Gamenotes
MEAC Teleconference Transcript
MSU (0-2) at Liberty (1-1)
Saturday, Sept. 14, 2013 – 7 p.m. ET
Williams Stadium (19,200)
Lynchburg, Va.
THE BROADCASTS
Radio: WEAA (88.9 FM) is the flagship station for the Morgan State. Lamont Germany will call the play-by-play and Kelvin Bridgers will provide color analysis.
GAME TIME
The Bears (0-2) will travel to take on Liberty on Saturday (Sept. 14) in Lynchburg (Va.) for the Flames' annual Hall of Fame game. Liberty, a member of the Big South conference, are led by head coach Turner Gill, who is in his second season at the helm for the Flames. Liberty (1-1) will enter the contest coming off of an impressive 45-15 home victory against Monmouth last Saturday. Morgan State looks to rebound from a 31-14 road loss against Robert Morris. Donald Hill-Eley, ranked third among winning coaches at MSU, enters his 12th year as head coach of the Bears. Game time at Williams Stadium is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be available to watch through ESPN3 online (
http://es.pn/MORGvsLIB) and through mobile devices. The game will also be broadcast live by WEAA, 88.9 FM.
THE BEARS-FLAMES MATCHUP
• Morgan State and Liberty will meet for the fourth time in history - The Flames lead the series 2-1 since 1992.
• The game will mark the Bears' first trip to Lynchburg since 1995 ... MSU suffered a 48-19 loss under coach Ricky Diggs.
• LAST MEETING (Sept. 21, 1996) -- Behind quarterback Otis Covington's 367 yards of total offense, Morgan State slid past Liberty, 34-28, in overtime before a crowd of 1,558. The Bears improved to 2-1 for the season, it was their first winning record in seven seasons and second in a span of 14 years.
ABOUT THE FLAMES
• Liberty head coach Turrner Gill enters his 2nd year guiding the Flames and currently holds a 7-6 record, and a 32-55 career record.
• The Flames (1-1) on the season after a 45-15 rout against non-conference opponent Monmouth last Saturday in Lynchburg, Va.
• Liberty finished the 2012 season with a 6-5 overall record and went 5-1 in the League the fourth consecutive year and shared the Big South Conference championship.
• The Liberty University football team was selected to finish second place in the Big South Conference, voted on by Big South head coaches and media panel.
• LU returns 18 starters from last year's championship team.
QUICK HITS
• MSU will enter the 2013 season with a number of veterans ... the Bears' roster includes
12 seniors and
15 juniors.
• The Bears return its top receiver from last season in
Andrew King ... King, a Columbia (Md.) product, had 25 catches for 334 yards (13.4) and scored a pair of touchdowns as a true sophomore.
• The Bears backfield lost All-MEAC running back Travis "Juice" Davidson to graduation, however the backfield is loaded with talented young players like
Lamont Brown III,
Herb Walker,
Tracy Martin and
Orlando Johnson who will compete for the starting RB spot.
• The returning quarterback duo of
Seth Higgins and
Robert Council combined for 1,560 passing yards (140-of-301) and five touchdowns in 2012.
•
Joe Rankin returns as a shutdown cornerback for the Bears and finished with 46 tackles and lead the MEAC with five picks in 2012.
• NT
Demarco Bisbee leads a defensive line unit that returns 10 lettermen from last season ... Bisbee posted 41 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and
3.5 sacks in 2012.
• LB
Christopher Robinson was among the league leaders with 13.5 tackles for loss (No. 4), to go along with 40 tackles and 8.5 sacks.
•
Chris Flowers helped lead the Bears to a No. 1 ranking in the MEAC in kickoff return avearge (23.0 avg) and his 27.8 kick return average ranked No. 8 in the FCS last season.
• The Bears added four new coaches to the 2013 staff ... the new coaches are:
Jerry Holmes (DC),
Greg Gregory (OC),
LeAndre Creamer (DB) and
Marcus Gladden (OL).
FLAGWORK
The Bears will look to cut down on their penalties ... the Bears have been penalized 20 times (73 yds) in the first two games.
IMPRESSIVE DEBUT
• Morgan State recorded 301 yards of total offense on 62 plays and committed zero turnovers.
• The Bears gained 185 rushing yards on 52 carries … it marked the most rushing attempts by the Bears since 2008 when they finished with 51 carries versus Hampton.
• Redshirt-freshman RB
Lamont Brown III started in his first career game and finished with 75 yards on 19 carries against Army.
• RB
Herb Walker gained 56 yards on 10 carries, including an 18-yard run in the 4
th quarter. Freshman RB
Orlando Johnson added 11 yards on three carries.
• True freshman QB
Ricky Fisk had two runs during his first action in the Blue & Orange.
•
Lawrence Forbes made a strong debut for the Bears at Army. The redshirt-freshman averaged 44 yards on four punts, including a 63-yard blast. All four of his punts landed inside of the 20 yardline.
• True freshman LB
Isaiah Lewis posted five tackles
• Redshirt-sophomore LT
Daniel Owuegbu had a solid showing in his first career start with the Bears.
• Junior LB
Cody Acker recorded the first double-digit tackle total (10) and also recorded the Bears' first sack of the season.
• Senior WR
Chris Flowers was on the receiving end of a 22-yard touchdown pass from junior
Robert Council.
• QB
Moses Skillon made his collegiate debut against the Robert Morris Colonials … the redshirt-freshman completed 9-of-18 passes for 207 yards, including a pair of TD throws to WR
Andrew King.
11 FIRST-TIME STARTERS
Eleven Bears made their first starts Saturday at Army. On offense, LT
Daniel Onwuegbu, LG
Dominique Woods, FB
Dionte Holland, RB
Lamont Brown III and SE
Thomas Martin all experienced their first start. And on defense four Bears were first-time starters: defensive linemen
Andrew Mitchell, Heleaince Gates, LBs
Ta'Quon Jackson and
Bill Hill. On special teams, punter
Lawrence Forbes and placekicker
Chris Moller.
