Turnovers Prove Costly In Howard Loss To Georgetown
WASHINGTON, D.C. -
Howard University committed five turnovers-including a costly one
late in the game–as the Bison dropped a 12-7 decision to
Georgetown University in the First Annual DC Mayor’s Cup game at
Greene Stadium. This was the first meeting between the two
schools.
Needing only a touchdown to pull
out the win with 1:32 left in the game, Howard quarterback Floyd
Haigler moved his team from its own 23-yard line to the Georgetown
34 with 46 seconds remaining. During the drive, Haigler
completed three straight passes. But then disaster struck as
Haigler dropped the ball before attempting a pass.
The Hoyas’ Chris Parker fell on the
ball and Georgetown ran out the clock to secure the victory.
“I look at it as a game of
miscues,” said Howard second year coach Carey Bailey. “You
can’t turn the ball over five times and put yourself in a position
to win a ball game. We had some missed opportunities on
offense and also two big plays which led to the final score on
defense.”
The Bison got their only score of
the game on their second possession of the opening period when
Haigler (17 of 30, 183 yards, 1 TD) engineered a seven-play,
47-yard drive that was punctuated by a 5-yard TD pass to freshman
wide receiver Willie Carter (4 receptions for 23 yards).
Meanwhile, the Howard defense
proved to be dominant in the early going, limiting the Hoyas to 9
total yards of offense in the first quarter.
Howard squandered opportunities,
but they did not prove to be costly until the turnovers
started. A Floyd pass was picked off by Paul Sant’ Ambrogio
and returned to the Howard 47-yard line. A 15-yard penalty
was tacked on, giving Georgetown its best field position at the
Howard 38-yard line.
Rejuvenated, the Hoyas drove down
to the Bison 2-yard line, but the Howard defense stiffened and
forced a 19-yard field goal by Casey Dobyns that made it, 7-3 with
5:57 before halftime.
Although Georgetown did not get the
TD, it subtly changed the momentum of the game. The Bison
began to struggle on offense to get anything going and they
compounded their problems with some poor punts.
“I thought our punting was
horrendous,” noted Bailey.
A 22-yard punt gave Georgetown
excellent field position again and the Hoyas seemed to take
advantage of it when they drove to the Bison 19-yard. But a
Dobyns’ 36-yard field attempt that would have cut into the deficit,
hit the upright.
The Bison came out of the locker
room with a lot of energy in the third quarter, outgaining the
Hoyas, 79-17 on offensive yards while holding the ball for over 9
of the 15 minutes. Yet it went for naught as they failed to
take advantage during a scoreless third quarter.
Georgetown was finally able to take
control. On the Hoyas’first possession of the fourth quarter,
James Brady (12 of 20, 131 yards) found Kenny Mitchell behind the
Bison secondary for a 31-yard TD. It capped off a 69-yard
drive, but more importantly gave Georgetown a 9-7 lead and some
boosted confidence.
“We’ve been doing press techniques
all summer in practice and James looked at me when he called the
play and he said it’s one-on-one, so use your speed,” explained
Mitchell. “So I ran and looked up and the ball was there. All
I had to do was catch it. That score was big for us.”
The Bison (0-1) moved the ball some
on their possession, but Floyd was sacked on third down and Howard
was forced to punt.
Georgetown (1-0) put together an
energy-sapping 14-play, 67-yard drive that ate up over six
minutes. The Hoyas had to settle for a 30-yard field goal by
Dobyns that made the score, 12-7 Georgetown.
“As the game went on, I thought our
tackling wasn’t as good at times,” said Coach Bailey. “We had
the opportunity on the South end to get a sack and ended up letting
them get a plus two yards. Those are the type of
opportunities that you can’t get back.”
The mistake bug hit the Bison again
on the ensuing kickoff when the return team failed to field a short
kick, thus allowing the Hoyas to recover at the Bison 29.
The Howard defense which played
tough all day, forced a 40-yard field goal attempt by Dobyns that
went wide left. That set up the Bison’s last possession that
ended in its fifth turnover.
“The majority of our problems right
now are that we have to do a better job of securing the ball and
making the right decisions,” said Bailey.
For Georgetown, the win is big for
a team that is coming off a 1-10 season.
“This game could have gone either
way,” said a happy Georgetown Coach Kevin Kelly. “Howard
played an excellent football game as well. We just made a few
more plays than them.”
GAME NOTES:
The loss overshadowed an outstanding performance by senior middle
linebacker Endor Cooper…The senior MEAC pre-season defensive
player of the year, finished with 18 tackles, including 2.5 for
losses…the Bison defense held the Hoyas to 233 yards of total
offense…other players who had fine days on defense were junior
safety Martin Corniffe (5 tackles), sophomore linebacker Patrick
Jean-Mary (5 tackles), red-shirt junior Arando Jamison (4 tackles,
2 for losses) and junior defensive lineman James Carter (4 tackles,
a tackle for a loss)…senior RB Karlos Whittaker came off the
bench to lead all rushers with 74 yards on 17 carries, but he
fumbled twice…senior wide receiver Arlandus Hood had the best
game of his career, grabbing 9 passes for 114 yards.
NEXT UP: The
Bison travel to MEAC rival Hampton University next Saturday for a 6
pm class with the Pirates while the Hoyas travel to Lafayette for a
1:30 game.
The original story was published here: http://www.howard-bison.com/sports/fball/2008/News/Turnovers_Prove_Costly_In_Howard_Loss_To_Georgetown
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