Washington, DC---The Howard University football team had its best performance of the season, but in the end, too many mistakes and missed opportunities proved to be the difference as it fell, 37-19 to Hampton in the AT&T Nation's Football Classic at RFK Stadium.
The Bison (0-3, 0-1 in the MEAC) failed to score in their first two outings against FBS opponents and early on, it appeared as though the pattern would continue. Hampton (2-1, 1-0 in the MEAC) got on the board early when David Watford connected with Thomas Allen from 21 yards to take a 7-0 lead at the 10:10 mark of the first period.
On the Bison's ensuing possession, they appeared to get some rhythm and moved the ball to the Pirates' 21-yard line, its deepest penetration of the year. But the drive ended when Jamie Cunningham, who was playing for the first time this season, threw the first of three interceptions on the day.
Hampton took advantage of the miscue and used almost 8 minutes off the clock to march 72 yards in 15 plays and take a 13-0 lead near the end of the first quarter.
Three possession later, Aquanius Freeman, who had an outstanding day, proved to be the calatyst as he led his team on a drive to the Hampton 28-yard line. But as it would turn out, the potential scoring ended when Freeman fumbled, giving the ball back to the Pirates.
Meanwhile, the Howard defense, led by Ibrahima Kebe, David Lee, Jalen Day and Travon Hunt, began to contain Watford and the Pirates' offense, holding them to without a touchdown the rest of the half.
It would give the Bison offense some confidence as Freeman would account for all the yards in a five-play, 46-yard drives that resulted in their first touchdown of the season. The 5-10 red-shirt senior scored on a 35-yard jaunt with a little over a minute left before halftime. For good measure, Freeman scored the two-point conversion to get within, 13-8.
Howard appeared to be in good shape but Hampton made just enough plays on a 44-yard drive to get a 30-yard field from Adam Brown and take a 16-8 lead to the locker room.
The Pirates used that as momentum and Watford engineered a 75-yard, 11-play drive over a five-minute stretch to extend the lead to 23-8 with 10:01 in the third period.
But Howard refused to quit and following one of two fumble recoveries on the day by Day, the Bison had yet another opportunity deep in Hampton territory. But the Bison lost yards on three attempts and were forced to settle for 39-yard field goal by John Fleck, making it 23-11 at the 6:05 mark of the third quarter.
Later, another Bison mistake, this, an interception by Cunningham at the Howard 30-yard line, gave the Pirates' short field and it took them five plays to go 30 yards and open a 30-11 lead early in the fourth quarter.
But the Bison were not done and they refused to fold. Cunningham took his team 83 yards---the longest drive of the season—in only 9 plays to reduce the deficit to 30-19 with over 8 minutes still remaining. The drive was culminated on a 19-yard hookup from Cunningham to Matt Colvin, Freeman again played a role as he scored on a two-point conversion following a pass from Cunningham.
Watford answered for Hampton on its next possession, taking his team on a 75-yard drive that was capped off with a 3-yard run by Dewayne Garrett at the 3:09 mark to close out the scoring and snap the Bison's four-game win streak over Hampton in the series.
Watford, the game MVP, passed for 279 yards and a TD and added another 58 yards and 2 TDs on the ground.
Freeman finished with 129 yards rushing and a TD while also grabbing a team-high 6 passes. Cunningham passed for 168 yards and a TD.
Defensively for Howard, Day recovered 2 fumbles and Travon Hunt intercepted 2 passes.
NEXT UP: Howard will try to get its first win and stay in the hunt for the MEAC race when it travels to Chicago, IL to take on the Bears of Morgan State next Saturday in the Chicago Classic at Soldier's Field while the Pirates take on rival Norfolk State.
