# 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.

## 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. On July 23, the OVC released their coaches poll with the Redhawks predicted to finish in seventh place.
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. Running back Marquis Terry was also selected as the preseason offensive player of the year.

### Award watch lists

| Award | Player | Position | Year |
| Walter Payton Award | Marquis Terry | RB | SR |

## Schedule

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

## Game summaries
### At Arkansas State

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

### Dayton

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

### At Southern Illinois

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

### At Eastern Kentucky

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

### At Tennessee Tech

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

### Austin Peay

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

### Jacksonville State

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

### At UT Martin

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

### Tennessee State

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

### At Murray State

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

### Eastern Illinois

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

### 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 |

### 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 |

## Ranking movements

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

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