Morgan State University Bears will face Stony Brook University tomorrow and hope to build on their 56-7 victory over Virginia University of Lynchburg last weekend.
The Bears will play the 3-1 Seawolves in Long Island, New York, on Sept. 28.
First-time head coach Billy Cosh took on Stony Brook after the team finished the 2023 season 0-10.
“Stony Brook does not resemble the zero-win team of last year in any way,” Morgan head coach Damon Wilson said. “First year Coach Cosh and his staff have breathed new life into the program. We are going to have to be at our best to compete with those guys this weekend.”
Both teams go into the matchup with the momentum of the wins from the week prior — Stony Brook winning 24-17 against the Campbell University Camels on Sept. 21.
The Seawolves’ offense has established their ground game with senior running back Roland Dempster — who leads the Coastal Atlantic Association (CAA) in rushing yards this season and is eighth in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) league with 427 yards.
Morgan’s defense allows the fewest points per game of any team in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) holding teams to an average of 17.5 points per game.
“We really seen that they like to run the ball a lot. Last week, they ran the ball 40-50 times,” sophomore cornerback Ja’son Prevard said. “They rely on the run game a lot. They have a young quarterback so really the goal is to capitalize on his mistakes and stop the run.”
The Bears offense holds the second-highest ppg average in the MEAC conference at 25.3 ppg. However, the Bears are also in the bottom ranks for total passing yards and have the lowest average per game.
Senior wide receiver Marquez Phillips said he expects the Bears passing offense to have a key impact in this matchup.
“This week we’re trying to exploit their boundary corners because they play pretty weak, if you give them something they’ll open up pretty fast,” said Phillips. “We just focused on attacking leverages and really getting into our blocking assignments.”
The Seawolves are riding high after losing their opening game to a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Marshall Thundering Herd team, they have rattled off three straight victories heading into this matchup.
After dropping two games to Towson University and Ohio University, the Bears returned to the win column after dominating Virginia University.
The Bears are scheduled to play the Stony Brook Seawolves later today at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. EST.
