MORGAN STATE BEARS FOOTBALL--3 TIME MEAC CHAMPIONS
The Morgan State Bears football team competes in American football on behalf of Morgan State University. The Bears compete in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision, currently as a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). The Bears play their home games at Hughes Stadium, a 10,000 seat facility in Baltimore, Maryland.
Morgan State began playing football in 1898, 31 years after the school was founded. The team's all-time record is 405 wins, 379 losses and 38 ties. 173 of those wins came between 1929 and 1959 when Edward P. Hurt was the head coach and the Bears won 14 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) championships. Earl Banks won four CIAA championships during the 1960s and an additional championship in 1971 after Morgan entered the MEAC. The Bears have won three MEAC Championships (1976, 1979 and 2014)
Eddie Hurt era
Coach Eddie P. Hurt took over the Morgan Bears football team in 1929, the next year his teams won the first of the 14 CIAA championships they would win with him at the helm. More importantly, Hurt, and his assistant coach Talmadge L. Hill, built a program that allowed black athletes to show case their talents where such a venue had been non-existent before. From 1931 to 1938, Hurt coached the Bears to a 54-game win streak without a single loss. During his tenure, Morgan's football teams completed 11 seasons undefeated and, in the 1943 season, opponents failed to score a single point against the Bears. Hurt is a member of the HBCU coaches Hall of Fame and in 1952 Morgan named its new $1 million gymnasium facility after him.
Earl "Papa Bear" Banks era
Earl Banks succeeded Hurt and took Morgan football to the next level. Banks was the Head coach from 1960 to 1973. He coached the Bears to a 31-game winning streak, three unbeaten regular seasons, four CIAA titles, a MEAC championship, and four bowl games. Twice during his tenure, Morgan led the nation in total defense. 35 of Bank's players went on to play in the NFL, including NFL Hall of Famers Leroy Kelly and Willie Lanier; two more players played professional ball in the CFL. Banks was inducted into five sports Halls of Fame including the College Football Hall of Fame in 1992.
Modern era
Two Coaches have had winning records at Morgan since the departure of Banks at the end of the 1973 season. The Bears had suffered 23 straight seasons with a losing record until the arrival of former Coach Donald Hill-Eley whose first team had a 7-5 record in the 2002 season. Lee Hull was named head coach on Jan 8th, 2014 and is the current head coach. His first team went 7-5 and won a share of the MEAC championship and also played in the NCAA Playoffs.
Fifty two former Morgan players have gone on to play professional football. Thirty eight players went to the NFL, eight to the CFL, three to the WFL and one each to the AAFC, the Arena Football League and the AIFA. At least one player has gone to the NFL every decade since 1950 from Morgan State.
Former Morgan Bears Len Ford, Leroy Kelly, Willie Lanier and Rosey Brown are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
MORGAN'S MAGNIFICENT MARCHING MACHINE
Back in the day: 40 years ago, Morgan State and Grambling played in Tokyo
BY GERALD J. HUGGINS 9/23/16 HBCU Football
Although their knowledge of the game was minimal, bolstered only by the explanation in the newspapers and on television, they were really turned on by the exciting plays. And, unlike American crowds, they stayed right through to the end.” — Hank Lattimore, head coach of Morgan State University football team in 1976
Forty years ago, the first college football game played outside the Western Hemisphere took place. It was Sept. 24, 1976, and two black college powerhouses, Morgan State and Grambling State, met on neutral ground when they debuted the American college football game in Tokyo.
The game was played in Korakuen Stadium, known for hosting baseball games. They were selected to celebrate the U.S. bicentennial with the gridiron exhibition. The Grambling State Tigers, coached by legendary coach Eddie Robinson, were coming off two season-opening losses to Alcorn State and Temple. Hank Lattimore’s Morgan State Bears had won their opener 23-6 over Virginia State.
Still, this matchup aroused such anticipation because of the environment and the opportunity to witness a first. American football had been introduced to the Japanese by the U.S. military when they played intramural games after World War II.
There was a plethora of future NFL talent in football contests at top historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) during the 1970s. In the Tokyo game, Doug Williams, who would become the first black quarterback to win a Super Bowl, led the Tigers. Defensive back Charles Johnson would play three seasons in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers and St. Louis Cardinals. The New England Patriots selected wide receiver Carlos Pennywell in the third round of the 1978 NFL draft. Elvis Franks was a top defensive lineman for Morgan State who went on to play seven seasons in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns, Oakland Raiders, and New York Jets.
