Ted White Got His First Howard Win. The Bison Showed Him Something Bigger
Ted White’s first win as Howard’s head football coach ended with a trophy in Atlanta, but the useful part came before the celebration. Howard had lost its lead, fallen behind in the fourth quarter and reached the point where a promising HBCU football debut could have become a frustrating loss. The Bison responded with an 83-yard touchdown drive and beat Alabama A&M 31-24 in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge.
For White, a former Howard quarterback returning to lead his alma mater, the victory carried obvious emotion. The night included family members and former teammates who had come to Atlanta to watch him earn his first win as an HBCU head coach. White called it a special moment he would remember, but his reaction to how Howard won may matter longer than the milestone itself.
“We had to dig deep to really win this football game,” White said after the game.
By Monday morning, White had another way to describe what he saw from his first Howard team. The Bison, he said, “didn’t blink.”
Howard had to answer before White could celebrate
Howard controlled much of the first half and took a 20-7 lead before Alabama A&M cut the advantage to 20-14 at halftime. Matt Conord’s third field goal gave the Bison a 23-14 advantage late in the third quarter, but the Bulldogs kept coming. Alabama A&M scored 10 unanswered points and moved ahead 24-23 with 7:49 remaining.
Howard had gone from controlling the game to needing a late response to save White’s debut. The fourth-quarter sequence showed how quickly the momentum had changed, and it gave White an early look at how his HBCU program would respond when the comfortable version of the game disappeared.
During Monday’s MEAC coaches call, White acknowledged Howard had wasted opportunities. Drives stalled, Ja’Shawn Scroggins took sacks and a turnover near scoring territory gave Alabama A&M another possession. Still, White saw something he had spent the offseason trying to develop.
“Those guys didn’t blink at all,” White said. “We was just worried about the next play.”
That response fits the program White described before his first kickoff. In July, White explained what he wanted Howard football to represent, including a physical, disciplined and situationally aware approach. Against Alabama A&M, those ideas received their first real test on an HBCU football stage.
Scroggins gave Howard an answer
Scroggins first had to win the quarterback job before he could deliver White’s first victory. White said Monday that Scroggins benefited from spending the offseason, spring and summer in the system. When the coaching staff evaluated the competition as a whole, White believed Scroggins gave Howard its best opportunity to win the opener.
The decision paid off. Scroggins threw for 315 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. He also led Howard with 49 rushing yards, while the Bison finished with 436 yards of offense, converted both fourth-down attempts and scored on all five trips into the red zone.
His most important sequence came after Howard surrendered the lead. The Bison took possession at their own 17 with 5:17 remaining. On fourth-and-2 from the Howard 36, Scroggins kept the ball and gained 13 yards. One play later, he connected with Se’Quan Osborne for a 51-yard touchdown that restored Howard’s lead with 2:41 left.
Howard still needed one more stop. Aidan Foster forced a fumble on Alabama A&M’s final possession, and Rodney Roane Jr. recovered it with 27 seconds remaining. For a team beginning a new HBCU football era under White, the sequence offered an early answer about whether Howard could handle pressure without losing its composure.
White’s first win came with plenty to fix
There is a temptation to make a coach’s first victory evidence that everything is changing, especially when the coach is a former star returning to lead his HBCU alma mater. Howard is not there yet, and White’s own comments suggest he understands the difference between resilience and clean football.
The Bison allowed Alabama A&M to erase a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit. Howard rushed for 114 yards on 40 attempts, an average of 2.9 yards per carry, while surrendering four sacks. The defense also gave up 405 total yards, and seven penalties cost Howard 67 yards.
White said Monday that Howard wasted drives and settled for field goals when touchdowns were available. Against Richmond, he warned, the Bison cannot expect those same opportunities to remain available. That distinction matters because White has never presented Howard as a finished product.
Before the opener, HBCU Gameday examined how quickly his first team would be judged with Howard opening on ABC and entering a schedule that offered very few quiet weeks for a first-year staff to develop. One game should not suddenly turn the Bison into a finished MEAC contender, but it does give White evidence that his team can respond when a game changes direction.
His quarterback answered. The defense got the ball back when the game demanded it. Howard finished instead of spending the next week explaining how one got away. For a first-year coach building an HBCU program in public, that is useful tape.
Richmond offers a different test
Howard does not get much time to enjoy the first one. Richmond comes to Greene Stadium after beating Bucknell 35-14, scoring touchdowns on its first three possessions and building a 28-0 halftime lead. That fast start gives Howard a clear picture of how quickly Saturday can get away from a team that wastes opportunities.
White already understands the difference between the two challenges. During Monday’s call, he called Richmond scrappy and physical while emphasizing that Howard cannot leave points on the field the way it occasionally did against Alabama A&M. Saturday will give the Bison another opportunity to show whether the response White praised in Atlanta can become part of Howard’s identity.
White’s first victory will always carry personal significance because he earned it leading the HBCU program where he once played quarterback. His family was there, former teammates were there and the Bison gave him the moment he envisioned when he returned to Howard. The larger question now is whether the composure Howard showed after falling behind can survive beyond one emotional opening night.
White said Howard did not blink in Atlanta. Richmond gives the Bison their first opportunity to show that response can become a habit.