Great offense might excite the fans, but great defense will win games. Morgan State’s (MSU) head coach Don Hill-Eley couldn’t agree more after Morgan fell to the Norfolk State (NSU) Spartans, 37-25 at William “Dick” Price Stadium in Norfolk, Va. on Nov. 6.
MSU traded scores with Norfolk for most of the game, but eventually ran out of gas.
“Overall it was a bad game,” said MSU head coach Donald Hill-Eley. “Defensively, we just didn’t stop them and they didn’t punt all day. Offensively, we probably could’ve had more scores in the red zone. It just wasn’t our day.”
Morgan State redshirt freshman quarterback Delontae Williams had a decent performance, completing 14-of-29 passes for 142 yards and a touchdown, while leading MSU to 334 total yards on offense. But he also tossed a key interception late in the game.
Meanwhile, Norfolk State quarterback Chris Walley couldn’t be stopped, passing for 305 yards and four touchdowns. He also set a single-game school record by completing 20-of-22 passes. NSU’s offensive unit recorded 453 yards and did not punt the entire game.
Norfolk State has now won the last four meetings with MSU and advanced to a 4-5 overall record (3-4 MEAC).
Morgan State (4-5, 3-3 MEAC) lost its second straight game and will now face MEAC defending champs South Carolina State on Nov. 11, in an ESPNU televised matchup at Hughes Stadium in Baltimore.
“We have a very short week,” said Hill-Eley, “so we’ll have to fix our problems real fast.”
