HU's Top Five Sporting Events of Fall 2011

1. Earning The "Real HU" Title 

For the past 15 years, the Bison football team has lost to its rival Hampton Pirates at every match up. This year, Howard pulled out a win at Armstrong Stadium with a final score of 10-7. This gives the Bison one up on the Howard vs. Hampton "Real HU" battle. Kayla Luke, a freshman television production major, traveled to Hampton to support her school.

"I didn't know anything about the history. I just knew that we always lose," Luke said. "I was happy to know I witnessed the first game we won in 15 years. I felt like a part of the school history."

2. Showing Out at the Homecoming Game 

Another game we haven't won in years is our Homecoming game. The crowd was ecstatic when the final score flashed, 35-28 against the North Carolina A&T Aggies at our 2011 homecoming game. The Bison football team had won its first homecoming game in three years.

"It felt great to win because it hasn't been done in a while," said first year head football coach, Gary Harrell. "It does a lot for administration and seniors on the team. Anytime you have alumni in town to watch the game you know it's the main event."

At this year's homecoming game, most of the energy was coming from one place- the band.

"I don't remember winning a homecoming game since I've been here," said Malik Hayes, a senior audio production major and the band's drum major.

3. Beating ‘Da House' 

Howard competed against the Morehouse Maroon Tigers in AT&T's Nation Football Classic in late September at RFK Stadium. The Bison have won 22 of the two teams 34 meetings and the final score this year was 30-27.

"During the summer, all everyone talked about was the Morehouse game and Hampton game--not even our first game, just those two," said undecided freshman quarterback, Greg McGhee.

McGhee, who received the MVP award at the end of the Howard v. Morehouse matchup, looks forward to getting faster and stronger.

"I've learned a lot from this year and it's just a learning experience," McGhee said. "In the off-season I'm going to focus on trying to get better next year."

4. Winning our Lady Bison Volleyball Season Opener

Junior-health education major and Nashville native, Jasmine Tipton played outside hitter and defensive specialist in the lady bison's volleyball home opener beating Morgan State, 3-2.

Describing her mentality going into the game, Tipton says, "Okay, we lost the first set in the game so we got our first game jitters out. In the end we came together as a team and I was really proud of my teammates."

Even though they didn't have the best season, the Lady Bison need the support from the crowd.

"The turn out was better than what I anticipated," said head volleyball coach, Dawn Barnes. "Our football team was one of the biggest supporters of the season and we also had four local high schools come out to give them the college experience. The girls fed off that energy," Barnes said.