20 MSU
59 NCCU
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSU | 7 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 20 |
| NCCU | 14 | 28 | 7 | 10 | 59 |
After smacked around by Campbell 48-13 on Saturday, questions arose around the North Carolina Central Eagle football team, such as “Are they as good as they as many prognosticated?’ and “How would Central come out against a-better-than-we thought Morgan State team?” In the first half the Eagles answered both those questions emphatically, particularly in the first half as they came out of the locker room razor sharp, scoring on 6 of their possessions. The Eagles put 42 on the Bears in the opening 30 minutes of the first half en route to a 59-20 spanking of Morgan State Thursday night inside of O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium.
Central got right to works taking the opening kickoff and getting in the endzone just six plays and 2:46 later when Davius Richard found E.J. Hicks on a 31-yard touchdown pass to give the Eagles an early 7-0 advantage. Following a Morgan State three-and-out, Richard and the NCCU offense marched 65-yards in 8 plays, getting back in the end zone when Richard tossed his seecond touchdown , a 7-yard score to Devin Smith to put the Eagles up 14-0.
Keith Jenkins, Jr’s 71-yard return on the ensuing kickoff set the Morgan State offense up at the NC Central 28-yard line. Two plays later Morgan got on the board when Carson Baker hit a streaking Andre Crawley on a 33-yard touchdown strike to cut the deficit in half at 14-7.
The Eagles answered right back with a 15-play, 64 yard drive that included three third-down conversions and a fourth down conversion, ending with another Richard touchdown, this one coming via an 11-yard run to put Central up 21-7. Another Morgan three-and-out put the NC Central offense back on the field just 71 seconds later, and they needed only four plays to put even more points on the board when Richard scampered 42-yards to paydirt, expanding the Eagles lead to 28-7.
Jenkins Jr. finished what he started on the previous kickoff, taking it 96-yards to the house, but the PAT was unsuccessful leaving the score 28-13.
On Central’s next possession , Latrell Collier’s 42-yard run set the Eagle offense up at Bear 6-yard line; Collier got in the endzone on the next play to extend the advantage to 35-13.
Morgan State put together an 11-play, 69-yard drive but came away empty-handed, when they were unable to convert a 4th and 2 from the NC Central 18.
The Eagles scored with 30 seconds to go in the half, capping a 5-play, 90-yard drive with Richard’s third passing td, and fifth overall, of the first half, this one being a 3-yard toss to Devin Smith to take the score 42-13 headed into intermission.
Davius Richard had 174 yards passing, 66 rushing yards and 5 total TDs in the first half; he would end the game with 217 passing yards and 6 total touchdowns (4 passing and 2 rushing).
Richard’s sixth touchdown of the evening , a 12-yard pass to J’Mari Taylor put a nail in the competitive portion of the evening and ended Richard’s night, as sophomore signal caller Harris Walker entered the contest.
A 23-yard field goal from Adrian Olivo, a Chris Mosley 17-yard run and a 1-yard run from Morgan State’s Duce Taylor ended the scoring for each team, respectively, bringing the game to its final count of 59-20.
Morgan State travels to Newark, Delaware on October 22 to take the Hens of the University of Delaware; kickoff is set at 3:00 PM EST.
North Carolina Central hits the road, heading to Orangeburg, SC to face defending MEAC and Black College National Champions, South Carolina State; kickoff is set for noon EST.
Team Statistics
| Game Stats | MSU | NCCU |
|---|---|---|
| Total Yards | 259 | 530 |
| Pass Yards | 139 | 238 |
| Rushing Yards | 120 | 292 |
| Penalty Yards | 6-69 | 4-35 |
| 1st Downs | 13 | 27 |
| 3rd Downs | 2-10 | 11-17 |
| 4th Downs | 0-1 | 2-2 |
| TOP | 21:02 | 38:58 |
| 1ST QUARTER | ||
|---|---|---|
 12:14 – NCCU – Hicks, E.J. 31 yd pass from Richard, Davius (Olivo, Adrian kick) 6 plays, 71 yards, TOP 2:46 | 0 | 7 |
| 06:05 – NCCU – Smith, Devin 7 yd pass from Richard, Davius (Olivo, Adrian kick) 8 plays, 65 yards, TOP 4:30 | 0 | 14 |
 05:41 – MSU – Crawley, Andre 33 yd pass from Baker, Carson (Leary, Beckett kick) 2 plays, 28 yards, TOP 0:13 | 7 | 14 |
| 2ND QUARTER | ||
| 13:13 – NCCU – Richard, Davius 11 yd run (Olivo, Adrian kick), 16 plays, 64 yards, TOP 7:23 | 7 | 21 |
| 10:12 – NCCU – Richard, Davius 42 yd run (Olivo, Adrian kick), 4 plays, 51 yards, TOP 1:40 | 7 | 28 |
| 10:00 – MSU – Jenkins Jr., Ke 96 yd kickoff return (Leary, Beckett kick failed) | 13 | 28 |
| 08:46 – NCCU – Collier, Latrel 6 yd run (Olivo, Adrian kick), 3 plays, 53 yards, TOP 1:08 | 13 | 35 |
| 00:33 – NCCU – Smith, Devin 3 yd pass from Richard, Davius (Olivo, Adrian kick) 5 plays, 90 yards, TOP 1:20 | 13 | 42 |
| 3RD QUARTER | ||
| 03:51 – NCCU – Taylor, J’Mari 12 yd pass from Richard, Davius (Olivo, Adrian kick) 9 plays, 68 yards, TOP 5:07 | 13 | 49 |
| 4TH QUARTER | ||
| 11:16 – NCCU – Olivo, Adrian 23 yd field goal 10 plays, 45 yards, TOP 4:53 | 13 | 52 |
| 03:16 – NCCU – Mosley, Chris 17 yd run (Beltran-Rodrigu kick), 10 plays, 66 yards, TOP 5:50 | 13 | 59 |
| 00:53 – MSU – Taylor, Duce 1 yd run (Leary, Beckett kick), 9 plays, 70 yards, TOP 2:18 | 20 | 59 |
