Howard University is one win away from its first ever win in the Celebration Bowl and first HBCU football national title in nearly 30 years.
Quarterback Quinton Williams is a big part of the reason the program is representing the MEAC in the big game.
Williams has been with Howard since 2019, when he showed up to be Caylin Newton’s understudy. But Newton got hurt and eventually hit the transfer portal, handing Williams the task of starting as a true freshman. Ron Prince was fired a few games later as the team finished with another losing record.
Larry Scott was hired as head coach the following February, just before COVID-19 changed the world and college football forever. Williams returned to the role of starter in 2021 and showed promise, but for all intents and purposes it was viewed as the same old Howard. And the Maryland native felt the brunt of it
“He’s a winner and he’s well known in the area,” Scott said during the Celebration Bowl press conference. So it would be constant that he had people in his ear, no matter how good or how bad the football team was. It didn’t matter. It was it was Quinton Williams. And he’s the quarterback and he’s a local guy, right? So he’s always had to walk out of there on Sundays.
“I could tell sometimes on Sunday afternoons he walked back in and it’s been a rough it’s been a rough go for not only just the media, but from his peers and friends and family and all of those type of things.”
The 2022 season started out similarly, but things turned around once MEAC play kicked off. Howard University went 4-1 in league play, winning a share of the conference title along with North Carolina Central. NCCU went to the Celebration Bowl while Howard had the motivation to change the narrative on the team and the program.
It did that in November by knocking off North Carolina Central University in a dominant 50-20 win to take control of the MEAC race, then handling business against Morgan State to clinch the third MEAC title in Howard University history and earn a spot in Atlanta.
Scott has seen much of Williams’ progression at HU and he’s excited his quarterback is getting his chance to shine on the national stage.
“He’s won back-to-back conference titles — when we tied for and when we won outright,” Scott said. “And to have a chance to come here and play his final game here in Atlanta, I think is a big-time pat on the back to him, his perseverance and how he’s just kind of grinded through it.”
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
