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GAME TIME
Morgan State will face the South Alabama Jaguars in the 2025 season opener on Saturday, August 30. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. The game will broadcast live on ESPN+. Additionally, the game will also be aired by WEAA, 88.9FM. This highly anticipated clash marks the first-ever meeting between the teams.
GAME COVERAGE
ESPN+ (online) Click Here | Pat Greenwood will call the play-by-play with color analyst Brian Genard.
RADIO: WEAA, 88.9 FM is the flagship station for the Morgan State Bears ... Lamont Germany will call the play-by-play with Renard Stubbs in the booth. The game will be broadcast live on 88.9 FM and streamed on WEAA.org, HSRN.com, and SiriusXM 386 and 988 on the SiriusXMmobile app.
LIVE STATS: www.usajaguars.com - here
THE SERIES
• Saturday's matchup marks the first meeting between the two schools.
• Morgan State is currently 0–9 all-time against FBS opponents.
SEASON OPENERS
• Morgan State has won back-to-back season openers and will aim for a third straight when it meets South Alabama. The Bears opened the 2023 season with a 17-10 road win at Richmond on Sept. 2 and followed with a 30-28 victory at Hampton on Aug. 31, 2024.
• Morgan State's last season-opener defeat was Sept. 3, 2022, at Georgia Southern (59-7).
• Morgan State head coach Damon Wilson holds a 2-1 record in season openers.
THE COACHES
• Damon Wilson enters his 4th season as Morgan's head coach. He previously spent 13 seasons as the head coach at Bowie State University, where he achieved three straight Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) conference championships.
• Major Applewhite enters his second season as South Alabama's head coach. Before that, he was the head coach at the University of Houston from 2017 to 2018.. As a player, he played for the Texas Longhorns from 1998 to 2001, earning All-Big 12 honors and being named the Big 12 Co-Offensive Player of the Year and Offensive Freshman of the Year.
QUICK HITS
• The 2025 Morgan State Bears are under the leadership of fourth-year head coach Damon Wilson. Wilson, the 24th coach in school history, previously served 13 seasons as the head football coach at Bowie State. There, he achieved three straight Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) conference championships in 2021, 2019, and 2018; five NCAA playoff berths; and three CIAA Coach of the Year honors.
• QB Kobe Muasau emerged from fall camp, beating out four other quarterbacks to earn the Bears' starting signal-caller role for the season. Muasau, from Honolulu, Hawaii, spent most of last season on the sidelines before making his lone appearance in the 2024 finale. He earned the start against Beltway rival Howard on November 23 at Hughes Stadium, guiding the Bears to a 35–21 victory. Muasau completed 19 of 24 passes and threw touchdown passes, while he added a 1-yard TD run as part of his five carries in his first appearance of the season.
• RB Jason Collins Jr. was named the MEAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. Collins Jr. made an immediate impact in his debut season, rushing for 634 yards and eight touchdowns on 114 carries to earn 2024 MEAC Rookie of the Year honors. His breakout performance came against Delaware State, where he exploded for a 75-yard touchdown and totaled 152 rushing yards on 24 carries. A dual-threat out of the backfield, Collins also recorded 17 receptions for 143 yards.
• Returning as the Bears' leading receiver for the 2025 season is Malique Leatherbury, a promising talent looking to build upon his previous year's experience. In 2024, he appeared in 12 games and had a stat line of 29 receptions for 250 yards. He was also one of the premier return specialists in FCS football. He earned him a spot on the All-MEAC Second Team, largely fueled by his remarkable 17.9-yard average per punt return, which ranked second-best in the entire FCS.
• Morgan has several offensive linemen as they enter the 2025 season ... The Bears have 19 OL listed on the roster and will be led by veteran center Preseason All-MEAC Second Team Daniel Casillas (6-3, 315).
• LB Erick Hunter is on the official watch list for the 2025 Buck Buchanan Award Preseason Watch List. Despite missing most of the 2024 season, he made a strong comeback in the final two games, ending the year with a standout performance against Howard that included seven tackles and one sack. Hunter, who ranks ninth on Morgan State's all-time tackles list with 196, has already proven himself as one of the top defenders in the FCS.
• Morgan State's entire kicking game returns in sophomore placekicker Sahr "Chris" Gbundema, junior Shane Messenger (6-0, 200), and junior long snapper Griffin Dorman (5-11, 225). The Bears have also added newcomer kicker Alex Amaya.
SCOUTING THE JAGUARS
• South Alabama finished the 2024 season with a 7-6 overall record and posted a 5-3 mark in Sun Belt play and defeated Western Michigan (30-23) in the IS4S Salute to Veteran Bowl in Montgomery, Ala.
• South Alabama was picked to finish second in the Sun Belt Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. The Jaguars boast five players on the All-Sun Belt Conference Preseason Teams. LB Blayne Myrick and RB Kentrel Bullock were given first-team honors. Myrick was also named the conference's Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. OL Jordan Davis, S Wesley Miller, and P Aleksi Pulkkinen all landed a spot on the league's preseason second team.
