Ohio (1-1) will look to get its record above .500 for the first time this year and win two in a row this Saturday against FCS opponent Morgan State. (1-1). This will be the second straight game played on Frank Solich Field for the Bobcats, where they hold a 12-1 record. Morgan State is the only FCS on Ohio’s schedule.
The Bobcats are coming off a solid win against Sun Belt foe South Alabama in their home opener. Parker Navarro and the rest of the offense showed great chemistry and the defense was stout in Ohio’s 27-20 win.
This week Ohio will have a challenge facing Morgan State and its vaunted defense, here is everything you need to know for Saturday’s game.
Head Coach
This season is Morgan State’s third under head coach Damon Wilson. Before taking the job as Morgan State head coach, Wilson was the longtime head coach of his alma mater Bowie State, a Division II school that saw great success with Wilson in charge.
Wilson led Bowie State to back-to-back CIAA championships in 2018 and 2019, with the latter season coming with an undefeated overall record.
Morgan State is 9-14 under Wilson and currently 1-1, with a win against fellow HBCU Hampton in the season opener and a loss to Towson by a score of 9-14.
Quarterbacks
The Morgan State offense is not the most quarterback-friendly, but sophomore quarterback Tahj Smith has still put up solid numbers this season. The dual-threat passer has put up 238 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions while completing 64% of his passes.
On the ground, Smith has added an extra 66 yards to his totals, including a 28-yard rush against Towson this past week.
Smith also saw playing time last season, passing for 426 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, completing just 40.8% of his passes in five games played. Now, in his sophomore season, it seems that he has taken a step forward in his passing and Ohio will have to respect his arm.
Running Backs
The Bears have used a trio of backs so far this season on the ground: Keith Jenkins, Myles Miree and Jason Collins. Collins leads the group in total rushing yards with 89 on the year and one touchdown while going for an ultra-efficient 6.8 yards per carry.
Jenkins, a junior, has rushed for 78 yards this season and the final member of this trio, Miree, has 81 yards and two touchdowns on the year thus far.
Wide Receivers
With the offense being more predicated on running the ball, the Morgan State receivers have not had the best chances to put up big numbers. Joseph Kennerly leads the team in yards with 74, but all of those yards came on one catch that went for a touchdown, the only receiving touchdown this year for the Bears.
Andre Crawley is the team's most consistent target, currently having 6 catches for 52 yards this season. The rest of the team has just 112 combined yards on 10 combined catches.
Defense
The defense is the most dangerous unit of this Morgan State team. The group is led by the 2023 MEAC first-team selection, defensive tackle Elijah Williams. The senior tackle had a great season in 2023 and is continuing his dominance with 11 tackles and two sacks on the year.
In 2023, the Morgan State defense led the MEAC in both scoring and total defense, allowing just 21.4 points per game and 308.5 yards per game. So far this season, the defense has again been elite, tied with South Carolina State for the best scoring defense in the MEAC giving up just 21 points per game.
