BALTIMORE, Maryland -- The Morgan State Bears came home in time to reestablish some things in their 21-7 victory over the Florida A&M Rattlers at Hughes Stadium. For one, the defense quickly got their groove back in allowing just 196 total yards on the afternoon. That included limiting the Rattlers to just 60 rushing yards in the game.
"The defense has been playing well all year," said Morgan State head coach Lee Hull. "I'm proud of them."
"They executed and I think they came along a lot quicker. Coach [Mike] Fanoga has done a great job of getting those guys to act as one unit. You can see by the stats that not one person is making all the plays."
The win also ended the Bears' three-game losing streak which took them out of the MEAC championship hunt. But they do have a chance to finish above .500 overall with a win next week against Norfolk State, enabling the Bears to record back-to-back seasons of above .500 overall record for the first time since 2002-2003.
The offense got themselves going again, recording 540 total yards this afternoon. MSU quarterback Moses Skillon completed 16 of 30 passes for 327 yards and one touchdown and ran seven times for 74 yards and a touchdown as well.
Florida A&M (1-9, 1-5 MEAC) opened the scoring with Kenneth Coleman throwing a 12-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Norwood with 13:20 remaining in the second quarter. This gave the Rattlers a 7-0 lead. That would wind up being the only points FAMU scored all day.
The Bears countered with a score of their own on Orlando Johnson's eight yard touchdown run with six minutes remaining. The extra point by Chris Moller tied the game at 7. The score would remain tied at halftime.
Johnson had a good day with 20 rushes for 92 yards and a touchdown.
Skillon pushed Morgan State ahead for good with his 3-yard TD run with 4:40 left in the third quarter. Moller's extra point put the Bears ahead 14-7.
The big play of the day came in the fourth quarter as a 6-yard pass play to Andrew King turned into an 83-yard big play as King dashed up and down the field to avoid tacklers, scoring a touchdown with 12:35 left in the game. The TD capped the scoring for Morgan State (4-5, 4-3 MEAC).
"We noticed that they were in man coverage, so Moses got pressure and he threw the ball right on the spot," King said about his touchdown. "I just made the play and got blockers downfield who set it up for me and I just ran it in. It's all thanks to the other 10 teammates on the field."
King had a career day by recording 6 catches for 168 yards and a touchdown.
"We've been waiting for Andrew to have a breakout game," said Hull. "Teams have been doing a lot of things to try to hold him back. He was held on this play and he got away from that, caught the ball and did a great job. The rest of the receivers did a great job of blocking for him. We're trying to get these guys to be a team that is selfless. Do your job. It doesn't matter who scores as long as you win. They're starting to get it."
The Bears close out their season next week with Senior Day at Hughes Stadium when they host the Norfolk State Spartans. Kickoff is set for 1 pm.
BOX SCORE
Photo Gallery COURTESY MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
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