Bear Shots | Highlights

BALTIMORE, Md. -- The debut game of Morgan State interim head coach Fred T. Farrier wasn't what he hoped for.

The Bears hung in there early and often in the first half. But the mistakes Morgan State made multiplied in their 51-24 loss to Holy Cross at Hughes Stadium this afternoon. 

"It's always tough to lose the first game of the season," said Farrier. "There are some good things that we did. Some things we definitely have to clean up. We had way too many pre-snap penalties. There were too many unforced errors. We had way too many penalties to have a chance to beat a good football team." 

It was a back and forth affair early. Holy Cross (1-0) got on the board first on Gabe Guild's five yard touchdown run to get on top 7-0 with 11:22 remaining in the first quarter. The Bears answered back with Alex Raya's 22-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 7-3 with 4:45 left. Then Orlando Johnson scored the first of his two touchdowns on the day with a 13-yard run up the middle with 29 seconds left. That run gave Morgan State the lead at 10-7.

It didn't take long for the Crusaders to fight back as quarterback Peter Pujals threw the first of his three touchdowns to Flaherty Brend for a 17-yard score with 13:33 remaining in the second quarter. That score helped give Holy Cross a 14-10 advantage. 

Pujals completed 22 of 38 passes for 240 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions on the day. 

Morgan struck back by ending a 12-play drive with a one yard touchdown run by Orlando Johnson with 9:28 left in the first half to give the Bears a 17-14 lead.

"Orlando Johnson did some really good things," said Farrier about his senior running back. "We were excited to get Herb [Walker] back, and one of the good things for us is we have three running backs that are pretty good. They're all pushing each other. They're really good friends with each other. As coaches, we have to find a way to mix it up and get all those guys touches. The guy who has the hot hand may change from game to game. Orlando did a phenomenal job stepping in."

Johnson carried the ball 10 times for 72 yards and two touchdowns on the day, including 209 all-purpose yards for Morgan State (0-1).

It got ugly from there as Holy Cross scored 30 unanswered points. It started with a botched snap at the Morgan 8 yard line that sailed out of the endzone for a safety, cutting the Bears' advantage to 17-16 with five minutes left in the first half. 

The Bears turned the ball over twice in the game. But it was the penalties that hurt the Bears the most as they were called for 14 of them for 115 yards compared to only five for 50 yards for Holy Cross. 

The Bears pressured Pujals for most of the first half forcing those two interceptions.

"Pujals is one of the premier quarterbacks in this level," Farrier said. "I thought our defensive coaches had a really good game plan in terms of identifying what we thought he would do. A lot of the things we wanted to keep in front [of us] and tackle. When we were tackling, we had it under control. When we got a little bit fatigued, or whatever happened, we started missing tackles and it became a little more explosive."

The run ended when Ladarious Spearman (5 rec., 83 yds) caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Chris Andrews with 9:10 remaining in the game to cut the deficit to 44-24.

Andrews completed his quarterback debut for the Bears by completing 21-of-34 passes for 228 yards, including a TD and an interception.

Diquan Walker ended the scoring with a 61-yard TD run 15 seconds later on the first play of Holy Cross' drive.

Next up for the Bears is a stiffer challenge as they travel to Huntington, West Virginia to take on FBS foe Marshall next Saturday night at 6 pm.

Bear Notes
Sophomore Tra' Revell notched his first career start at cornerback for the Bears
 
Senior RB Orlando Johnson scored a pair of TDs against Holy Cross to bring his career rushing TDs to nine (9)

Senior WR Ladarious Spearman recorded his first TD reception since the 2014 season
 
The Bears recorded a pair of interceptions (Darius Johnson, Eric Alvis Jr.)

Junior WR Damare Whitaker led the Bears with nine tackles and had a QB hurry, while Deadrick Jones added eight stops and a pass breakup

The Bears were their own worst enemy Saturday against Holy Cross committing 14 penalties for 115 yards

The last time the Bears allowed 50 or more points at Hughes Stadium was on Oct. 2, 2010 when Bethune-Cookman recorded a 69-32 win