WASHINGTON, DC -- The Howard University football team will be looking to break its winless streak when it hosts the Tigers of Savannah State on Saturday at 1 pm in Greene Stadium.  The game will be webcast on the Howard Sports Radio Network by going to www.whbc963hd3.com.  Trevin Jones will handle the play-by-play and Mike Lindo will provide color commentary.

The game will serve both as Howard's Breast Cancer Awareness game and Community Day.

The Bison (0-7 overall, 0-5 in the MEAC) dropped their seventh straight in a 65-14 defeat at North Carolina A&T on October 24. Howard played perhaps one of their best first quarters of the season, actually leading 14-13 at one point before things fell apart.

"When you play against a great team like A&T, you have to play almost perfect football," said Howard head coach Gary "Flea" Harrell.  "I thought we came out strong, but in the end, you cannot commit penalties and turn the ball over if you want a chance to win.  We have to correct those kind of mistakes this week against Savannah State."

The Tigers (1-5 overall, 1-3 in the MEAC), who have struggled to get wins in the MEAC since joining the league, scored a big victory over Florida A&M this season and will be looking to win two games in a season for the first time since joining the conference.

"I came here to build a program that has had 20 years of losing," said Savannah State head coach Earnest Wilson, III, in his third season at the helm.  "It is a slow process but we have made strides."

The Tigers have never won against the Bison, having dropped eight straight to them, but they have special motivation.

"For us to get two wins at this point would be significant for the program after what we have been through," noted Wilson.  "Howard is better than their record so we know we will have to play well."

Howard has had problems on offense this season, failing to score, turning the ball over and getting too many drive-killing penalties.  The special teams, which have played strong over the past two years, have had their problems of late, giving up punt returns for touchdowns in back-to-back games.

"We are playing a lot of young players and backups on special teams and it has hurt us," commented Harrell.

The defense, on the other hand, has been getting some strong individual performances from Jalen Day, Craig Johnson, Damon Gresham Chisolm, David Lee, Ibrahima Kebe, Kenneth Russ, Jacob Bennett and Travon Hunt.

"When you look at the film, you can see where their defense is playing hard and making plays," said Wilson.  "We have some talented young players on offense who we are moving around to get the most out of them.  Their defense is definitely going to pose some problems for us."

NEXT UP
Savannah State travels to Norfolk, VA to play the Spartans of Norfolk State next week while the Bison travel to New York to play Stony Brook next Saturday at 1 pm.