Howard U. Makes Capital Gains In Vegas

What’s better than making $600,000 in a “cupcake game”?

Giving your opponent indigestion.

That’s exactly what Howard University’s football team did against the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) late Saturday night in a 43-40 upset of the Rebels, a final score that is least surprising because Howard’s Bison were 45-point underdogs.

You read that right.

What does that mean? Well, if you put $100 on Howard, you made $55,000. Congrats! And let your boy hold a few hundred dollars.

I heard about Howard’s 21-19 halftime lead and hoped they would make it a game in the fourth quarter. When I saw they were up 43-40 in the fourth quarter with six minutes to go, I went full #HBCULove mode.

A quick review:

Down 43-40, UNLV punted the ball to Howard. The punt was 11 yards, which set Howard up very nicely in UNLV territory. Howard drove the ball to the red zone, then came up with nothing on a heartbreaking fourth-and-1 at the UNLV 2 where Howard running back Anthony Philyaw was tripped before he could gain momentum.

So, this is where UNLV makes their move, right? Nah fam.

Howard’s Tye Freeland makes the defensive play of a lifetime as he chased down Drew Tejchman, whose catch and run would have yielded a 33-yard completion…

Except Freeland punched the ball out.

My orange-and-green Florida A&M loving heart clapped triumphantly as the ref signaled “Howard ball.” Told y’all, HBCU love.

I had to sweat out a few plays, sure. But when the dust settled, the final score was 43-40, Howard, and the Bison pulled off the biggest point-spread upset ever.

Shouts out to all of the Howard players (with a special nod to Caylin Newton, yep, SuperCam’s little bro) and coaches who turned a cupcake game into a cake smash. It’s good to see Black college football turn the tables on their opponents as heavy underdogs every once in a while — and turn back the clock to when the game’s greatest players could be found on Black campuses.