Morgan State 23, South Carolina State 12

ORANGEBURG, S.C. - For the third week in a row, offensive miscues and poor run defense spelled doom for the South Carolina State University. The Bulldogs took a 23-12 loss to the Morgan State University Golden Bears, Saturday.

“We got beat. I wish I could come with some reason why,” SCSU head football coach Oliver ‘Buddy’ Pough said following the loss. “I thought they pushed us around and we didn’t execute and make things happen.”

The S.C. State offense had one of their poorest outings of the season totaling just 194 yards of offense. The Bulldog passing game was especially ineffective producing just 49 yards through the air.

“I’m more frustrated for our kids that we can’t come up with something as a staff to help them,” Pough said. “This is a tough thing when you know that you’ve really got some talent … and we continue to shoot ourselves in the foot.”

For the second week in a row, the Bulldogs fell victim to a record-setting performance by the opposing running back. Morgan State University running back T.J. Stallings ran 45 times for 177 yards. Stallings set a single-season record for rushing yards in a season (1,048) and rushing attempts in a game (44).

The two teams appeared to head in opposite directions in the contest as Morgan State converted 11 of 19 third-down conversions while the Bulldogs were one-of-three on third down conversions and two-of-five on fourth down conversions.

“The bottom line was that they seemed to be able to convert them [third downs] and we couldn’t stop them,” Pough added.

After the opening SCSU drive shut down for just 32 yards and ended with a punt, the Golden Bears drove their first possession of the game 72 yards and came away with a 34-yard field goal by Jon Voroshilin to take a 3-0 lead with 1:24 left in the first quarter.

An S.C. State fumble by running back Trevin Smith gave Morgan State their second possession of the game on the SCSU 33-yard line. Three plays later, Stallings scored Morgan State’s first touchdown of the game on a 5-yard run with 10:17 left in the half.

Both teams remained scoreless until the third quarter, when S.C. State quarterback Reese McCampbell scampered 59 yards for the first SCSU score of the game. The Guy Depalo extra point attempt failed for a 13-6 score in the game.

Morgan State responded with a 12-play 78-yard drive for their second TD of the game with 3:07 left in the third quarter. Stallings drove the ball in from five yards out. The PAT failed.

The Bulldogs had the final score of the contest late in the fourth quarter with a 16-yard TD pass from McCampbell to freshman wideout Chris Burgess. The Bulldog PAT failed to leave a final score of 23-12.

Bulldog quarterback Reese McCampbell set a single-season record for passing yards in a season (1,759) and is two touchdowns of a single-season record for touchdowns.

S.C. State (6-5, 4-3 MEAC) will end their season in Atlanta, taking on the North Carolina A&T Aggies in the Peach State Classic, held at the Georgia Dome at 4:00 p.m. Morgan State (6-5, 4-3) will next face Hampton in both teams’ season-finale.

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