Morgan State can't commit to series with Towson after 2009

Photo: MSU star RB Chad Simpson

By Ken Murray, Baltimore Sun

As dusk settled over Hughes Stadium Saturday night, Towson coach Gordy Combs made a pitch to keep alive the football rivalry with Morgan State.

And it didn't have anything to do with the fact Towson has won 15 of the past 17 meetings between the schools.

"We still have a contract for 2008 and '09, and I hope we can extend the contract for another four or five years after that," Combs said. "I think it's a great game for both teams."

It's a game of local interest, easy travel arrangements and familiar opponents. But beyond 2009, the future of the series is uncertain.

Because the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference has expanded to 10 teams this season --- and is considering further growth - the Bears are reluctant to commit to an extension.

A nine-game MEAC schedule leaves Morgan with two nonconference games each of the next three years. Morgan athletic director Floyd Kerr said discussions are ongoing in the MEAC over how the conference will reconfigure and how the schedule will be played.

"Where we are right now, we have to solve the internal part to it," Kerr said yesterday. "Are all 10 going to play each other [every year], or will we have divisional play or something else?"

Winston-Salem State, which plays at Morgan tomorrow in a game that will not count in the MEAC standings, became the 10th team in the conference last July. Other schools, such as North Carolina Central and Savannah State, also have applied.

Kerr likes the idea of extending the Towson series, but said he owes return games to Savannah and Maine in the near future.

"I think it's a good series, good for both schools, good for the community," Kerr said of the Towson rivalry. "It's all good, and in good spirit."