To stop highly ranked Bethune-Cookman, an opponent must first stop its quarterback, Allen Suber, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's 2002 Offensive Player of the Year.
Unranked Morgan State found a way Saturday.
The Bears harassed Suber into his worst passing day as a Wildcat. He completed just 3 of 17 passes for 88 yards, throwing a touchdown and an interception.
Morgan State also limited Suber to 20 rushes for 32 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. He scored on runs of 40 and nine yards, but the Bears kept dropping the Tampa Catholic product for loss after loss.
The result: Suber, who garnered 969 total yards in the first four games, was limited to just 120 Saturday. That's why B-CC fell 31-24 in overtime at Municipal Stadium and plunged from No. 5 to No. 13 in the Sports Network Division I-AA poll.
"We knew we had to contain (Suber)," Bears coach Donald Hill told the Daytona Beach News-Journal. "He's responsible for 70 percent of their offense, and we thought if we could make their other guys carry the load that we had a chance."
Eric Weems' 36 yards on four carries made him the Wildcats' leading rusher, and the team only rushed for 138 total. Weems also was the leading receiver with two receptions for 39 yards. Morgan State outgained B-CC 415-226.
Yet the Wildcats led 24-16 with 10:26 left in the third quarter thanks to Suber's 9-yard scoring run. But with 1:58 left, LeJominick Washington hit Tommy Manus with a 49-yard touchdown pass to tie it, and Washington ran in the two-point conversion to tie it at 24. B-CC's Jesus Cortez had a shot to win it with a 42-yard field goal as time expired but was wide left.
After that scoreless fourth quarter, it went to overtime, where the Wildcats' tough defense continued to wilt. It took Washington three carries to get into the end zone, scoring on a 2-yard run. On B-CC's possession, Suber was dropped twice for an 11-yard loss, then threw an interception to end it.
The season isn't over for the Wildcats, who won their first MEAC championship last year with one conference loss. But the Bears threw the race wide open. Hampton (4-1, 3-0), North Carolina A&T (4-1, 1-0) and South Carolina State (3-2, 1-0) are undefeated in the MEAC while B-CC (4-1, 1-1) no longer is.
"It's a long season, it's still anybody's championship," B-CC coach Alvin Wyatt told the News-Journal. "We got one loss. We can't afford another one.
"We can't let people do what (Morgan State) did to us. It was embarrassing."
EVERYONE IN THE BOX: This is how desperate Buffalo was to stop UCF's ground game and avoid its 16th consecutive loss Saturday: The Bulls often stacked the line with 11 men.
Maybe they should have tried 12, because the Golden Knights steamrolled to 298 rushing yards to earn their first Mid-American Conference win, 19-10, and, more important, their first win over a I-A team this season.
Running back Alex Haynes rushed 30 times for a career-high 165 yards, and quarterback Jon Rivera, subbing for the injured Ryan Schneider, rushed 15 times for 89 yards. Without Schneider, coach Mike Kruczek abandoned UCF's potent passing game, and Rivera rushed for more yards than passing (59).
TAKE IT EASY: Finally, a win Florida A&M coach Billy Joe can enjoy in Saturday's 28-14 decision over Jackson State in the 20th annual Circle City Classic at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. After back-to-back nail-biters, the Rattlers took five of six fumbles from the Tigers and held a lead as high as 25 points.
"The ending was a lot more comfortable today than it was the past two weeks," Joe told the Tallahassee Democrat. "This was the best we have played as a team all season."
- Information from other news organizations was used in the report.
