Howard–Morgan State football rivalry

Howard–Morgan State football rivalry

Howard Bison Morgan State Bears
Sport	Football
First meeting	1899 Howard, 71–0
Latest meeting	November 23, 2024 Morgan State, 35–21
Statistics
Meetings total	90
All-time series	Morgan State leads, 47–39–3
Longest win streak	Morgan State, 15 (1953–1973)
Current win streak	Morgan State, 1 (2024–present)

45km
30miles

Morgan State

Howard

  

Locations of Howard and Morgan State

The rivalry between the Howard Bison and Morgan State Bears is a matchup between two HBCU schools, one of the oldest rivalries in black college football. ^{[1] [2]} The series started in 1899. ^{[3] [4]}

The Bison won the first game in 1899, 71 to 0. They continued to win—with the Bears scoring 0—until 1903, when the series stopped for 19 years. The series resumed in 1922, with the Bison winning by 50, though the Bears finally scoring its first points in the series. Another shutout win followed for the Bison in 1925. Eddie Hurt began coaching the Morgan State Bears in 1927, and for two years after, both teams tied with no score. The Bears first win against the Bison was in 1931. ^[5] The Bison would only manage 4 wins and a tie from 1931 to 1979, then proceed to win 18 of the next 22 games from 1980 to 2001, and then only manage 3 wins from 2002 to 2016, before winning the last 6 games of the series from 2017 to 2023. Morgan State ended the streak in 2024, winning 35–21 at home.

The rivalry is driven by several factors, which include the close proximity of their locations (DC-Baltimore). Roughly only 46 miles separate the nation’s top black educational institutes. The two schools compete in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

Game results

Howard victories

Morgan State victories

Tie games

Vacated wins

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 1899 Unknown Howard 71–0 2 1900 Unknown Howard 41–0 3 1901 Unknown Howard 34–0 4 1902 Unknown Howard 23–0 5 1903 Unknown Howard 28–0 6 1922 Washington, DC Howard 56–6 7 1925 Washington, DC Howard 27–0 8 1927 Washington, DC Howard 26–6 9 1928 Baltimore, MD Tie 0–0 10 1929 Washington, DC Tie 0–0 11 1931 Newark, NJ Morgan State 19–8 12 1932 Washington, DC Morgan State 13–6 13 1933 Baltimore, MD Morgan State 27–0 14 1934 Washington, DC Tie 0–0 15 1935 Baltimore, MD Morgan State 39–0 16 1936 Washington, DC Morgan State 41–0 17 1938 Baltimore, MD Morgan State 22–0 18 1939 Washington, DC Morgan State 39–0 19 1940 Baltimore, MD Morgan State 44–6 20 1947 Washington, DC Howard 14–6 21 1948 Baltimore, MD Morgan State 13–2 22 1949 Washington, DC Morgan State 39–0 23 1950 Baltimore, MD Morgan State 32–0 24 1951 Washington, DC Morgan State 14–0 25 1952 Baltimore, MD Howard 12–7 26 1953 Washington, DC Morgan State 40–6 27 1954 Baltimore, MD Morgan State 20–7 28 1955 Washington, DC Morgan State 32–0 29 1956 Baltimore, MD Morgan State 41–0 30 1957 Washington, DC Morgan State 48–0 31 1958 Baltimore, MD Morgan State 48–0 32 1959 Washington, DC Morgan State 14–0 33 1960 Baltimore, MD Morgan State 64–6 34 1961 Washington, DC Morgan State 20–0 35 1962 Baltimore, MD Morgan State 39–6 36 1963 Washington, DC Morgan State 53–8 37 1964 Baltimore, MD Morgan State 15–8 38 1971 Washington, DC Morgan State 7–0 39 1972 Baltimore, MD Morgan State 35–13 40 1973 Washington, DC Morgan State 27–7 41 1974 Baltimore, MD Howard 30–7 42 1975 Washington, DC Howard 22–16 43 1976 Washington, DC Morgan State 34–15 44 1977 Baltimore, MD Morgan State 33–24 45 1978 Washington, DC Morgan State 10–9 46 1979 Baltimore, MD Morgan State 27–20 No. Date Location Winner Score 47 1980 Washington, DC Howard 51–6 48 1981 Baltimore, MD Howard 35–32 49 1982 Washington, DC Howard 42–19 50 1983 Baltimore, MD Morgan State 15–14 51 1984 Washington, DC Howard 47–13 52 1985 Baltimore, MD Howard 7–3 53 1986 Washington, DC Howard 60–6 54 1987 Baltimore, MD Howard † 62–0 55 1988 Washington, DC Howard 35–13 56 1989 Baltimore, MD Howard 31–0 57 1990 Washington, DC Howard 49–13 58 1991 Baltimore, MD Morgan State 38–28 59 1992 Washington, DC Howard 68–21 60 1993 Baltimore, MD Howard 66–37 61 1994 Washington, DC Morgan State 17–14 62 1995 Baltimore, MD Howard 29–17 63 1996 Washington, DC Howard 49–0 64 1997 San Diego, CA Howard 30–27 65 1998 Washington, DC Howard 69–3 66 1999 Baltimore, MD Howard 42–38 67 2000 Washington, DC Howard 35–23 68 2001 Baltimore, MD Howard 41–15 69 2002 Washington, DC Morgan State 38–20 70 2003 Baltimore, MD Morgan State 33–12 71 2004 Washington, DC Howard 42–35 72 2005 Baltimore, MD Morgan State 7–0 73 2006 Washington, DC Morgan State 18–12 74 2007 Baltimore, MD Morgan State 36–33 75 2008 Washington, DC Morgan State 31–30 76 2009 Baltimore, MD Morgan State 14–7 77 2010 East Rutherford, NJ Morgan State 20–3 78 2011 East Rutherford, NJ Morgan State 14–9 79 2012 Washington, DC Howard 21–20 80 2013 Washington, DC Howard 28–14 81 2014 East Rutherford, NJ Morgan State 38–35 82 2015 Chicago, IL Morgan State 21–13 83 2016 Baltimore, MD Morgan State 28–24 84 2017 Washington, DC Howard 39–14 85 2018 Baltimore, MD Howard 35–26 86 2019 Washington, DC Howard 20–15 87 2021 Washington, DC Howard 27–0 88 2022 Baltimore, MD Howard 35–6 89 2023 Washington, DC Howard 14–7 90 2024 Baltimore, MD Morgan State 35–21 Series: Morgan State leads 47–39–3 † Vacated by Howard.

References

1. "Rivalry And Revelry". Archived from the original on November 27, 2019. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
2. "Howard & Morgan Take Rivalry North to a Big Stage in the Big Apple – Afro". afro.com. September 25, 2011. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
3. Wilbon, Michael (November 21, 1980). "Howard-Morgan State: The Game" . Retrieved August 3, 2018– via www.washingtonpost.com.
4. "HOWARD CAN'T PASS UP GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY, BEATS MORGAN STATE" – via www.washingtonpost.com.
5. Wilbon, Michael (November 21, 1980). "Howard-Morgan State: The Game: Every Howard Season Hinges On Morgan State". Washington Post. ProQuest   147232743 . Retrieved August 19, 2021.