Getty Images Head coach Tom Matukewicz of the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks.
Eastern Illinois makes its spring debut as it takes on 0-1 Southern Missouri State on Sunday at O’Brien Stadium.
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The game (3 p.m. ET start time) won’t be on TV, but anyone in the US can watch Southeast Missouri vs Eastern Illinois football live on ESPN+ right here:
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You can also watch on your computer via ESPN.com.
Southeast Missouri vs Eastern Illinois Preview
It’s been a long offseason for Eastern Illinois, but the Panthers finally get back on the field on Sunday against Southeast Missouri.
Eastern Illinois finished last season 1-7, but head coach Adam Cushing is expecting some big improvements from his squad.
“Why is it unrealistic? The goal is to go out and do exactly that and anything else would be setting the bar too low,” Cushing said. “The biggest jump that we’ve made as a program is a true understanding of focusing on the process and not the end result. We are now for two calendar years been able to get that mentality instilled in (the players) and that’s truly what we’re looking for on a day-to-day basis.
“I’m not big on saying we have to win this many games. The goal was to shift the mindset from the outcome mentality to the process mentality. That’s where we have seen an enormous jump in the program and that’s why we will see an enormous jump in the outcomes.”
Cushing thinks the extra-long offseason — spanning 463 days — will help his younger players as they take the field for the first time.
“You always want to see some experience out there on the field but I think we are incredibly pleased with our group of newcomers,” Cushing said. “The fact that we had fall ball with this group of freshmen, this isn’t the same as a first game in August. They have been in the system so they have heard the system so many times and been through it so many times. You put the ball up in the air and it’s still going to be the first time but we feel that they’re much farther along than any (EIU) freshmen have ever been.”
Southeast Missouri dropped its only game of the fall against Southern Ilinois 20-17 despite having a pair of 100-yard rushers in Geno Hess (128, 1 touchdown) and Andrew Bunch (115 yards). Bunch, also the quarterback, tossed two costly interceptions in the loss.
Eastern Illinois leads the all-time series against Southeast Missouri, 18-9, per a school press release. The Redhawks won each of the last two games of the series and three of the previous four matchups between these teams. Southeast Missouri beat EIU, 26-12, the last time it played in Charleston, Illinois on Nov. 16, 2019.
Southeast Missouri is listed as a 13.5-point favorite for the matchup. The total for the game is set at 49.5 points.