The season is coming to a close but the losses continue to pile up for the Howard Bison, who suffered their fourth-straight defeat Nov. 6 in a 54-14 shellacking by the South Carolina State Bulldogs in Orangeburg, S.C.
S.C. quarterback Malcolm Long threw for 275 yards and two scores, powering S.C. State to a 37-7 halftime lead. When Long wasn’t torching Howard through the air, running back Chris Merrill was gashing them on the ground, accounting for three scores on just 42 yards rushing.
South Carolina State (7-2, 5-1 MEAC) won their eighth game of the past nine matchups with Howard (1-8, 0-6), who haven’t won a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference game since 2007. It was a sloppy game for Howard, as they committed five turnovers and were flagged for a game-high 10 penalties, resulting in 100 yards. Howard racked up almost as much penalty yardage as it did total yardage, totaling just 179 yards on the day, and finished the game with minus-seven yards rushing.
Howard also saw a familiar quarterback shuffle, as head coach Carey Bailey rotated three signal callers in Terry Bradden, Randy Liggins, Jr. and Casey Council. Bradden led Howard with 175 passing yards and a touchdown toss, but was intercepted twice. Howard’s quarterback trio was picked off a total of four times on the afternoon.
For the fourth time this season, and the third time in the last five games, an opponent scored more than 50 points against Howard’s defense, who were seemingly powerless against a well-balanced S.C. State offense. Howard’s winless MEAC streak may continue when they travel to Daytona Beach, Fla. to battle the undefeated Bethune-Cookman Wildcats (9-0) on Nov. 13.
