Stats Perform FCS named Morgan State its Week 1 FedEx Ground Team of the Week, as announced Monday morning.

The Bears earned a nationally-ranked upset and their first season-opening win since 2012 with Saturday's 17-10 win at No. 16/18 Richmond. Jabriel Johnson’s 10-yard touchdown run with 6:27 left broke a 10-10 tie, and it was set up one play earlier by defensive end Noah Washington’s fumble recovery following linebacker Erick Hunter’s strip sack of Richmond’s Kyle Wickersham.

The MEAC squad, which finished 4-7 in coach Damon Wilson’s first season last year, limited Richmond to 264 yards of offense, forced four turnovers and had five sacks. The Bears offense totaled a game-high 114 rushing yards and J.J. Davis had a game-high 73 yards (6.1 avg) on 12 carries, while Jabriel Johnson added nine carries for 44 yards and scored the game-winning touchdown. 

Morgan's defense was relentless as the Bears accounted for 7.5 TFL, five sacks, three QB hurries, three fumble recoveries and an interception. The Bears were led by MEAC Defensive Player of the Week Erick Hunter, who totaled 11 tackles and had two QB hurries. The junior linebacker recorded a huge strip-sack on Spider quarterback Kyle Wickersham to help set up the final score of the night. Senior linebacker Lawrence Richardson tallied a game-high 12 tackles and junior defensive end Elijah Williams collected eight tackles, 2 TFLs and a QB hurry versus the Spiders

Morgan limited Richmond to converting just three of 12 third-downs