Bear Shots

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Morgan State arrived in Colorado Springs squarely behind the eight ball. They were short-handed, had never defeated a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent, and had to defend the dreaded Triple-Option.

Air Force recorded a convincing 63-7 win over the Bears at Falcon Stadium Saturday afternoon. It marked the worst loss for MSU's second year head coach Lee Hull, and it was the most points surrendered by the Bears since a 58-17 loss at Western Kentucky in 2013.

"Air Force is a great team and if you come here short-handed, this is what is going to happen," Hull said.

The star of the game was running back D.J. Johnson, who ran for a game-high 82 yards on just 11 carries and scored a touchdown. He was one of 16 Falcons who had carries on the day. The Falcons would total 394 yards on the ground to overwhelm the Bears, who finished with 53 yards on 34 carries.

Redshirt senior quarterback Moses Skillon was one of the few bright spots for the Bears, depite the outcome. Skillon completed 13 of 25 passes for 142 yards, however he was sacked five times and had an interception returned by Roland Ladipo 22-yards for a touchdown.

Air Force would see Jalen Robinette connect with Nate Romine on a 26-yard playaction pass over the middle for a touchdown to open the scoring at 7-0 with 9:59 remaining in the first quarter. From that point forward the Falcons took control of the game.  Including Romine's touchdown, Air Force would scored 28 straight points to put the game out of reach.

Romine went 4 for 7 and threw for 119 yards and two touchdowns.

Skillon scored on a 2-yard run to cap a 7-play, 62 yard drive for the Bears. The extra point by Chris Moller trimmed the Falcons lead to 28-7 at the half. 

The second half was a blur. The Falcons scored 28 points in the third quarter, and Timothy McVey capped the game with a 31-yard sweep with 10:22 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The most negative aspect of the day for the Bears were the penalties. The Bears, who were one of the least penalized teams a season ago, committed nine penalties which cost them 55 yards on the day.

Morgan State, now 0-1 on the season, will travel next week to face FCS power Illinois State. The game will be at 6:30 p.m.

Bear Notes:

The Bears had a couple of players who were ruled academically ineligible.

MSU had nine (9) players making their first career starts.

Sophomore linebacker Damare Whitaker led the Bears defense with eight tackles.

Air Force's Garrett Brown had a 75-yard punt return for a touchdown in the second quarter (8:35). It marked the first punt return for a TD against the Bears since 2008 versus South Carolina State.

It was the first time the Bears football program had ever played in the thin air of Colorado.

The game marked the season-opener for the 2015 season and it came with all the pageantry you would expect from one of America's top military forces. Parachute drops, a jet flyby and pushups by the cadets after each Falcon score…315 total pushups.