As for the coaches, Robinson is considered one of the greatest college football coaches. He retired in 1997 with a record of 408-165-15 and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Lattimore had a rough tenure at Morgan State, but in his first season he went 6-4 with a very young team. He went on to finish his coaching career at North Carolina Central and Virginia Union with 84 wins, 81 losses and five ties.
My father, Gerald Huggins Sr., played five years for Morgan State. He was a freshman when he played in the Pioneer Bowl.
“The Pioneer Bowl was a historical event in college sports. The game has not gotten the acknowledgement it deserves. Not taking anything away from Grambling, but they had already lost two games, and we were in the best shape of any college team in the country, and we had a bunch of athletes,” said Huggins.
“The game got out of control, and our inexperience began to show. It is a tragedy how often we as African-Americans do not treasure, cherish or even celebrate our historical accomplishments. We continuously miss the boat on leaving positive legacies for our future generations. This game should have been a preview of other games being played between HBCUs all around the world for the last 40 years.”
Grambling State brought its band. During the 1970s, the World Famous Tiger Marching Band was the baddest band in the land. The band was so “bad” that they were well-known overseas. The marching band gave the Japanese a taste of a Saturday afternoon at a black college game.
“The people of Tokyo were more familiar with baseball and at the time saw little to no football. The Japanese fans did abandon their typical impassive postures and showed tons of enthusiasm when the high-stepping Grambling band and their strutting cheerleaders graced the field of Korakuen Stadium,” said Sam Lacy, the legendary sportswriter for the Baltimore Afro-American.
“We have good players like quarterback Doug Williams and running back Merlin Williams, and I hope we have a good chance to win,” said Collie Nicholson, a spokesman for the Tigers, in an August 1976 newspaper article.
Well, winning is what the Tigers did. They broke their losing streak and went on to beat the Bears 42-16. Grambling’s Clifford Martin scored three touchdowns. Morgan State was held to three field goals by junior Duane Danner and a 28-yard touchdown pass from George Williams to Mark Durden. Doug Williams found Pennywell on a 22-yard score. Robert Woods scored on a close-in plunge, and Antoine Edwards scored on a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown.
The Bears went on to finish 6-4, and the Tigers were 8-2. The Pioneer Bowl was the last time the Bears played outside of the United States. The Tigers went back to Tokyo the following year and beat Temple 35-32 in the Mirage Bowl.
Since 1977, no other HBCU has played a football game outside the United States.
The question is, how do we get HBCUs back overseas to play an exhibition game? Until then, let’s not forget that two HBCUs showed the world what a good old Saturday afternoon of black college football looks like.
After 35-year drought, Morgan State football wins share of MEAC title
By Edward Lee, Baltimore Sun, 11/22/04
When North Carolina Central closed out a 21-14 win over North Carolina A&T Saturday, the reverberations were felt 300 miles north in Baltimore.
When the Eagles won, that meant Morgan State had clinched a share of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship and earned the league’s automatic bid to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
Minutes after the Bears routed Delaware State, 69-7, at Hughes Stadium Saturday, players and coaches rushed into the fieldhouse to watch the North Carolina Central-North Carolina A&T game and then, celebrate.
“It erupted knowing that we were at least co-champs,” coach Lee Hull said. “We reached our goal. That was our No. 1 goal, to be MEAC champs. So the place erupted, and the players were going crazy.”
Morgan State (7-5 overall, 6-2 in the conference) captured its first MEAC title in 35 years. More importantly, with the Aggies (9-3, 6-2) losing to the Eagles (7-5, 6-2), South Carolina State (8-4, 6-2) beating Norfolk State and Bethune-Cookman (9-3, 6-2) defeating Florida A&M, the Bears won the crucial tie breaker to collect the automatic berth in the FCS postseason.
“It feels great,” Hull said. “I’m very happy for our team and our community. It’s been a long time since they had a MEAC championship and the first time ever going to the playoffs. I’m ecstatic, and I’m happy for the whole program and the university.”
While not ruling out some surprise at guiding a team that had been picked to finish last in the conference to the league championship and the playoffs, Hull said getting here was the goal.
“When they hired me, they wanted to restore the greatness of the football program,” he said. “They had a great legacy in the ‘60s, ‘70s and early ‘80s, and that’s where they wanted to be. Our goal was to win the MEAC championship and return this program back to greatness. To get it in my first year, you always strive for that, but to get it in my first year is a great experience.”
Moses Skillon threw five touchdown passes — three to Andrew King in the first half — and ran for one in the lopsided victory. Skillon completed 16 of 24 passes for 261 yards, and King finished with eight catches for 116 yards.
Herb Walker Jr. ran for 128 yards on 17 carries as the Bears held a 518-177 advantage in total yards.
MORGAN STATE BEARS IN THE PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME
