Sunday, May 30, 2010

Morgan State Bears Football to Face North Dakota State University Bison

Morgan State University has an East versus West date with perennial NCAA Division I FCS power North Dakota State University Bison of the Missouri Valley Conference. The game will be played at the Bison home field at the Fargodome, Fargo, North Dakota.

FARGO, N.D.-- North Dakota State University finalized its 2010 football schedule with a 6 p.m. home game against Morgan State University on Saturday, Sept. 18, 2010 in the Fargodome. NDSU director of athletics Gene Taylor made the announcement today. The Bison have six home games on the 2010 schedule.

Morgan State University is a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). Head coach Donald Hill-Eley led the Bears were 6-5 last season and tied for fourth in the MEAC with a 4-4 record. Morgan State returns six starters on offense and six on defense. It is the first meeting between the Bison and the Bears.

The Morgan State game is the first of three in a row at home after NDSU opens at the University of Kansas of the Big 12 Conference on Saturday, Sept. 4. The Bison will face a rejuvenated Jayhawks program under first year head coach Turner Gill (formerly at University of Buffalo). Gill has a familiar MEAC name on his staff in coach Lee Fobbs, serving as Director of High School Relations/Player Development. Fobbs served as head football coach at North Carolina A&T State University in 2006-08, ending his head coaching career at 2-28.

After Kansas, the Bison will play at University of Northern Iowa in the Missouri Valley Football Conference opener on Saturday, Sept. 11. The Bison are scheduled to entertain the University of South Dakota at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25 and Western Illinois at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2 in the annual homecoming game.

North Dakota State then embarks on Missouri Valley Conference Football road trips to Youngstown State on Oct. 9 and Illinois State on Saturday, Oct. 16. The Bison return home for three in a row with Indiana State in the Harvest Bowl with the game time to be determined on Oct. 23, Southern Illinois at 3 p.m. Nov. 6, and South Dakota State in the Dakota Marker game at 3 p.m. Nov. 13.

NDSU closes out the season at Missouri State on Saturday, Nov. 20.

North Dakota State averaged 16,515 spectators over five home dates in the Fargodome and placed ninth in the 2009 Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) attendance figures released by the NCAA. NDSU had a season-high 18,608 spectators in the Fargodome for the 27-24 loss to Illinois State on Oct. 3, 2009. The football program has enjoyed seven sellouts over the past four seasons including a school record 19,053 against South Dakota State in 2006. The Bison are 30-9 in the Fargodome over the past seven years under head coach Craig Bohl.

North Dakota State finished the 2009 season with a 3-8 record overall including a 2-6 mark in the MVFC.

The Morgan State Bears have completed an exceptional schedule for 2010. The Bears opens with in-state rival Bowie State University Bulldogs of the CIAA on Sept. 4 at Hughes Stadium. The teams last played in 2006, and the Bears edged the Bulldogs by a score of 28-20.

The Bears return six starters on the defensive side of the ball including #7 Darren McKhan, senior defensive back Miramar H.S./U. Connecticut, from Miami, Florida.

In the first meeting ever on the gridiron, Morgan State will take on Atlantic Coast Conference bottom dweller, the University of Maryland Terrapins. The Bears will be meeting the Terps at a good time as they finished last season with a 2-10, 1-7 ACC record. Don't expect much improvement this season under head coach Ralph Friedgen who cannot recruit the best players from Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia. The Bears should give the Terps a tough game with their lights out defense.

The Bears thereafter will travel to Fargo, N.D. on September 18 to prove MEAC supremacy with a stampede of the North Dakota State Bison. After chomping up on the Bison, the Bears will travel to the New Meadowlands Stadium at East Rutherford, N.J., for the 39th Annual New York Urban League Football Classic. There, the Bears will continue their "undefeated streak" with MEAC rival Howard University Bison.

MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY 2010 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

DATE OPPONENT LOCATION TIME/RESULT
9/4/2010 Bowie State University Hughes Stadium 6 p.m.
9/11/2010 at University of Maryland College Park, MD 6 p.m.
9/18/2010 at North Dakota State Fargo, ND 6 p.m.
9/25/2010 * Howard University East Rutherford, NJ 2 p.m.
10/2/2010 * Bethune-Cookman College Hughes Stadium 4 p.m.
10/9/2010 * North Carolina A&T State University Greensboro, NC 1 p.m.
10/23/2010 * Delaware State University (Homecoming) Hughes Stadium 1 p.m.
10/30/2010 * at Florida A&M University Tallahassee, FL TBA
11/6/2010 * at Norfolk State University Norfolk, VA TBA
11/13/2010 * South Carolina State University Hughes Stadium 4 p.m.
11/20/2010 * Hampton University Hughes Stadium 4 p.m.

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