 3 Weber State*	No. 20	Stewart Stadium Ogden, UT (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN3	L 23–48	8,838
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[5]

Game summaries

At Arkansas State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Redhawks	0	14	0	7	21
Red Wolves	7	14	27	0	48

See also: 2018 Arkansas State Red Wolves football team

Dayton

	1	2	3	4	Total
Flyers	7	0	7	7	21
Redhawks	3	10	7	20	40

See also: 2018 Dayton Flyers football team

At Southern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Redhawks	14	3	17	14	48
Salukis	10	10	7	17	44

See also: 2018 Southern Illinois Salukis football team

At Eastern Kentucky

	1	2	3	4	Total
Redhawks	7	0	0	7	14
Colonels	3	7	7	6	23

See also: 2018 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football team

At Tennessee Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Redhawks	21	28	14	7	70
Golden Eagles	3	14	7	14	38

See also: 2018 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles football team

Austin Peay

	1	2	3	4	Total
Governors	6	7	0	14	27
Redhawks	3	0	7	21	31

See also: 2018 Austin Peay Governors football team

Jacksonville State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 5 Gamecocks	0	7	0	7	14
Redhawks	7	9	14	7	37

See also: 2018 Jacksonville State Gamecocks football team

At UT Martin

	1	2	3	4	Total
Redhawks	16	14	7	19	56
Skyhawks	7	10	3	13	33

See also: 2018 UT Martin Skyhawks football team

Tennessee State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	0	14	7	0	21
No. 25 Redhawks	3	21	14	0	38

See also: 2018 Tennessee State Tigers football team

At Murray State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 21 Redhawks	17	14	0	7	38
Racers	0	7	17	16	40

See also: 2018 Murray State Racers football team

Eastern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	7	0	10	15	32
No. 23 Redhawks	10	7	3	18	38

See also: 2018 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

Stony Brook–NCAA Division I First Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 15 Seawolves	0	14	0	0	14
No. 20 Redhawks	0	0	28	0	28

See also: 2018 Stony Brook Seawolves football team

At Weber State–NCAA Division I Second Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 20 Redhawks	7	0	7	9	23
No. 3 Wildcats	0	27	7	14	48

See also: 2018 Weber State Wildcats football team

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	RV	25	21	23	20	15
Coaches	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	RV	24	19	23	20	16

Players drafted into the NFL

See also: 2019 NFL draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL team
6	189	Drew Forbes	Offeneive tackle	Cleveland Browns

References

1. "Media Pollsters Tab Jacksonville State as 2018 OVC Football Preseason Favorites". Ohio Valley Conference. July 20, 2018.
2. "Jacksonville State Picked As 2018 Ohio Valley Conference Football Favorites". Ohio Valley Conference. July 23, 2018.
3. "SEMO's Terry, JSU's Bridges Named OVC Preseason Football Players of the Year". Ohio Valley Conference. July 23, 2018.
4. "FCS football: 2018 Walter Payton Award watch list". August 1, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
5. "2018 Football Schedule". Southeast Missouri State University. Retrieved October 9, 2022.