Howard falls to Rutgers in Season Opener

PISCATAWAY, NJ, – Howard University played its host tough, trailing only 14-7 in the second quarter, but the defense was unable to stop the running game of the Scarlet Knights as the Bison fell, 44-7, in a nonconference game against Rutgers (1-0) at the SHI Stadium before 47,803.

BOX SCORE

The game started slow until a Ja’Shawn Scroggins (Las Vegas) pass was intercepted and return for the game’s first score, 7-0.

The Bison (0-1) regrouped and played strong defensively until the Scarlet Knights unleashed their running game, led by running back Kyle Monanagai, who picked up a game-high 165 yards and a TD.

Rutgers took advantage of Howard’s miscues and went 55 yards in seven plays to take a 14-0 lead.

The Bison responded with an 11-play drive, spearheaded by the running of Eden James to cut the deficit to 14-7 with 40 seconds before the half.

But before Howard could go in with some momentum, Rutgers took advantage of a Bison miscue and turned it into a 36-yard field goal to take a 17-7 lead to the locker room.

Howard smartly drove from its own 20 to Rutgers 39 but was unable to convert on fourth down.

From there, the Scarlet Knights scored 27 unanswered points to close out the victory.

The Scarlet Knights amassed 329 total rushing yards while the Bison collected 145 yards on the ground.

Scroggins, a sophomore redshirt, started his first game and finished with 67 rushing yards and 116 yards in the air.

Hunter got off to slow start but finished with 40 yards rushing and two receptions for 16 yards.

James finished with 33 yards and a TD, most coming in the first half.

While the score was not in question, so was the play of graduate All-American safety Kenny Gallop Jr. who finished with 14 tackles (eight solo) and a half sack.