• QB Bishop Davenport completed 60% of his throws (48-79) for 604 yards and 3 TDs with 1 INT last season ... he also ranked fourth on the team in rushing with 161 yards and a TD. In South's second-straight bowl championship, he threw for 271 yards and two touchdowns on 15 completions. He also rushed for 85 yards and a touchdown against Western Michigan to help USA secure the IS4s Salute to Veterans Bowl championship. Davenport was recently named to the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Watch List.
• RB Kentrel Bullock rushed for 832 yards and seven touchdowns in 2024 while catching 15 passes for 153 yards and a score.
• LB Blayne Myrick, the Sun Belt Conference's Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, totaled 101 tackles to go with eight tackles for loss, two sacks a pick-six and a forced fumble. He is the top returning tackler in the SBC.
• S Wesley Miller made 59 tackles in 2024 and picked off three passes, one of which he returned for a touchdown.
• P Aleksi Pulkkinen averaged 40.4 yards per punt a season ago while pinning opponents inside the 20-yard line 16 times.
• South Alabama ranked among the Sun Belt Conference leaders in a number of statistical categories in 2024: No. 2 in scoring offense (34.4), No. 2 in total offense (441.8), No. 2 rush defense (142.8), No. 2 in interceptions (16), No. 5 in scoring defense (25.2), and No. 5 in pass offense (243.3).
A LOOK AHEAD
Morgan will host the Towson Tigers in the 'Battle for Greater Baltimore' matchup. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Hughes Stadium.
PRESEASON PICKED THIRD
Morgan State was picked to finish third (3rd) in the MEAC standings, according to the poll of the conference head coaches and sports information directors. Returning MEAC champion South Carolina State has been picked to win the MEAC Football Championship as the Bulldogs topped the league's annual preseason poll for 2024. North Carolina Central was tabbed to place 2nd.
BEARS OPEN 50th SEASON IN MEAC
The Bears will open their 50th season in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC ) when they travel to face Howard for the conference opener on Oct. 25.
• The Bears opened the 2024 MEAC schedule with a 16-7 loss at North Carolina Central (Oct. 26) at O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium.
• The Bears kicked off their first season in the MEAC in 1971. Morgan State withdrew from the conference at the end of the 1979-80 fiscal year, before returning to the MEAC in 1984.
PRESEASON ALL-MEAC PLAYERS
The Bears made a clean sweep of the conference's top individual honors, with standout LB Erick Hunter earning the prestigious title of Preseason MEAC Defensive Player of the Year, and RB Jason Collins Jr. securing the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year nod at the 2025 MEAC Football Press Luncheon in Baltimore, Md. Eleven (11) Bears were named to the MEAC preseason team: DL Dashawn Fields, LB Erick Hunter, DB Jadon Carter, RS Malique Leatherbury, PK Sahr Gbundema, and P Shane Messenger were first-team selections. RB Jason Collins Jr., WR Malique Leatherbury, C Daniel Casillas, OL Kahari Finley, OL Treyvon Branch, and LB Arturo Mattocks were second-team picks.
BEARS OPEN 126th SEASON OF FOOTBALL SINCE 1898
MSU enters its 126th season of football and will open the 2025 campaign under fourth-year head coach Damon Wilson.
RETURN MEN
The 2025 Morgan State Bears return 20 starters - 9 on offense, 6 on defense, and 5 on special teams.
CAMPAIGNING FOR SUCCESS
The Bears enter the 2025 season looking to post their first winning season since going 6-5 in 2009. MSU's 7-6 record in 2014 was vacated.
NON-CONFERENCE PLAY
The Bears will open the 2025 campaign with four of their first seven non-conference matchups coming on the road. MSU opens the season at South Alabama (Aug. 30), host Towson (Sept. 6), followed by a game at Toledo (Sept. 13), before returning home to face Central State (Sept. 20). Morgan will face Miles College in the Circle City Classic (Sept. 27), and round out non-conference play at Georgetown (Oct. 4) and then homecoming versus Virginia Lynchburg (Oct. 11).
MSU LEGEND EARL "PAPA BEAR" BANKS
Earl "Papa Bear" Banks was a legendary head coach at Morgan State University,
• In 1960, Banks took over the head coaching position at Morgan State from 2011 Trailblazer Award winner Edward Hurt.
• In his 14 seasons as head coach, he would lead the Bears to six CIAA titles, one CIAA Northern Division championship, and one Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title. Banks had an overall record of 96-31-2 after he retired from coaching in 1973 and produced three undefeated seasons from 1965 through 1967.
• He guided Morgan State to four bowl games, winning the 1965 Orange Blossom Classic and the 1966 Tangerine Bowl.
• He was named the American Football Coaches Association's recipient of the 2018 Trailblazer Award. The award was presented, posthumously, at the 2019 AFCA Convention in San Antonio, Texas
FOLLOW MORGAN STATE ATHLETICS IN CYBERSPACE
There are many ways to keep up with MSU athletics online and on the go:
• Visit www.morganstatebears.com, the official web site of Bears athletics, for news, schedules, stats, bios and more.
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ABOUT MORGAN
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified high research (R2) institution offering nearly 140 academic programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. As Maryland's Preeminent Public Urban Research University, and the only university to have its entire campus designated as a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Morgan serves a multiethnic and multiracial student body and seeks to ensure that the doors of higher education are opened as wide as possible to as many as possible. For more information about Morgan State University, visit www.morgan.edu.
