2013 pre-season outlook defensive line, while Donterrius Thomas, Breon Matlock, Demon Haire, Demond Horsley, and Gatlin Ridgway will all return from a season ago. “Coach Ake is bringing in a wide-open defense,” Daye said. “Just as odd as our offense is in today’s college football, the same can be said with how unpredictable our defense will be. We’ll have multiple sets and be a much faster football team with the signees we have. I’d like to think we’re going to have a high-octane defense to compete with some of those fastpaced offenses out there.” Special Teams The Lions return both punters from a season ago, as well as a pair of deep snappers and a return specialist for 2013. The Lions will bring in a Division II transfer at the kicker position as Sean Seefeldt comes to Southern from Edinboro University in Pennsylvania. Both Dominick O’Neill and Stewart Quinn return as the punters, while Benner and Ridgway will split time as long snappers. Hurd is back as one of the Lions’ speedsters in the return game. The Schedule Southern opens the season at home on September 5 against Central Oklahoma inside Fred G. Hughes Stadium. The Lions then play a MIAA TV game at Northeastern State the next week, before returning home to host Lincoln in another MIAA TV game, as well as honor the 2013 Hall of Fame Class. Southern then goes to Southwest Baptist, before coming home to face off with Central Missouri. The Lions will make the 13-hour trek up north to Rapid City, South Dakota to take on South Dakota Mines on October 12, before coming back home a week later to face Missouri Western and honor the 20th Anniversary of the 1993 MIAA Championship team. A date at Northwest Missouri follows, before back-to-back home dates with homecoming on November 2nd against Lindenwood and then facing off with NAIA Lindenwood-Belleville the next week in Senior Day. Southern finishes the 2013 season with the Miners Bowl on November 16 at Pittsburg State. “The trip to Mines is going to be a long one, but we’re going to make it worth it,” Daye said. “We’ll hit a few of the sites on the way up there and that’s an area of the country that some of these kids will never see again, but you’ll hear me say this each week, we focus on the game at hand and right now that’s game one. Having Pitt at the end is nice and I really do like our schedule.” The MIAA The Lions were the only team to defeat 2012 MIAA Champion Missouri Western in the regular season and the Griffs return this year, posed as not only one of the best teams in the MIAA, but one of the best in the country. Several early national polls have Western, as well as Northwest Missouri and Pittsburg State among the top 25 in their pre-season Division II polls. Year-in and out, the MIAA is one of, if not the toughest Division II conferences in all of the NCAA. “I think you’re going to see just what they always are,” Daye said of the teams in the MIAA. “It’s a slugfest each week. It’s the SEC of Division II. It’s not so much as who you play this week, it’s who you play after that, because you’re going to be beat up from the previous week’s game. There are plenty of outstanding football teams in our conference and each year you see one or two teams rise up to challenge the top-tier teams. It’s just a tough league, but it’s a great conference to be in and it’ll be competitive every week.” Senior Running Back Travis Hurd 2013 MSSU FOOTBALL @mososports missourisouthernlions mssulions.com 20
2012 Mssu Football Media Guide
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