HAMMOND – After posting impressive wins in its first two games, Southeastern Louisiana returns to action on Saturday when it travels for the first time this season to face fifth-ranked Ole Miss at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
Kickoff is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. and can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the internet at www.LionSports.net. The game will also be televised through much of the country on CSS, Cox Sports Television, ESPN GamePlan and ESPN360.com.
The game against Ole Miss (1-0), marks the fifth consecutive season that Southeastern (2-0) has played an opponent from the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly I-A). The game also marks the first time Southeastern, a member of the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA) has faced a ranked FBS opponent.
Southeastern, which is ranked No. 2 nationally among FCS schools in scoring offense (55.0) and passing offense (380.5) and is fourth in total offense (517.5), opened the season Sept. 5 with a 41-7 win over Texas A&M-Commerce before coming back five nights later to hand NAIA No. 10 ranked Union College a 69-20 setback.
Fifth-year senior
Brian Babin, the No. 7-ranked passer in FCS, has directed a the Lions' high-octane offense completing nearly 72 percent of his passes for 665 yards with eight touchdowns and no interceptions.
Simmie Yarborough has caught 16 passes with four touchdowns on the season with redshirt freshman
Zeke Jones scoring three touchdowns on the ground.
Defensively, former Sulphur High product
Ryan Godare has tallied 17 tackles in the first two weeks with
Mark Newbill (10 tackles) and
Lindsey Leavoy (10 tackles, 2.0 sacks).
Ole Miss, which finished 9-4 last season and captured the Cotton Bowl, is at its highest national ranking since 1970. The Rebels, who are looking for their first 2-0 start since 2002, opened the season on Sept. 6 with a 45-14 win at Memphis behind 175 yards and a pair of touchdown passes by Jevan Snead.
Dexter McCluster scored twice for Ole Miss, which scored 28 fourth-quarter points to pull away from a 17-7 lead.