The Morgan State Bears headed up to Dover yesterday to take on a Delaware State team that was ego-battered and body-bruised from its Michigan catastrophe of a week ago. At stake was sustained seat atop the MEAC standings, and heightened respect among uncertain Bears’ faithful who are too used to the annual MSU Fall meltdown.
To both teams’ credit no one came away disappointed. The Hornets won their homecoming in convincing fashion 35-22, and the Bears got started on their plummet out of the MEAC championship race.
The strangest part of this game is that the Bears played well enough to win. They blocked two punts, tied a MEAC record with a 55-yard field goal, and traded touchdowns in the late stages of the second quarter before conceding a 21-12 halftime lead.
Then came the third quarter drama.
A touchdown pass allowed here, an interception TD return there, MSU players fighting each other on the sidelines, and before the Bears even regrouped to score again, the Hornets would have all of the points they would need to win the game.
There’s no way an objective fans could look at Morgan’s body of work up to yesterday and believe that they were a championship team. They began their season against tomato cans near and far, and will finish it against the juggernauts. Delaware State has a good quarterback in Anthony Glaud and an offense that keeps them competitive against MEAC foes, but by no means is any team in the conference checking for the Hornets the rest of the way.
Remaining on the Bears’ schedule are home games against FAMU and Norfolk State, and road games against South Carolina State and Hampton. They didn’t look horrific against the Hornets, but if stats don’tt lie, then it will be an ugly truth for MSU over the next four weeks:
A 6-5 overall record, a 4-4 conference posting, and yet another year of promise come tumbling down.
