Morgan State’s Fourth-Quarter Surge Beats N.C. A&T in Season Opener

North Carolina A&T’s newly settled quarterback battle produced an opening statement, and then not much else. Redshirt freshman Braxton Thomas drove the Aggies 70 yards on 17 plays for a touchdown that ate up more than nine minutes of the first quarter. It held up as the game’s only points for a long stretch, and it was the last time North Carolina A&T found the end zone at Truist Stadium.

Morgan State’s defense, which returned nine Preseason All-MEAC selections, took over from there. The Bears held North Carolina A&T to 88 net rushing yards and forced the Aggies into three consecutive scoreless quarters, while a 2-of-14 clip on third down and a missed field goal on each of A&T’s two attempts compounded the offense’s stall after the opening drive. Newcomer Jordan Barnett, a Shepherd University transfer, provided the spark that got Morgan State on the board, breaking through several tackles on a 42-yard run down to the Aggie 7-yard line in the second quarter; a bobbled snap and a penalty stalled the drive short of the end zone, but Alex Amaya’s 25-yard field goal cut the deficit to 7-3. North Carolina A&T still led 7-3 at halftime and threatened again late in the third quarter on a 46-yard gain from Braxton Thomas to Anthony Rucker, but Morgan State senior Dantonio Hackworth Jr. blocked a 22-yard field-goal attempt to preserve the Aggies’ four-point edge. The Bears turned the momentum into points immediately. Eastern Michigan transfer Cameron Edge, the Bears’ new quarterback, found redshirt junior Joseph Towler streaking open down the seam for a 68-yard touchdown that needed just three plays and 53 seconds to cover 80 yards, and after Morgan State’s defense forced a turnover on downs on A&T’s ensuing possession, Barnett capped the win with a 22-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-1, finishing with a game-high 114 yards on just 12 carries. Edge threw for 167 yards on 13-of-19 passing with a touchdown and an interception.

A&T’s Thomas finished with 20 completions on 33 attempts for 240 yards, a heavy workload for a first-time starter, but did not throw a touchdown, and the Aggies’ rushing attack, led by J.T. Smith’s 51 yards on 19 carries, never got untracked behind an offensive line that had bulked up over the offseason. It was a rough regular-season debut for second-year coach Shawn Gibbs, whose 2025 team surrendered an average of 43.6 points a game in its first season in the CAA; this time the defense held up, but the offense could not finish what its opening drive started.

Morgan State opened fifth-year coach Damon Wilson’s season with a road-ish win in a series that dates to 1930 and now stands at 45-38-2 in the Bears’ favor, with Morgan State winning five of the last seven meetings since 2012. It was the programs’ first meeting since 2019, and the Bears’ defense and a pair of fourth-quarter plays from Edge, Towler and Barnett were enough to end the Aggies’ hopes of a fast start in Greensboro. “Really resilient group,” Wilson said afterward. “Last year, we found a way to lose these games, and today we found a way to win the game. We talked about playing four quarters. Outside of the first quarter, defensively, we pretty much shut them down for most of the game.” On the fourth-and-1 that set up Barnett’s clinching score, Wilson called a timeout to make sure his team had the right call in the moment. “That’s really what it’s about,” he said. “We practiced that, and these guys saw that today. It’s important to make sure we practice at a good tempo and understand the situation of football. I think we did a good job of it.”

Gibbs called it a tough loss afterward, but not a discouraging one. “Most football games come down to four or five plays, and this one did,” he said. “We didn’t make them, or we allowed them to make them. We’ll grow from this. We’ll learn.” He pointed squarely at the two explosive plays Morgan State broke off, particularly the 68-yard touchdown pass to Towler that capped an 80-yard drive in just 53 seconds. “That crushed us,” Gibbs said. “You can see the life go out of the team. But it’s never over till it’s over, and no matter what happens, we got to keep fighting.” He was measured on his quarterback situation, saying Thomas, who missed the entire spring with an injury, “hadn’t had as much time as some of the other guys” but that he still has confidence in the room, and he wants to see Smith running with more power behind better lanes after the redshirt freshman’s 19-carry, 51-yard night. Asked what has changed since his own first game a year ago, Gibbs pointed to continuity: a new offensive line and a new starting quarterback aside, the receivers, tight ends and running backs carry real experience now, and “we’re more of a team.” He was unwilling to lower his sights despite the 0-1 start. “We want to be FCS national champions,” Gibbs said. “I’m speaking it into existence. If you’re not shooting for that, then what are you playing for?”

Morgan State turns its attention west next, visiting Arizona State for its season and road opener at newly renovated Mountain America Stadium, with kickoff set for 10 p.m. Eastern on ESPN+.