During their non-conference schedule, Howard University’s football team has seen competition from no less than five different leagues.
After a 2-4 finish in that regard, Bison head coach Larry Scott has his guys focused on the MEAC gauntlet that starts Saturday at the famed Howard homecoming game against Norfolk State. The game will be televised live at noon Eastern on ESPNU.
“This is why we play football at Howard: for MEAC titles and a shot at the Celebration Bowl,” Scott said during Monday’s MEAC coaches’ conference. “We’re in a five-game season and playing one game at a time. Norfolk State is hungry for a win. They’ve had some success this season. They’re athletic, fast, can hit you, run around, and make plays, so we’ve got to make sure we’ve got our hard hats on and be ready to go to work.”
The Spartans also finished non-conference play 2-4 following a 24-17 loss to Tennessee State for the Tigers’ homecoming on Oct. 14. NSU head coach Dawson Odums says that tightening up in each phase of the game will be key not only against Howard, but for the rest of their MEAC schedule as well.
“We’ve shown signs that we can be really good or really bad,” Odums said. “We haven’t played all three phases yet, so there are some things that we need to clean up. We’re playing a really tough Howard team. Coach Scott has done a heck of a job with his team. We’re going into a hostile environment, so we’ve just got to find a way to get this thing done.”
Odums also sees no problem with playing at someone’s homecoming for the second straight week.
“The focus is going 1-0 that week,” he explains. “The way our schedule is set up, especially in the MEAC, you’re going to play somebody for homecoming. It’s up to you to do something about it. If you don’t want to be someone’s homecoming opponent, go win football games.”
