WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 10, 2022) - Although the Bison dropped a 50-21 decision to North Carolina Central (NCCU) last Saturday on the road that removed them from the unbeaten ranks in the MEAC standings, there is still plenty to play for when Howard hosts South Carolina State (SC State) on Saturday, Nov. 12. The game is scheduled for 1 pm and will be broadcast on ESPN3 and air tape-delayed Saturday night on ESPNU at 11 pm. To hear all the action, you can catch the game on the Howard University Sports Radio Network (www.hubison.com) with the team of Trevin A. Jones, Nathaniel "Nate" Henry and Kendall Lanier covering all angles.

Jay Walker and Tiffany Greene will call the action for the Bison on ESPN. The tandem is bringing #BlackCollegeLive, a pre-game tailgate show, live to Howard University on Friday, Nov. 11 at 2 p.m. Howard students who attend #BlackCollegeLive will receive complimentary tickets to the game on Saturday.

In the loss to the Eagles, Howard was victimized by explosive plays. NCCU had plays of 73, 64, 66 and 60 yards and it kept the ball-control Howard offense playing catchup the entire game.

"There's no question about it. When you give up big plays to start the game, it changes your strategy and game plan," said Howard Head Coach Larry Scott.  "It was one of the oddest starts of the game that I have ever been associated with."

Scott elaborates, "We had a receiver who got behind the secondary on the first play and we overthrow him. Then we have another play where the running back is open over the middle, and we underthrow him. From that, they took advantage, hitting us with a big 73-yard TD pass and then coming right back giving up a safety. Despite that, we were able to regroup and only trail, 15-7. But each time they had an answer and kept us at bay with explosive plays that put us in a precarious situation. Give them credit. Their coaches had them prepared and they played a complete game."

Scott adds that the Bison have to quickly put the loss behind them and look to finish the season out strong, beginning this week with the always tough Bulldogs. The defending MEAC and Celebration champions, SC State (3-6, 1-2 in the MEAC) has uncharacteristically dropped two straight conference games for the first time since 2017. Its most recent loss was a 27-24 overtime road loss at Delaware State last week. The Bulldogs handed North Carolina Central its only conference loss of the season

"SC State is a very proud program and we have our work cut out for us," explains Scott. "They have a great coach in Buddy Pough and he has a great staff. They have good players. For us, we will have to be prepared and play well. We are playing for a strong finish and continue to build for the future success of this program."

The Bulldogs will be without the services of its starting quarterback Corey Fields, who is out for the remainder of the season with a thumb injury, but they have in Shaquan "Shaq" Davis one of the most dangerous players in the FCS. The Celebration Bowl MVP has 33 receptions for 650 yards and eight TDs on the season.

"You have to pay attention to him," says Scott without hesitation. "He has the ability to change the game at any time."

The encouraging thing for the Bison is that Davis will be going against the Number 2 pass defense in the conference, having allowed only seven TD passes all season.

"Howard is a much-improved team," says SC State's venerable Coach Pough of 22 years and the dean of MEAC coaches. "I have been watching them since last year and you can see how much their young players have improved. They are steadily getting better."

After being taken out of their element against NCCU, the Bison hope to return to its balanced attack that features ball control with its run game (158 yards per game) that spreads the love equally to Jarett Hunter (5-10, 205, JR, Mineral, VA), Eden James (5-10, 195, FR, Port St. Lucie, FL), Ian Wheeler (5-10, 205, SR, Houston, TX)  and Kasey Hawthorne (5-11, 200, JR, Sebring, MD) and a passing game, which ranks second in the MEAC in that category with 215 yards per game. Senior quarterback Quinton Williams (6-5, 200, SR, Upper Marlboro, MD) does a nice job of spreading the ball to several targets including graduate wide receiver Antoine Murray (38 receptions, 548 yards, 4 TDs), who is second in the conference behind Davis of SC State.

