David Coulson

With the two teams seemingly feeling each other out for much of the first period, South Carolina State finally broke through late in the first quarter with a 20-yard field goal by Blake Erickson to complete a nine-play, 57-yard drive. Morgan State was able to keep the Bulldogs — the most efficient red zone offense in the MEAC — out of the end zone.

SCSU's defense has been as good as advertised so far, keeping the Bears on their side of the field.

In the final minute of the first period, South Carolina State extended its lead to 10-0 on a 39-yard Richard Christie punt return and a 47-yard scoring pass from Malcolm Long to Tyler McDonald with 14 seconds left made it 10-0.

Morgan State finally got its offense in gear in the second period, using the passing of quarterback Delonte Williams and a pair of late hit calls by SCSU to set up David Brown's seven-yard scoring burst with 11:44 left in the half. Williams completed one key pass to Chuka Okakpu inside the Bulldog five as he was being drilled by a pass rusher. The Bears went 70 yards in seven plays to make it 10-7.

Malcolm Long brought the Bulldogs right back with a pair of connections with Thomas Williams, including a 37-yard strike for a touchdown with 10:27 left in the quarter as SCSU went up 17-7. Long worked through three progressions to find Williams on the first reception and then escaped pressure to loft a perfect pass to Williams, who got behind the secondary.

Malcomb Long is 7-of-11 for 149 yards with two TDs. Long tied the SCSU school record with his 44th career TD pass. Marvin Marshall (1991-94) was the QB who set the mark.

Linebacker Donovan Richard killed a Morgan State drive at the Bulldog 20 with an interception at the 8:49-mark of the second period.

A flea flicker by SCSU on the next play nearly resulted in a Morgan State interception by Joe Rankin, but receiver Tyler McDonald turned himself into a defensive back to make a crucial breakup of the play.

Asheton Jordan has been slowed in recent weeks by a sprained ankle, but he showed a burst to the corner for a 13-yard touchdown scamper to boost the Bulldog lead to 24-7 with five and a half minutes left in the half.

This game may be starting to slip away from the Morgan State defense, but one Bear defender to keep an eye on is cornerback Joe Rankin. Rankin is a redshirt freshman, but he has been making plays like an upperclassman tonight. I can't wait to see how this kid develops in the next couple of years.

Morgan State QB Delonte Williams kept alive a play at the end of the half with a nice scramble, but the pass was dropped in the end zone by a wide open Jorge Young, who had just come into the game. Kemar Scarlett followed with a 28-yard field goal for the Bars to cut the lead to 24-10 at the end of the half.

Fans watching tonight on ESPNU have almost certainly noticed that the game is being refereed by a woman, Shannon Eastin. The MEAC is often criticized for its officiating, but this game has been well done by Eastin and her crew.

Some stats from the first half:

SCSU QB Malcolm Long is 11-of-17 passing for 179 yards and two TDs. He appears much healthier and is moving much better than he was earlier in the year. Tyler McDonald has three catches for 78 and Devin Wherry has rushed three times for 40 yards, including a 22-yard burst.

The Bulldogs have 247 yards of total offense, compared to 183 for Morgan State, which has been limited to 42 yards of rushing yardage. SCSU also has 77 yards of returns.

Morgan State has almost twice as much possession time (19 minutes to 11), but has been hurt by South Carolina State's quick strikes.

Delonte Williams is 12-of-19 for 141 yards passing for the Bears and Chuka Okakpu has five catches for 40 yards, including a 23-yarder to set up the MSU touchdown.

Malcomb Long was hit for a sack at the 32 and seemed to fumble after he was down, with Morgan State recovering. But after officials got together, the play was called dead, due to an inadvertent whistle.

"I've never seen a team get a Mulligan," said MSU radio broadcaster Rob Long.

On the next play, Asheton Jordan broke loose for 35 yards and then MSU was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to set up a 32-yard field goal by Blake Erickson. With 6:44 remaining in the third period, SCSU went up 27-10.

Donovan Richard almost single-handedly stopped Morgan State on its last drive, with a pair of hard tackles, including one sack and another blitz that pressured Delonte Williams to get rid of the pass early.

Out of punt formation, the ball was snapped over the head of punter Nicholas Adams, who kicked the ball beyond the end zone for a safety to make it 29-10 in SCSU's favor with 3:13 left in the third period.

South Carolina State took advantage of the field position from the safety to score again on Blake Erickson's 36-yard field goal. It was Erickson's third field goal in three attempts to make it 32-10 near the end of the third quarter.

On the next Morgan State possession, Delonte Williams was forced into a fumble by SCSU defensive end Pat Washington. James Fulwood recovered for the Bulldogs at the MSU seven.

As the third quarter ended, Asheton Jordan of SCSU had 14 carries for 88 yards and a touchdown. Jordan hasn't had a 100-yard game since going for 149 yards against Georgia Tech in the season opener.

Joe Rankin struck again to stop the SCSU drive, making a great break on a slant to intercept Malcolm Long's pass in the end zone just as Tyler McDonald appeared to break open. It was Rankin's second career interception, but you have to think this talented freshman is going to have a lot more of them.

A shanked two-yard punt by Nicholas Adams gave SCSU the ball again at the Bear 20 with around 11 minutes remaining.

Blake Erickson tried a 31-yard field goal, but the kick went wide to leave the score at 32-10 with 9:41 left.

David Erby hit Delonte Williams for a sack, the seventh of the game for the blitzing Bulldogs. On the next play, Pat Washington and David Erby combined on another one for No. 8, the most this season for the Bulldogs.