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.

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