Things Are Looking Up: SEMO's 2014 Football Review

The SEMO Redhawks have finished their 2014 season with a 5-7 (3-5) record. This is the best record that SEMO has had since the great 2010 season where they finished 1st in the OVC with a 9-3 (7-1) record and a trip to the FCS Playoffs. They finished 6th in the OVC where previously they finished 7th and 8th.

This was the inaugural season for Coach Tom Matukewicz at SEMO, and he has already taken this team to another level from where they were before. SEMO beat the Southeastern Louisiana Lions (ranked #3 at the time) at Houck Stadium in Cape Girardeau. That was the defining game for the Redhawks this season. Before this year, there probably wouldn't have been anyway that SEMO would have won that game. SEMO also beat a top ranked Tennessee State team at Houck Stadium. With Coach Tuke bringing in a new attitude and fire to the team they have elevated their game this year. Fan attendance rose this year compared to the last three years as well.

Starting senior quarterback, Kyle Snyder, had a tremendous year. He finished the season with 2,582 passing yards, 23 TD's, and completed 61.3% of his passes. He also rushed for 661 yards with 9 TD's. He finished 8th in Points Responsible For. Snyder played a big role in the success of this team's season. Sophomore kicker, Ryan McCrum, had a record breaking year as he broke SEMO's single-season record for field goals in a season with 18.

Injuries really hurt this team. Many of their starters on defense and offense were out for many of the games. Hopefully Coach Tuke can recruit some good talent to add more depth to the roster.

I do not have a lot of knowledge about SEMO before this year, but I do know that this season has sparked new interests in the team again. SEMO doesn't have a great history of winning seasons in football, but after this season the future is looking pretty good. This team has surpassed my expectations for this season, and I'm looking forward to next year. The only thing that worries me a little bit is that they are losing 20 seniors. But, they do have a lot of their starters returning back to the team which makes me feel as though that next season can be just as good, if not better, than this season. I think that this SEMO team will be pretty tough in the next coming years. This is a very exciting time for this program.