Morgan State 32, NC A&T 0

October 7, 2006

GREENSBORO, N.C. - For the first time this season Morgan State assumed an unfamiliar role.  They entered a contest as the prohibitive favorite.

MSU quarterback Mario Melton led the Bears with 168 yards and rushed for two touchdowns as the Bears rolled to a 32-0 victory over North Carolina A&T in front of 4,264 on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Aggie Stadium.

The win marked the first time since 1974 that the Aggies had been shutout by Morgan State.

Melton, a native of High Point (N.C.), had another solid performance for the Bears. The sophomore completed a game-high 9-of-20 passes and finished with no turnovers.

“When I first came out I was real excited,” said Melton, playing in front of local family and friends. “Coach (Donald) Hill told me to calm down and relax and let the game come to me, and that’s what I did.”

Both teams went scoreless early on before Morgan State ran off 18 points in the 2nd quarter to begin the landslide win.

Jonathan Skeete booted a 38-yard field goal to cap an 11-play, 59 yard drive to score the Bears first points of the game at the 14:42 mark.

Midway through the quarter, A&T quarterback Wayne Campbell threw an errant pass after being chased out of the pocket by defensive end Temi Omotade. Remarkably, Omotade followed the ball downfield and arrived just in time to catch the deflected pass for the second interception of his career.

The turnover setup the Bears’ offense at the A&T 41 yardline. On the first play of the possession, Melton hooked-up with teammate Rodrick Wolfe for a 37-yard lighting strike to the Aggies’ 4. Two plays later junior running back Chad Simpson powered in from 1 yard out. The Bears two-point conversion failed and left the Aggies trailing 9-0 with 6:02 remaining until halftime.

The Bears next score was on special teams when A&T punter Lee Woodson received a poor snap from center, and was forced to boot the ball through his own endzone. The resulting safety pushed the Bears’ lead to 11-0.

A&T’s ensuing kickoff left the Bears time for one more drive before the break, and Melton made the most of it.

On 2nd and 10 from the Bears’ 27 yardline, Melton took a QB draw and turned it into a 44-yard dash down the sideline.

Melton went on to complete a 19-yard pass to Edwin Baptiste to move the Bears to the Aggies’ 13. Two plays later, Melton hooked up with Wolfe for 12-yard TD strike in the back of the endzone to give the Bears a commanding 18-0 halftime lead.

Wolfe finished with a game-high four receptions for 66 yards. The 12-yard score was the junior’s 5th career touchdown.

The Bears defense continued to dominate the Aggies’ offense throughout the second half and Melton ended up rushing for two more touchdowns in the 3rd quarter to end all scoring.

The win redefines the Bears as a legitimate contender in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference race, and it should also serve notice that MSU is developing into one of the most dominant defenses in the conference.

The Bears (3-3, 2-1 MEAC) defense was tremendous and didn’t take long to show its superiority to a struggling A&T program. MSU’s defensive unit held the Aggies to just 63 rushing yards and 148 total yards.

The last time Morgan State held an opponent to under 150 yards of total offense was in 2005 when they held Howard to 120 yards.

A&T quarterbacks Wayne Campbell and Herbert Miller combined for 7-of-20 passes for just 85 yards.

MSU also forced a season-high five turnovers (3 INTs, 2 fumbles) to hand A&T (0-5, 0-3 MEAC) their worst loss of the season.

MSU will square-off with the Howard next Saturday during the Bison’s Homecoming festivities.

BEAR BITS

The game marked somewhat of a homecoming for defensive coordinator Alonzo Lee and offensive coordinator Chennis Lee, both of whom were former Aggie coaches last year.

FS Kendall Jackson had an 18-yard interception return in the 2nd quarter.

DE Terrell Floyd finished with an interception and a tackle for loss.

The last time Morgan State pitched a shutout was during the 2005 season against Howard? they beat the Bison 7-0 at Hughes Stadium.

Morgan State limited North Carolina A&T to just eight (8) first downs.

Earl Johnson recorded a season-best 52 yard punt, his previous best was a 50 yard punt against Hampton this season.