As for post-season implications (see tie breaker format below), Howard will need to win its last two games and NCCU has to lose its final conference game at Norfolk State this weekend to earn a Celebration Bowl bid. There are other possible scenarios in the tightly contested race, but the bottom line is that the Bison are able to finish as MEAC co-champion or the outright champion, no matter what the Eagles do.

"There is something at stake here for this program," reminds Scott. "We want to continue to display our brand as a university and football program. This is about that as well as pride."

An added motivation is that it will be Senior Day for 14 members of the team who will be honored in the pre-game ceremonies as they will be playing their last home game in a Bison uniform. The senior members of the student support staff will also be recognized for their contributions.

BISON HOOVES:  Howard Director of Football Operations David Davis is a SC State alum, having played there under Coach Pough...Howard longtime team physician Dr. Terry Thompson is also a Bulldog...SC State holds a 37-11 advantage in the series between the two institutions...HU alum and Howard and MEAC Hall of Famer, Jay "Sky" Walker and FAMU's Tiffany Greene will be doing the broadcast of the game on ESPN.

NEXT UP: Howard travels up the BWI Parkway to take on the Bears of Morgan State next Saturday at 12 Noon in the regular season finale.

Below are various tiebreaking scenarios that would determine the MEAC's participant in the Cricket Celebration Bowl:

• If NCCU defeats NSU and HOW loses to either SCSU or MSU: NCCU wins the MEAC title outright and goes to the Cricket Celebration Bowl.
• If NCCU defeats NSU and HOW wins out: NCCU and HOW are declared co-champions; NCCU goes to the Cricket Celebration Bowl.
• If NSU defeats NCCU, MSU wins out, and SCSU loses to either HOW or NSU: NCCU and MSU are declared co-champions; NCCU goes to the Cricket Celebration Bowl.
• If NSU defeats NCCU, MSU and SCSU both win out: NCCU, MSU, and SCSU are declared co-champions; NCCU goes to the Cricket Celebration Bowl.
• If NSU defeats NCCU and HOW wins out: HOW wins the MEAC title outright and goes to the Cricket Celebration Bowl.
• If NSU defeats NCCU and HOW loses to either SCSU or MSU: NCCU and HOW are declared co-champions; NCCU goes to the Cricket Celebration Bowl.
• If NSU defeats NCCU, SCSU wins out, and HOW defeats MSU: NCCU, HOW, and SCSU are declared co-champions; SCSU goes to the Cricket Celebration Bowl.
• If NSU defeats NCCU, DSU defeats MSU, and HOW loses to either SCSU or MSU: NCCU, HOW, and DSU are declared co-champions; NCCU goes to the Cricket Celebration Bowl.
• If NSU defeats NCCU, DSU defeats MSU, SCSU wins out, and HOW defeats MSU: NCCU, DSU, HOW, and SCSU are declared co-champions; SCSU goes to the Cricket Celebration Bowl.

MEAC Football Tiebreaker System
 
The tiebreaker system is used to determine which team will receive the conference's berth to the Celebration Bowl. For a two-team or multiple team tie, if the tied teams played each other, head-to-head competition will be used to determine the representative. For multiple ties, the head-to-head record versus all teams tied will be used to break the tie.
 
Once the multiple team tie has been broken and there are two teams still tied, then you go back to head-to-head matchup. (The team that won the head-to-head matchup shall receive the berth to the Celebration Bowl.)

1. If a tie still exists, then the following shall be used:
   1. Six (6) points will be awarded for a win against a non-conference Division I FBS team.
   2. Four (4) points will be awarded for a win against a non-conference Division I FCS team.
   3. Four (4) points will be subtracted for a loss against a non-Division I opponent.
   4. The team with the highest point total shall receive the berth to the Celebration Bowl.
2. If a tie still exists, then the following shall be used:

2. 1. The team with the highest Sagarin ranking will win the tiebreaker
   2. A coin toss by the Commissioner will be the last tool used to break the tie