WASHINGTON (September 18, 2021) – Junior quarterback Quinton Williams (Upper Marlboro, Md.) passed for a career-high 357 yards and three touchdowns, but four costly turnovers proved to be too much to overcome as Howard University dropped a 48-32 decision to its bitter rival Hampton University at the First Annual Truth and Service Classic at Audi Field before 14,577 fans.
 
The Pirates (2-1, 0-0 in the Big South) set the tone early, moving 65 yards that was capped off by an eight-yard run by Keyondre White.
 
Following back-to-back three and outs by the Bison (0-3, 0-0 in the MEAC), Hampton threatened to take control of the game.
 
The Pirates' Jett Duffey connected with Tyler Thompson on a deep pattern who got behind the secondary on what appeared to be TD, but Antoine Walker tackled him at the Bison 10-yard line. It would later prove to a big play as the Bison defense held and forced a Hampton field goal attempt that went wide right.
 
It gave the Bison momentum and a shot in the arm as it took them only three plays to go 80 yards. Williams found senior wideout Antoine Murray (Miramar, Fla.) alone behind the Hampton defense to tie the score at seven apiece.
 
Howard held Hampton on the next possession, but failed to get a first down, forcing a 22-yard punt that gave the opportunistic Pirates a short field. It took only two plays for them to take the lead at 14-7 early in the second quarter.
 
The Bison did not waver and answered with a five-play, 80-yard drive that was finished off with a 16-yard pass from Williams to junior tight end Thomas Vi (Brentwood, Calif.) knot the score at 14 with 6:45 before halftime.
 
It took the Pirates a little over two minutes to regain the lead at 21-14 when Elijah Burris capped off a five-play, 75-yard drive with a one-yard dive with 4:43.
 
This was turning into a shootout and an entertaining game for the crowd that included HU alum, VP Kamala Harris, who performed the opening coin flip.  Hoping to go in deadlocked at intermission, Howard instead had to settle for a career-long 44-yard field by senior kicker Faraji Woodson (Greensboro, N.C.) to trail 21-17 at the half.
 
Hampton took control of the game in the third quarter, parlaying two Bison turnovers and a big play in the passing game to open a 42-17 lead at the end of three quarters.
 
Williams was intercepted twice and fumbled once, allowing the opportunistic Hampton Pirates to convert them into scores.
The Bison came into the game, having committed only two turnovers in the first two contests.
 
"In games like this, you just can't turn the ball over," said Howard second-year head coach Larry Scott. "Those turnovers were huge. It is hard enough to win and with us being such a young football team, it makes even more difficult. We are going to go back to this game, especially in the way it ended because there were four or five critical plays that decided it."
 
Despite what appeared to be an insurmountable deficit, the Bison fought their way back into the game in the fourth quarter. 
 
Williams atoned for his miscues and engineered drives of 71 yards and 59 yards for scores, including a successful two-point conversion to get his team back in the game 42-32 with a little over seven minutes remaining on the clock.
 
Sensing the urgency of stopping the Pirates, who rolled 557 yards on offense on the day, Howard forced the Pirates into a third and long in Pirates territory. But Hampton picked up 18 yards on a 3^rd-&-13 to keep the drive alive and run some valuable time off the clock.
 
The Bison were able to stand tall and stop the Pirates with time still left on the clock, but Howard committed its fourth turnover of the game deep in its own territory and the Hampton graciously turned into six points and secure the win.
 
"Give Hampton credit," offered Scott. "They did a great job on capitalizing on our mistakes."
 
Williams was 23-of-40 as Howard piled up a season high in total offense (430) and in (32) points. Murray finished with 106 yards on four catches and a TD while sophomore wideout Kasey Hawthorne (Sebring, Fla.) also registered four for 66 yards and a score.
 
Hampton was led by Duffie, who was an efficient 14-of-22 for 300 yards and two TDs. Darran Butts, who led all rushers with 92 yards on 10 carries, and Hezekiah Grimsley, who caught three passes for 165 yards, including a 95-yard TD.
 
The Bison go on the road to Pittsburgh to take on Robert Morris next Saturday (Sept. 25) at 1 p.m.

For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at www.HUBison.com.