The Morgan State Bears (1-5, 1-2) are coming off their first win of the season from homecoming, defeating the Savannah State Tigers 48-28.
Bears quarterback Elijah Staley had his best game of the season against the Tigers tossing three touchdowns, for 220 yards and zero interceptions.
Senior running back Eric Harrell ran for 114 yards and a touchdown. The win against Savannah State gave the Bears offensive unit some positives. It was the second game of the season where Staley didn’t turn the ball over (he has thrown nine interceptions so far this season) and it also marked the first game a running back ran for over 100 yards.
The team is averaging a dismal 2.8 yards per attempt rushing. The Bears defense has been the team’s backbone. The Bears rank T-No. 1 in tackles for loss (59) and rank No. 14 in passing yards allowed (168.3). The defense will need to keep up their impressive play, Staley has to keep the turnovers to a minimum and the running game will need to be existent again in order to beat the Howard University Bison.
Howard (3-3, 2-1) is coming off a win against Delaware State University where they scored 35 points in the second half to cruise to a 52-23 victory. HU’s offense is led by freshman sensation Caylin Newton. He is the younger brother of NFL quarterback Cam Newton. The Bison’s signal caller has completed 76-of-141 passes for 1,319 yards, with seven touchdowns and eight interceptions. He also leads the Bison in rushing with 89 carries for 479 yards and seven touchdowns. He ranks No. 1 in the MEAC in total offense at 299.7 yards per game.
Howard’s running back Anthony Philyaw is averaging 73 rushing yards with four touchdowns. The 6-1, 205-pound senior has 438 yards on 83 carries and has eight receptions for 100 yards and a TD. Receivers Kyle Anthony, Jequez Ezzard and Guy Lemonier Jr. lead the Bison air attack. Anthony has 18 catches for 323 yards (17.9 avg) and three touchdowns and Ezzard has 10 catches for 319 yards and a touchdown. Lemonier has 236 yards on 15 receptions, including a touchdown.
The match-up will kick off in Greene Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 21 at 1 p.m. and will be televised by SPORTSFever Television. This is the homecoming game for Howard University.
