Sunday, September 3, 2017

London Delivers Huge Upset in Debut as Howard's Coach

Cam Newton isn't the only quarterback in the family to lead a team to an improbable win.

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Cam Newton isn't the only quarterback in the family to lead a team to an improbable win.

Younger brother Caylin made his college debut Saturday, leading Howard University to one of the biggest upsets in the sport's history, 43-40 over UNLV. He ran for 190 yards and two touchdowns, along with passing for another 140 yards with a TD and interception.

"Last night, he made a name for himself," Howard coach Mike London said about his QB. "Caylin did a good job of running the offense and made some fantastic runs, often with guys hanging on him."

The Bison, a Football Championship Subdivision school, were a 45-point underdog to the Rebels. According to Pregame.com, which supplies odds to The Associated Press, a $100 bet on Howard to win outright would have paid $55,000.



The previous largest upset was in 2007 when Stanford defeated USC as a 39-point underdog. That win also featured another first-year coach in Jim Harbaugh.

"We're all ruled by the psychology of results. In terms of culture, perception and being competitive this is huge," London told the AP in a phone interview. "To go on the road, cross country and play these guys toe to toe with their allotment of 80-plus scholarship guys and with my 57 plus is big."

The pairing of London and Howard couldn't come at a better time since both are looking for redemption. The Bison — who were picked ninth out of 11 teams in the preseason Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference poll, were 3-19 the past two seasons. They also have had only one winning season in 11 years (2012) and haven't posted back-to-back winning seasons since 1998. Going into Saturday's game, they had lost by an average of 38 points in their past seven games against Football Bowl Subdivision teams.

CONTINUE READING

No comments: