Paxton DeLaurent makes history in dominant win over TTU

Senior quarterback Paxton DeLaurent made history on Oct. 12, breaking SEMO’s all-time passing yards and passing touchdowns record against Tennessee Tech University.

DeLaurent surpassed Jason Liley’s 1992 record of 6,179 career passing yards on the first drive of the game.

In the second quarter, he broke the all-time passing touchdown record with a pass to junior wide receiver Tristan Smith, surpassing Daniel Santacaterina’s previous mark of 46 touchdowns.

DeLaurent finished the game with a career-high 418 yards and four touchdowns, earning his fourth Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week honor this season. His performance also pushed the Redhawks to No. 8 in the FCS national rankings.

As impressive as the awards were, DeLaurent said his focus during the game was solely on winning.

“I think I didn't enjoy it as much in the moment, because with the two interceptions coming before that, I was kind of frustrated and down and just trying to focus on winning the game. But afterwards, my family was here, and we got to celebrate together, and that was just a great moment,” DeLaurent said.

DeLaurent credited his work ethic and mindset as keys to his success, reflecting on his journey from NAIA to SEMO.

“I think just getting better each day (lead me to this record). I just talked with my family, and four years ago, I was a NAIA quarterback, unrecruited, and I just got better each day. And it's a lot like this team has gotten better each day. And you start to see that over years. You catch people, you start to get better,” DeLaurent said.

Head coach Tom Matukewicz emphasized that while the records are personal achievements, they reflect the strength of the entire team.

“It's really a team award, right? He's not throwing the ball to himself, right? He's not blocking for himself. And it says a lot about this team to be able to put those kinds of stats up, because that is a true stat. I'm sure it'll mean even more in 10 years from now when you think about the history that was written in 2024,” Matukewicz said.

DeLaurent echoed this statement, highlighting the impact of his teammates on his success.

“Playing with great teammates (helped me a lot). Even if I go back to my school at CMU, I played with a four time All-American receiver, and put up good numbers with him, and then getting to play with Johnny, Ryan, and Dorian, and Tristan this year, and Vic, just so many great players. I played with Cam, Mitch, like you can go on and on, you can't even list them all. I've been blessed to be around a lot of great people and a lot of great mentors,” DeLaurent said.

With this goal achieved, DeLaurent now has his eyes set on bigger things, for both himself and also his team as a whole.

“I wrote down [before the season] to be the Walter Payton too, and to lead this team to a conference championship and then to a national championship. [These are] the four goals I had before the season, and they're all ahead of us, so we just have to keep focusing and getting better,” DeLaurent said.

The Redhawks aim to take another step toward the OVC championship on Oct. 19, when they face Charleston Southern at 3 p.m. in Charleston S.C.