While most of the college football world was focused on Alabama rolling through Florida State in Atlanta, out in Las Vegas the biggest upset in the sport’s history was underway. UNLV is not a powerhouse by any stretch after going 4-8 in 2016, but the Rebels are still an FBS football team and were thus favored by 45 points over the Howard Bison from the MEAC in FCS.
A year ago, Howard went 2-9 to finish 10th in the MEAC, with two games against FBS foes and giving up 52 in both, to Rutgers and Maryland respectively. UNLV was paying Howard $600,000 for a tune-up and to get the season off to a strong start.
But suddenly, thanks to Howard quarterback Caylin Newton, the younger brother of former Heisman Trophy winner and current Panthers star Cam Newton, the Rebels found themselves in a dogfight with the Bison.
Newton rushed for 190 yards and two touchdowns and added 140 yards passing and a touchdown to lead Howard to the 43-40 victory. FCS vs. FBS games don’t always hit the board in Las Vegas and, according to ESPN’s David Purdum, Howard-UNLV only went up on Saturday morning at Westgate, but as 45-point underdogs, the Bison became the first 40-point underdogs to win in college football history.
#ICYMI: Our Howard Football Team had a dynamic win against @unlvfootball last night. Congratulations 🎊 @HUBisonSports #MissionPossible pic.twitter.com/P7uvB19cO2
— Howard University (@HowardU) September 3, 2017
Prior to Howard’s win, 40-point or higher favorites had gone 253-0 straight up since 2005, per BetLabSports (via Purdum). The next biggest upsets both came in 2007, when Stanford beat USC as a 39-point underdog and Syracuse beat Louisville as a 38.5-point underdog.
Cecil Newton, the father of both Cam and Caylin, had strong feelings that his youngest son had the same amount of talent as his famous brother.
Here's something else Cecil said: "Caylin can do everything Cam can do, and then some. Quote me on that."
— Dan Steinberg (@dcsportsbog) September 3, 2017
Caylin isn’t the physical specimen Cam is, which is one of the reasons he finds himself at Howard and not an FBS program, but if he continues to impress as he did in his first start, it wouldn’t surprise anyone if he had some interest from FBS squads on the transfer market in the near future.
For Howard, it’s the biggest win in the program’s history and one that will go down in the record books.
