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Howard Preview

The Bulldogs host the Howard Bison this Saturday at the Bowl in the NAACP Harmony Classic. Kickoff is slated for noon and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

Howard enters the contest with a 1-3 record opening with 3 losses before a 31-0 win over Morehouse College last weekend. The Bison cannot be overlooked as they are a very athletic squad that was competitive for 3 quarters against FBS opponent USF.

Senior QB Quinton Williams (6’5”, 200 lbs.) has completed 68.5% of his passes this season averaging 236.5 yards per game with 6 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. Williams is a solid passer but will not be as much of a threat in the run game as Sluka or Wang. Howard’s top 3 rushers average over 4.3 yards per carry each. Junior RB Jarrett Hunter (5’10”, 205 lbs.) leads all rushers with 190 yards and 3 touchdowns over 4 games. The offensive line play has been inconsistent for the Bison paving the way for 130 rushing yards per game while allowing 9 sacks on the season. Senior Anim Dankwah (6’8”, 365 lbs.) will likely be the largest offensive lineman we will face all season and was a 2nd Team All-MEAC selection last season. Senior WR Antoine Murray (6’0”, 188 lbs.) is Williams’ favorite target in the passing game with 19 catches for 323 yards and 2 touchdowns. Sophomore WR Nah’shawn Hezekiah (6’3”, 210 lbs.) is another weapon averaging 14.0 yards per reception. This should be a great opportunity for our secondary and linebackers to improve against talented skill position players. Keeping Howard out of the redzone will be critical as they have scored on 75% of their trips inside of the 20.

The Bison defense has really clamped down on opponents on 3rd downs limiting them to a 26.2% success rate. 1st and 2nd downs have not been as favorable for Howard as opponents have averaged 6.2 yards per play overall. Junior S Kenny Gallop, Jr. (6’1”, 210 lbs.) leads all defenders with 26 tackles. Sophomore LB Terrance Hollon (6’1”, 220 lbs.) has been all over the field for the Bison with 25 tackles and 2 interceptions. Senior DL Darrian Brokenburr (6’4”, 260 lbs.) was a 2nd Team All-MEAC player a year ago and has racked up 13 tackles. Senior DL Jevin Jackson (6’1”, 265 lbs.) is another big-bodied defender that has been highly productive with 14 tackles. Opponents have had success through the air with 7.2 yards per attempt, but the Bison secondary members have great hands and have already intercepted 5 passes. Howard’s defense was dominating in its most recent performance limiting Morehouse to 218 yards of total offense while not allowing a point. Achieving the same offensive success as last week will be difficult against this experienced squad.

Senior P Richard Phillip is averaging 35.9 yard per punt, while Howard has played two different kickers that have gone 3 for 6 on the season on field goals. Our punt and kickoff teams will have to tackle well this week to keep Howard’s explosive returners from getting loose.

See you at the Bowl!

20 replies on “Howard Preview”

Even when Yale had good attendance numbers, bad weather kept a big percentage of people at home. And now that almost every game is available on ESPN+ no one goes out of there way if conditions are miserable.

Still getting torched on pass defense. 3rd and 11, you know they are going to pass, and the receiver is wide open down to the 1.

As usual, Howard has made better halftime adjustments than Yale. They are defending the long pass and are controlling Yale’s defensive line much better than they were.

Mediocre performance at best. The running game was good, but the two fumbles made things more difficult. Luckily we made some big plays. Passing attack was feeble. Third down conversions were 5-14

Defense gave up a lot of yards and were on the field a long time.

Still, happy for the win.

Sloppy performance. Pitsenberger injury hurts, hopefully not serious. Peterson performed well in relief. Defense apparently too believing of the hype after the Cornell game; good QBs will pick them apart.

The award for worst performance of the day, though, goes to ESPN. No audio, no excuse for that. Clock in score bug not working in 1st quarter. And for heavens sake, wipe off the camera lens! Between the 40+ yard view of the field, the rain smudged lens and the silent movie mode, I felt like I was watching a 1950s game film. Nearly impossible to make out the jersey numbers (which are nice and large now) on my 70″ HDTV. Few replays, camera work that would make a high school AV club look Emmy-worthy…the broadcast was a complete embarrassment on every level. Again, no excuse. They charge money for this.

Lucky we have depth at RB.. We lost Alston before the season started. Pitsenberger looks like a true star but now he’s hurt too. We need Peterson to stay healthy. He displayed his ability to run for daylight and pick up huge yardage.
Howard was well prepared for Yale’s passing game and smothered every screen pass and had our best receivers covered on the deep passes. Whereas our defense was unable to get to the Howard qb who was extremely elusive and was able to evade sacks and find open receivers. Their last td exemplified the continued weakness in our pass defense.

Could anyone see Pitsenberger on the sideline after he was taken out? If so, how did he look?
Google The Avalon School’s football program for some insight into Pitsenberger’s gridiron credentials.
BTW, the production vale of the H v. HC game was excellent.

Understood. And I agree that the broadcast was classic/typical bush-league stuff from the Yale athletic department that specializes in doing things half-assed. But if ESPN is sharing in the revenue, they need to share in the blame. There’s plenty of it to go around, for sure.

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