The Southeast Missouri State Redhawks and the Kansas State Wildcats meet in week 1 college football action from Bill Snyder Family Stadium on Saturday.

Southeast Missouri State Team Preview

The Southeast Missouri State Redhawks will come into the 2022 season with optimism high after a really good 2022 season, finishing 9-3 on the year, 9-2 vs. the FCS and making the FCS playoffs, but they were bounced in the first round of the 2022 FCS Playoffs after a 34-24 loss to Montana. There’s a lot to be excited about with Southeast Missouri State’s roster in 2023, led by QB Payton DeLaurent, who threw for 2,684 yards and 19 touchdowns with only 6 interceptions. DeLaurent also has two of his top weapons back at receiver, with Ryan Flournoy back after putting up 61 catches for 984 yards and 7 touchdowns while Damoriea Vick had 43 grabs for 416 yards and 4 TDs. Geno Hess is back in SEMO’s backfield for his 6th season, holding three all-OVC first team awards while leading the Redhawks in school history with 4,112 career rushing yards and 53 rushing touchdowns while rushing for 1,691 yards and 21 TDs last season. On defense, Bryce Norman is back at linebacker after recording 119 tackles and 2.5 sacks while Lawrence Johnson had 86 tackles and 4 sacks at safety last year. Christian Fuhrman is also back at linebacker after logging 65 tackles and Ty Leonard had 50 tackles in the secondary as well. Stevem Lewis, LaWilliam Holmes, Lunden Manuel and Nasim Cairo are all names to be familiar with for the Redhawks defensive line.

Kansas State Team Preview

The Kansas State Wildcats will be rolling into the 2022 season looking to build on the most successful season in over a decade, finishing 10-4 on the year and 7-2 in Big 12 conference play, earning a spot in the Big 12 championship game where the Wildcats took out national runners-up TCU 31-28. The Wildcats would then head to the Sugar Bowl where they were beat down 45-20 by Alabama. Will Howard has the keys to the car at QB for K-State after throwing for 1,633 yards and 15 touchdowns with just 4 interceptions including a pair of INTs in the bowl game against Alabama. Deuce Vaughn’s gone as well, but there’s still depth in the K-State backfield, with DJ Giddens logging 5.8 yards per carry and 6 touchdowns last season and Treshaun Ward transfers in from Florida State after rushing for 628 yards and 6 scores last season. Phillip Brooks will get plenty of work in the slot for K-State’s receiving group after finishing 2nd for the Wildcats in receiving with 587 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns on 45 catches and Keagan Johnson comes in from Iowa with all the potential in the world, but you can’t blame him for not thriving in Iowa’s horrendous pass attack, now that he has a chance to spread his wings, he will likely fly. On defense, Austin Moore is back at linebackers after leading the Wildcats with 87 tackles in 2022, while Daniel Green and Khalid Duke also return as another pair of solid options in Kansas State’s linebacking corps. The defensive line and the secondary got hit the hardest for player loss, but up front, Jevon Banks transfers in from Mississippi State and Usa Seumalo along with the aforementioned Duke should provide a solid push for the Wildcats. Kobe Savage and Jordan Wright make up a pair of returning pieces in K-State’s secondary for the upcoming season as well.

Trends

Southeast Missouri State is 10-2 ATS in their last 12 games overall and 8-1 ATS in their last 9 games played in September. Kansas State is 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games overall and 5-2 ATS in their last 7 home games.

Chris’ Pick

I’m a bit stumped by this game, but maybe that means it’s worth taking a shot on Southeast Missouri State. This is a Redhawks team that gives a lot of the bigger boys fits in these FBS/FCS games, and while Kansas State is the better team by a fair margin, I just think that it’s going to take some time for all of the new pieces to be more cohesive. All in all, I look for a respectable showing from SEMO State and I’ll side with them ATS here.