Morgan State coach Donald Hill-Eley is quick to point out not every player on offense performed to his standards in a 21-7 win at Winston-Salem State on Saturday.
“We talk about one part of eleven, each player doing their part on the field,” he said. “On the offensive side, we had about five doing their eleventh and everyone else was taking plays off here and there.”
The offense failed to find any rhythm, gaining just 131 yards and turning the ball over five times, including an interception thrown by quarterback Carlton Jackson returned 18 yards for a touchdown late in the game.
But the Bears (2-1) rallied around their trademark defense to stymie the Rams (0-3). The unit yielded just 82 yards of offense and forced five turnovers, including a 45-yard interception return for a touchdown by junior linebacker Troy Leftwich, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week.
“The defense came through and came together and we’ll take the win and find a way to correct the offense,” Hill-Eley said. “A win like this says we have an all-around program.”
The Bears will have to fix their offensive woes quickly as they travel to play Rutgers (0-3) on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 in Piscataway, N.J. The Scarlet Knights play in the larger Football Bowl Subdivision, and are coming off a 23-21 loss at Navy last week. Rutgers is 0-3 for the first time since 1999.
Rutgers beat the MEAC’s Norfolk State, 59-0, last year in New Jersey.
But the Spartans didn’t have a defense like the Bears, who are ranked fourth overall in the Football Championship Subdivision, yielding an average of just 210.3 yards per game. The team’s secondary is one of its biggest strengths, as it has helped the team record nine interceptions this season and is allowing an average of just 160.3 passing yards per game. The unit is led by sophomore cornerback Darren McKhan, who has a team-high two interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown.
“There’s always the urge to do better, to do your part of the 1-11,” McKhan said. “Play your position and do the jobs you need to do. If everybody does their jobs, their parts, their 1-11, we should have no problem.”
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