Morgan State University Athletics

The Results
·  The Bears (4-6, 3-4 MEAC) winning streak was snapped as they fell to S.C. State, 38-35, in overtime in front of over 5,000 Bulldog fans. The Bears were led by MEAC Player of the Year candidate Bradshaw Littlejohn. “Big Show” accounted for three touchdowns and led the Bears to 625 yards of total offense.  Bradshaw completed 32-of-58 passes for 392 yards and rushed for 88 yards. He tossed two touchdowns, including a 52-yarder, and rushed for a touchdown.

·  Texas Southern has posted an 0-10 record under 1^st year head coach Steve Wilson. The Tigers are ranked last in the Southwestern Athletic Conference standings, and are coming off a 28-0 loss against conference opponent Southern University. The Tigers enter Saturday’s match-up against Morgan State attempting to break into the win column for the first time this season.

·  MSU’s Bradshaw Littlejohn improved upon his career highlight tape last week against South Carolina State. Bradshaw completed 32-of-58 passes for 392 yards and rushed for 88 yards. He accounted for three touchdowns (2 passing & a rushing), including a 6-yard touchdown run.  He helped the Bears’ offense finish with 625 yards as the Bears fell short in overtime to S.C. State 38-35. As a result of his performance Littlejohn earned MEAC Player of the Week Honorable Mention.  Littlejohn remains atop the national rankings: scoring (4^th 10.6/gm) and total offense (6^th 314.7/gm); and atop the MEAC rankings: 1^st passing 236.4/gm), 1^st scoring, 1^st scoring TDs (10.6), 1^st total offense, rushing (6^th 77.8/gm) and pass efficiency (5^th 92.9). He continues to be a legitimate candidate for MEAC Player of the Year and All-American honors.  

Series Notes -- Bears & Tigers

·  Saturday's game marks the 5^th meeting between the Bears and Tigers. The series began in 1969 when Texas Southern came away with a 44-20 decision.  Texas Southern leads the all-time series 3-1-0.

·  Saturday’s game will mark Donald Hill-Eley’s first match-up against Texas Southern.

·  Morgan State wideout Kelvin Dickens enjoyed a productive day, as he recorded 5 receptions for 65 yards to help the Bears comeback efforts against S.C. State. Much like QB Bradshaw Littlejohn, Dickens may well be on his way toward becoming an All-American selection. The speedster has been torching opponent secondary units all season and is currently ranked No. 11 in I-AA (#1 in the MEAC) in receiving yards per game (98.90/game). Through 9 games, Dickens has racked up 45 catches for 989 yards with 5 touchdowns.  The junior just needs 11 yards to reach the 1,000 yard mark!

Quick Hits, Week Eleven

·  With its loss against South Carolina State, Morgan State dropped its overall record under Hill-Eley to 17-16.

·  Morgan State wideout Tommy Manus has been productively quiet throughout the 2004 campaign. Manus (WR, 6-4, 210, Sr. Dallas, TX) tied a school record with a game-high 12 receptions for 109 yards in the Bears loss against South Carolina State and so far this season, “Taco” has collected a team-high 58 catches for 589 yards with five touchdowns...he only needs five more catches to set a new school record for most receptions in a single season. The senior is ranked No. 12 in 1-AA (1^st  in the MEAC) in receptions per game (5.8/game) and 7^th in the MEAC in reception yards (53.9/avg). NFL.com has the senior wideout tabbed as one to watch when draft day comes around.

·  A second look at the stat sheet for Morgan State’s last game against Texas Southern shows that the Bears’ defense held the Tigers ground game to just 79 yards and the offense finished with 266 total yards. RB Thomas Sieh finished with 77 yards on 9 carries with a touchdown and Leon Clark added 22 yards.  The Tigers averaged 2.1 yards per carry.

·  The Bears succeeded running against the Tigers in their own right, averaging 3.9 yards per carry and finished the game with 147 yards on the ground led by RB Fred Jenkins. Jenkins recorded a game-high 84 yards on 12 carries with a touchdown. QB Willie McGirt had a solid night as he completed 12-of-21 passes for 215 yards, including 3 TDs. WR Anthony Collins finished with a game-high 106 yards and a TD.

·    Morgan State enters the Texas Southern game averaging 36.6 points per game, while the Tigers are scoring 6.1 ppg.

·  Through 10 games in `04, the Bears are averaging 218.3 yards per game on the ground and are ranked No. 4 in the MEAC in rushing offense. Rookie sensation Jason Jackson is leading the way for the Bears ground attack. “Action” has recorded a whopping six 100-yard games and leads MSU with 172 carries for 972 yards including 7 touchdowns. He leads the MEAC in rushing by averaging an incredible 121.5 yards per game, ranking him No. 7 in 1-AA. Last week he recorded 145 yards on 14 carries against South Carolina State who entered the game with one of the best defenses in the nation.

Scouting the Tigers

·  The ‘Dawgs are 0-10 (0-7 SWAC) after last weekend's 28-0 loss at Southern. The Tigers are ranked last in the SWAC.

·  Texas Southern’s last victory was October 25, 2003 when they defeated Mississippi Valley State 30-17 in overtime. The Tigers are currently on a 13-game losing streak.

·  The Tigers are averaging 142.3 yards of offense per game and allowing 357.7 yards per game to its opposition. The one area the team has not struggled is in kickoff returns.  The Tigers are averaging 18.0 yards per return.  The Tigers are ranked last in the MEAC in scoring offense (6.1), last in scoring defense (31.8), last in rushing offense (63.6) and in rushing defense (215.7).

·  The Tigers offense is led by QB Tino Edgecombe (118-45, 0 TDs, 11 INTs, 56.6 avg.), RB Raymond Gilmore (137-399, 2.9 avg., 1 TDs), RB Jason Walker (32-145, 4.5 avg., 0 TDs), WR Tyrone Reed (14-201, 14.4 avg., 0 TDs) and WR Raymond Gilmore (14-13, 1.3 avg., 0 TDs).  

·  On defense, Texas Southern is led by DB Stacey Thomas (94 tackles (46 solo, 9.5 TFLs, 3 FR), LBs Robert Thomas (93 tackles (43 solo) 8.5 TFLs, 1.5 sacks, 1 INT), and Fredicc Brock (71 tackles (33 solo), 8.5 TFLs, 3 sacks, 6 QBH, 1 FR).