Graduate student Kobe Muasau will start at quarterback for Morgan State in its season opener at South Alabama on Aug. 30, according to Bears head coach Damon Wilson.
Musasau transferred from New Mexico Military Institute following the 2023 season with the intention of competing for the starting quarterback position at Morgan, but an injury kept him out until late in the 2024 season.
Musasau started the season finale, a 35-21 win against Howard. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound quarterback looked the part, completing 19 of 24 passes for 202 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.
“He got the opportunity and he took advantage of it,” Wilson said on Glenn Clark Radio Aug. 28.
Junior Tahj Smith, who completed 56 percent of his throws for 708 yards and three touchdowns in eight games a year ago, hasn’t been healthy enough to compete for the starting role this summer. The other quarterbacks on the roster are freshman Josiah Bushnell, junior John Griffith (Saint Frances), redshirt freshman Raymond Moore (Mervo) and senior Raeden Oliver.
Wilson hopes to settle on one quarterback this season. Muasau gets the first shot.
“I would love to have a guy that we can kind of hang our hat on,” Wilson said. “We haven’t had that really since we’ve been here for one reason or another. That’s something I think is big when talking about team chemistry and continuity, so we would love to have a guy who can get everything done and stays healthy and everything. But we understand also in college football, things happen, so we have to be prepared. The next man has to be prepared and be ready to roll, but we feel good about several guys in the room right now.”
Morgan’s top weapon is expected to be running back Jason Collins Jr., who ran for 634 yards and eight touchdowns and caught 17 passes for 143 yards a year ago. The Preseason MEAC Offensive Player of the Year has big goals for the 2025 campaign, like breaking the Morgan single-season rushing record.
The Bears finished third in the six-team MEAC in rushing offense last year (150.8 yards per game).
“Jason understands that he can’t have the success unless the offensive line is doing their job. He spends a lot of time with those guys, and they have a great bond,” Wilson said. “But it’s a process to that. I know Jason wants to accomplish team goals first, but there’s nothing wrong with setting individual goals. We totally support him in that and I believe he has the ability to get it done, but it’s not going to be an easy lift at all.”
The defense was the backbone for Morgan in 2024, when the Bears finished 6-6 overall. Morgan allowed 314.1 yards and 23.3 points per game, both marks third in the conference. The unit was led by defensive lineman Elijah Williams, one of the top players in program history.
However, Williams is now with the Minnesota Vikings. That leaves redshirt senior Erick Hunter as the leader of the defense. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound linebacker was one of the best defensive players in the MEAC in 2022 and 2023, racking up 152 tackles and 4.5 sacks between the two seasons, but he was out for most of 2024 with a shoulder injury.
Hunter enters the 2025 season as the Preseason MEAC Defensive Player of the Year. He opted to follow Williams’ footsteps in staying at Morgan rather than pursuing other opportunities via the transfer portal.
“He’s a blessing to have back in the program,” Wilson said. “He’s a guy in my opinion that’s a pro as well. He’s going to have his opportunities to continue to play after college here. He’s already graduated and done the things he needed to do academically. Now, he’s just really focusing on finishing his college career on a high note and seeing where it may take him afterward.”
Wilson is in his fourth season at Morgan. The Bears have made strides on the field since he took over in June 2022, but the coach is most proud of how far his players have come off the field.
“It’s kind of cliché. You hear coaches say it all the time, but the reality is you don’t win championships until you start doing right in the classroom,” Wilson said. “Our team GPA is above a 3.0 now. It was a 2.5 when we got here as a staff. You tend to see the changes or the success on the field when the guys have better study habits off the field. That’s something that I can acknowledge now and say we’ve definitely made some strides there.”
For more from Wilson, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Chris Thompkins