Morgan State University Athletics

Boxscore

Bear Shots 
 
BALTIMORE, Md. – It was a great day for Morgan State's Homecoming and it was a great day for a Morgan State win.
 
Morgan State (3-3, 2-1 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) hounded Savannah State senior quarterback Alfr Defilippis all day and posted a season-high 430 yards on offense with true freshman Seth Higgins and an improving passing game.
 
With the win, the Bears extended to a 6-0 winning streak against Savannah State and improved their homecoming record to 9-1 since coach Donald Hill-Eley took the helm in 2002.
 
Higgins, making his second start of the season, completed 14-of-24 passes for 239 yards and tossed four touchdowns. 
 
“We started moving the ball around and everyone just did their job,” said Higgins, “and that's what the coaches stressed this week.”  
 
“Wide receivers made their routes and running backs blocked, making it easier for me as the quarterback to make the play. The performance last week [vs. N.C. A&T] was embarrassing, so this week I felt I needed to redeem myself, and that was showed today.”
 
Senior wideout Andre Nelson led the Bears with 116 yards and scored two touchdowns, including a 59-yarder from Higgins to open the scoring in the first quarter.
 
The Tigers (1-5, 1-2) finished with 188 yards of offense and was limited to 47 yards on the ground. MSU's defense, that came in ranked T-No. 5 in the FCS in turnovers gained, forced Defilippis into throwing three interceptions.
 
Defilippis, who completed 13-of-33 passes for 141 yards, threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Simon Heyward to help the Tigers knot the game at 7-7 (1:48).
 
Higgins connected on a 27-yard pass to senior tight end Lamont Bryant to help set up a 4-yard TD pass to sophomore wideout Chuka Okakpu. The point after by junior placekicker Ervin Gonzalez gave the Bears a 14-7 lead with 10:13 to go in the second quarter.
 
The teams traded field goals toward the end of the second quarter when an 8-play drive by the Tigers led to a 47-yard field goal by Derek Williams, and MSU's Gonzalez converted a 36-yard field goal to give the Bears a 17-10 halftime lead. 
 
MSU would go on to outscore the Tigers 28-7 in the second half.
 
Higgins hit Nelson with a 34-yard pass on a second-and-10.  Following a three-and-out by the Tigers, backup redshirt-freshman quarterback Robert Council took his first pass of the day and delivered a 52-yard touchdown strike to Bryant to give the Bears a 31-10 advantage.
 
SSU took advantage of a botched snap that flew over punter Nicholas Adams and gave the Tigers first-and-goal at the 5. On fourth and goal from the 1, Defillipis scored on a QB keeper to trim MSU's lead to 31-17.
 
MSU answered with back-to-back touchdowns. Okakpu scored on a 12-yard pass from Higgins at the beginning of the fourth quarter, and junior Travis Davidson scored on a 19-yard run to end all scoring.
 
The Bears defense racked up four sacks and was led by junior linebacker Allen Stephens who posted eight tackles and Reshaude Miller finished with seven tackles.  

BEAR NOTE:
It was the most points scored by the Bears since post a 49-7 win against North Carolina Central on September 13, 2008 at Hughes Stadium.

Donald Hill-Eley coached from the pressbox for the first time as MSU's head coach.