The Ted White Howard debut is officially in the books, and it came with a signature moment. Howard held off Alabama A&M 31-24 Saturday night at Center Parc Stadium in Atlanta, capping the MEAC/SWAC Challenge with a forced fumble that sealed the Bison’s first win in the event’s history. For White, a Howard legend making his return to The Mecca as head coach, it doesn’t get much bigger than an ABC audience and a signature-worthy finish.
A Back-and-Forth Season Opener
Howard raced out to a 10-0 lead behind a methodical opening drive and a Matt Conord field goal, then stretched it to 13-0 early in the second quarter. Alabama A&M answered, though, scoring twice before halftime to trail just 20-14 at the break. The Bulldogs kept chipping away in the second half, eventually taking their first lead of the game, 24-23, on a David Faulk field goal early in the fourth quarter.
That’s when Ja’Shawn Scroggins and the Howard offense delivered the answer. Facing a fourth-and-2 with under four minutes to go, Scroggins broke off a 13-yard scramble to keep the drive alive, then found Se’Quan Osborne over the middle for a 51-yard touchdown that put the Bison back in front for good, 31-24.
Scroggins Delivers Under Pressure
Scroggins was the engine of the Howard offense all night, completing 19 of 36 passes for 315 yards and three touchdowns. He spread the ball around, connecting with six different receivers, and consistently found room against a scrambling Alabama A&M defense on third and fourth down. Nathanial Clark led Howard’s receivers with six catches for 39 yards and a touchdown, while Semaj Pierre and Osborne each provided the big chunk plays Howard needed, with Pierre hauling in a 54-yard catch in the first quarter and Osborne closing the door with his fourth-quarter score.
Howard’s running game struggled to find consistent lanes against Alabama A&M’s front, managing just 114 yards on 40 carries. Travis Kerney led the way with 41 yards. That imbalance meant Scroggins and the passing attack had to carry the offense, and on this night, they did exactly that.
The Fumble That Sealed It
With Alabama A&M driving deep into Howard territory in the final two minutes, Aidan Foster forced a fumble that Rodney Roane Jr. recovered at the Howard 21-yard line, ending the Bulldogs’ last real scoring chance. Foster finished with two quarterback hurries and the game-clinching forced fumble, while Roane Jr. was everywhere defensively, adding an interception earlier in the third quarter to go along with his fumble recovery. It capped a night in which Howard’s defense bent constantly against Cornelious Brown’s arm — the Alabama A&M quarterback threw for 254 yards and two scores — but never fully broke.
According to ESPN’s coverage of the Challenge, the MEAC/SWAC event has become one of the higher-profile early-season showcases for HBCU football, and Saturday’s finish only added to that reputation. Howard trailed for a stretch of the fourth quarter before answering right back, exactly the kind of response a first-year coaching staff wants to see from its team.
A Symbolic Return to The Mecca
White’s path back to Howard has been well documented. He set MEAC career records for passing yards and touchdowns as a Bison quarterback in the 1990s before building a two-decade coaching résumé that included stops at UCLA, Maryland, Prairie View A&M and the Houston Texans. Howard hired him in January to replace Larry Scott, who left for Auburn, and Saturday marked the first real test of what White’s program looks like on the field. A win, on national television, against a SWAC opponent, is about as clean a starting point as a new coach could ask for.
Howard’s MEAC title hopes will now shift toward conference play, but Saturday’s win offers early proof that the culture White promised at his introductory press conference is translating to Saturdays. The Bison controlled time of possession 36:04 to 23:56 and converted seven of 18 third downs, numbers that speak to a team that dictated tempo even while trailing.
What’s Next for Howard
Howard improves to 1-0 to open the season, while Alabama A&M drops to 0-1. The result also gives White’s Howard Bison program early momentum heading into a stretch of games that will shape the MEAC race. For a coach making his debut in front of a national audience, a hard-fought comeback win says more than a blowout ever could — it shows a team willing to fight through adversity, something White will lean on all season long.
The Bison now turn their attention to preparing for their next opponent, carrying the confidence of a signature road win into the heart of their schedule.
