Howard University played yet another outstanding defensive game, and the offense rode the effort of Eden James in the second half but came up short 23-20 at Northwestern.
The Bison (2-3) got off to a slow start, allowing the Wildcats to march 75 yards on six plays to take a 7-0 lead at the 11:31 mark.
The Howard defense, which stood tall all day, settled in and shut down the Northwestern offense, coming up with several negative plays.
The Wildcats (3-3, 1-2 in the Big 10) took advantage of a Bison miscue, recording a safety a little less than four minutes later when Howard graduate quarterback Quinton Williams was called for intentional grounding in the end zone resulting into a 9-0, Northwestern lead.
From there, it became a battle of the defenses. On the Bison’s most encouraging drive of the half, Eden James began to find some daylight and helped his team move down to its deepest penetration of the game
Howard was within scoring position with the ball at the Wildcats’ 25-yard line. But on fourth down and 2 at the Northwestern 20-yards, James was tackled for a three-yard loss, turning the ball over on downs.
The Wildcats took advantage as they put together a 14-play drive that covered 77 yards and used 5:31 off the clock to take a 16-0 lead to the locker room.
Howard came out of the locker room and proceeded to put together a 74-yard drive that took 17 plays and used up almost 8 minutes off the clock. Reserve red-shirt freshman quarterback Ja’Shawn Scroggins capped off the drive with a one-yard plunge to make it 16-7 with 7:05 on the clock.
The Wildcats answered five minutes later on a 35-yard hookup between Brandan Sullivan to Calvin Johnson.
The Bison again turned to its defense, and it set up their next scoring opportunity when James, a sophomore, burst off the right side and raced 64 yards for the touchdown to get Howard to 23-13 with 7:40 in the fourth quarter.
The defense again gave the offense an opportunity, and they capitalized on a one-yard dive by senior running back Jarett Hunter following an eight-play, 63-yard drive, making the score 23-20 with 2:32 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Howard tried an onside kick, but Northwestern recovered it and ran out the clock.
James had his best day as a collegian, rushing for a career-high 177 on 21 carries and catching three passes for 36 yards. Williams completed 18 of 30 for 169 yards but was sacked three times.
Junior wide receiver Richie Illaraza had his best day of the season, grabbing seven catches 65 yards
On defense, it was a team effort as Senior defensive back Ray Williams, junior linebacker Terrence Hollon, and senior defensive back Carson Hinton all collected eight tackles. Hinton recorded a career-high two tackles for losses.
