Southeast Missouri State’s quarterback Jack Tomco came into the 2003 season as a Walter Payton Award candidate. Two games into the season, Tomco was in danger of losing his position on the team.

Tomco was considered one of the most talented returning quarterbacks in the Ohio Valley Conference this season. However, he almost didn’t get the chance to keep the starting job on his team when conference play began.

The team’s chemistry became an issue as losses for SEMO started to pile up as the Indians now sit on a record of 0-5 for the season. The team also lost its first OVC game of the year when it was defeated last weekend 41-31 by Samford.

But the Indians’ loss to Samford may have been the best game they have played all year. It certainly was Tomco’s best game of the season.

After the first few games in which Tomco wasn’t completing even 50 percent of his passes and had thrown six interceptions, SEMO’s coach Tim Billings decided to turn to his back up quarterback.

Jerome McDowell took control of the SEMO offense, but did not improve the team as the Indians lost their next two games dropping their record to 0-4.

“I think the situation in which Tomco struggled did have to do with chemistry,” SEMO offensive coordinator Russ Martin said. “We thought we were only going to lose one receiver but we ended up losing three, so there’s no doubt that timing was an issue between Tomco and the new receivers.”

But the team stuck with the two quarterbacks, with Tomco and McDowell splitting time calling plays.

This took place until last Saturday when Tomco took control of the signal calling situation.

While playing against Samford, Tomco regained the skills that made him a Walter Payton Award candidate at the beginning of the year. He threw the ball 32 times and complete 23 of the passes for nearly 300 yards.

Tomco didn’t throw a touchdown in the high scoring game, but had his team deep in scoring position often.

“I sure hope the worst is past us with Jack (Tomco),” Martin said. “It’s a situation where it took him a little more time than we thought, but he has come around and I think his good play is here to stay.”

That is not good news for Eastern, who heads to SEMO this Saturday. This will be the Panthers’ first OVC game this year, and they realize now that a full-strength Jack Tomco is what they will see this weekend.

“He seems to be over whatever he was going through earlier this year,” Eastern coach Bob Spoo said.