Tom Matukewicz seems to be a fan of Mizzou.

Southeast Missouri’s coach, Matukewicz said during this week’s Ohio Valley Conference teleconference that he wants to build his Redhawks program the same way Gary Pinkel built the Tigers.

“We want to be everything that program stands for,” Matukewicz said. “They’ve had a consistency that’s not been in college football, or it’s hard to find. That’s what we’re striving for here.”

Matukewicz has a big task ahead should SEMO ever reach Mizzou’s status. The Redhawks have only made the FCS playoffs once in their history, and were picked to finish fifth in their nine-team conference.

The SEMO coach may look up to Pinkel and the Tigers, but they are far from that level. Mizzou leads the all-time series 2-0. The two Missouri schools last met in 2008 at Faurot Field, with the Tigers dominating 52-3. In all likelihood, Saturday’s result will closely mirror that result. Matukewicz even told the school’s local newspaper that last year’s SEMO team would beat this year’s. That’s an odd thing to say before facing an SEC school.

But this game is important for the Tigers, especially given recent injuries at receiver and the ascent of freshman QB Drew Lock up the team’s depth chart.

Senior Wesley Leftwich, one of only three returning receivers who have caught a pass in a game, is out, as is freshman Johnathon Johnson, whom Pinkel said would miss the entire season due to an ankle injury.

Johnson wasn’t a lock to feature this season, but the SEMO game would have been a good opportunity for him to do so. Leftwich will feature a lot this season, and his replacement Saturday, Keyon Dilosa, will have something to prove in his place.

That shouldn’t be too hard to do against the Southeast Missouri defense, which appears to be the worst of the school’s two units. The Redhawks ranked in the bottom half of their conference in most defensive statistics, and gave up 7.2 yards per play in their first conference game last season. Middle linebacker Roper Garrett returns in 2015 after leading the team in tackles (96) last season, but he may have lost a step after breaking his leg late last year.

If SEMO’s defense does appear sluggish, especially late in the game, Missouri will want to break in its new backup quarterback. Pinkel indicated Monday that Lock would play at least a series against SEMO, and that would his goal for the true freshman in every game this season.

“In my background, I’ve done that often,” Pinkel told reporters. “We’ve had success doing that here. It’s ideal to do that.”