TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Morgan State coach Lee Hull entered tonight's contest expecting his team to be more determined than ever to play a complete 60-minute game.
 
Not only did the Bears play more focused, they also sent a statement.
 
Robert Council ran for a pair of touchdowns and Morgan State held Florida A&M to 261 yards of offense, leading to a 24-9 victory Saturday at Bragg Memorial Stadium. 
 
Herb Walker Jr. carried 22 times for 203 yards, including a touchdown as Morgan State moved to 2-1 the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and 3-3 overall.
 
Walker, who entered the game ranked in the FCS No. 4 in rushing yards and No. 8 in rushing yards per game, recorded his second 200-plus yard game of the season. He set the school's single-game record when he rushed for 271 yards at Holy Cross on Sept. 6th.
 
Council had a steady game for the Bears. The redshirt-senior quarterback was 7-of-11 for 121 yards, and had a pair of touchdown runs.
 
Florida A&M (0-5, 0-1) finished with 119 yards rushing and senior quarterback Damien Fleming threw for 117 yards (14-of-23). He was also sacked six times and was intercepted twice by MSU's junior cornerback Delonte Hall.
 
Senior strong safety Paul Eatman led the Bears defensive unit with a game-high 11 tackles, while Peterson Janvier added eight tackles. Christopher Robinson finished with nine tackles and three sacks.
 
After leading 7-3 in the first quarter, the Bears scored 14 unanswered points. Walker scored on a 5-yard run and Robert Council ran a 1-yard QB sneak to give the Bears a 21-3 halftime lead.
 
Offensively, the Rattlers were kept out of the endzone and limited to three field goals. Chase Varnadore connected on attempts from 47, 25, and booted a career-best 53-yarder that bounced off the crossbar and over for a new Florida A&M school record.
 
Freshman running back Gerald Hearns led the Rattlers' ground attack with 75 yards on 16 carries.
 
The offense started deliberately in taking the opening kickoff and driving 74 yards in eight plays.  Council's mix of short passes accounted for 68 yards on 3-of-3 passing, including a 43-yard screen pass to Walker to help setup a Council 4-yard run for the first score.
 
Florida A&M's special teams came up with a big play toward the end of the first quarter when Al Palmer-Hicks blocked a 52-yard field goal attempt by Chris Moller and Andrew Negron scooped up the ball and returned it 29 yards to the Morgan 36.
 
However, Morgan's defense stepped up and the Rattlers were forced to settle for a 47-yard field goal by Varnadore to trim the Bears lead to 7-3.

Bear Bits
 
+ Morgan State posted its largest victory against Florida A&M since defeating the Rattlers 50-0 in their first meeting in 1943 under legendary head coach Eddie P. Hurt.
 
+ It was Morgan State's first win in Tallahassee since defeating the Rattlers 13-10 on Nov. 1, 2008.
 
+ Herb Walker Jr. is only 85 rushing yards away from reaching 1,000 yards for the season.

+ The Rattlers' loss also made head coach Earl Holmes the first FAMU coach to drop five straight to start a season.