A week after whipping Norfolk State 37-7 in the Battle of the Bay, Hampton takes on Howard in the Battle of the Real HU.

Hampton's oldest rival, the teams have met 97 times with Hampton leading the series 52-42-1.

Hampton has dominated the series in recent years, winning the last seven match-ups from 2015-23. In addition, the Pirates have won 21 of the last 25 games including a 14-game winning streak from 1997-10.
But it hasn't always been easy. Hampton won the last two games by margins of one (35-34) and three points (31-28).

In last year's game, Howard led 31-14 in the third quarter.

But Hampton scored two touchdowns in the final 8:02 including a Chris Zellous one-yard scoring run with 3:02 to go to ice the win, 35-34 before an audience of 16,630 at Audi Field. A Jordan White interception with :44 to go snuffed out a Howard drive.

The Game

Few games stir the emotion of fans quite like the match-up between Hampton (2-1) and Howard (2-1). The two schools have been battling on the gridiron since 1908.

Each team has taken turns dominating the series. Howard won 12 consecutive games between 1969-80. But Hampton turned the tables in recent years winning the last seven in succession and 21 of the last 25 contests.

The two teams were charter members of the CIAA which was founded in 1912. Howard departed the Division II league in 1970 when the Division I MEAC was formed. Hampton moved to the MEAC in 1995 and departed in 2018 for the Big South. Hampton moved to the CAA in 2022.

Hampton's first two games of the season went down to the wire. The Pirates lost to Morgan State 30-28 in the season-opener on Aug. 31 before stopping Virginia Union 33-21 on Sept. 7.

Hampton destroyed Norfolk State 37-7 a week ago. It was Hampton's largest winning margin since the Pirates topped Virginia-Lynchburg 56-6 on Oct. 26, 2019. Chris Zellous passed for 185 yards on 20-25 passing and rushed for 60 yards while the Pirate defense dominated, limiting the Spartans to just 99 yards.

Senior Elijah Burris, who was second in the CAA in rushing last year with a 114.6 yards per game average, was held to 43 yards on 15 carries in the season-opener against Morgan State. Against Virginia Union, Burris rambled for 145 yards and two scores including two fourth quarter TDs lifting the Pirates to a 33-21 win. He was the game's leading rusher against Norfolk State with 77 yards and also caught four passes for 37 yards.