Box Score          Postgame Quotes
GREENSBORO, October 6, 2007 – North Carolina A&T football coach Lee Fobbs is not looking for sympathy, he’s looking victories. For the second time this season, the Aggies had a legitimate chance to earn him his first career win only to see it disappear in heartbreaking fashion. The Aggies last victim on the scoreboard almost became its latest. Morgan State running back Chad Simpson’s 46-yard touchdown with 4:36 remaining helped the Bears avoid the upset with a 22-17 win over the Aggies.

 “It’s time to stop saying that,’’ said Fobbs in response to a question about how it felt to come close to victory on Saturday. “At some point you just get satisfied with closer and closer, and we don’t want to get to that point. It’s time to start winning. We don’t go to practice every day to get closer and closer. We go there to prepare to win games.”

 During the first week of the season, the Aggies had a 2^nd-and-goal from the WSSU 8-yard line, but threw an interception. A week later, two blocked punts for touchdowns decided a close ball game against Prairie View A&M. Two weeks later, N.C. Central intercepted a pass at its own 1-yard line to preserve a win over the Aggies.

 On Saturday, Simpson’s play went a long way in preventing an Aggies win. He finished with 181 yards and two touchdowns on 33 carries. His counterpart, Aggies running back Michael Ferguson had 160 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. The last time the Aggies won a game it was against the Bears in 2005.

 N.C. A&T redshirt freshman quarterback Shelton Morgan was 5-for-11 for 151 yards and a touchdown, including hitting wide receiver Michael Caldwell for a 96-yard touchdown pass, which resulted in the longest play from scrimmage in school history.

Morgan’s touchdown pass with 14:10 remaining gave the Aggies a 17-13 lead and provided jubilation for a sideline hungry for victory.  

 “It was a great play and a great call from our coaches,’’ said Morgan. “The problem is the touchdown wasn’t the end of the game. We still had to score some more. A lot of times teams get hype off of one play, but we shouldn’t have done that. There was still 14 minutes left on the clock.”

 The Bears halted the Aggies momentum with a 13-play, 48-yard drive that included a desperation shovel pass to Devan James on a 3^rd-and-3 that resulted in a Morgan State first down.

Morgan State kicker James Meade capped off the drive with a 36-yard field goal that pulled the Bears to within one, 17-16. Thanks to an excellent kick-off return by David “Speedy” Robinson, the Aggies offense was able to move the ball into Bears territory on the ensuing drive. But the Aggies would eventually have to punt.

 Lee Woodson’s punt pinned the Bears back to their own 15. But a 17-yard completion to Roderick Wolfe, a 17-yard run by Simpson and Simpson’s 46-yard score helped the Bears go 85 yards in 1:01 to score the decisive touchdown.

 The Aggies still had two more chances to end their long losing streak. But on the first of the two they registered minus six yards on four plays and the next drive they went four-and-out.

"We were right there,’’ said Fobbs. “We had opportunities, but the turnovers hurt us offensively. Our defense did a great job. We have to get to the point where we go out and execute and not put the ball on the ground.”

After turning the ball over four times against Norfolk State nine days ago, the Aggies lost three fumbles on Saturday that led to 10 Morgan State turnovers.  A Robinson fumble would lead to the first of Morgan State’s points off turnovers. Robinson fumbled at the Aggies 23, giving the Bears a 1^st-and-10 and the Aggies 16. But the Aggies defense stiffened and held the Bears to a field goal.

Ferguson responded with a 66-yard run that lead to a two-yard Ferguson touchdown and a 7-3 Aggies lead in the second quarter. Following another Bears field goal, Aggies quarterback Herb Miller was stripped of the football by Lamar West. Anthony Young recovered for the Bears at the Morgan State 43. It led to a two-yard touchdown by Simpson to give the Bears a 13-7 lead. The Aggies kept fighting an attempt to garner their first halftime lead in 22 games. Morgan led an impressive two-minute drill in 41 seconds. He connected with passes 25 to Curtis Walls and 22 to Robinson to set up Eric Houston’s 33-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.

He is a good running back,’’ said Fobbs about Simpson, who leads the conference in rushing.  “We knew what the challenge called for. And you know what, we’ve been playing good defense all season long. Whenever we get our offense and defense on the same page, we’ll be ok. Our offense has to keep our defense on the boundaries.”