Norfolk State won’t trot out its All-MEAC quarterback in the opener, but it will have former SEC quarterback Jalen Daniels taking reps when it kicks off the HBCU football season in Week Zero at the MEAC/SWAC Challenge.
NSU head coach Dawson Odums confirmed news reports that Otto Kuhns would not be playing the season opener or first part of the season due to a ruling by the NCAA. He also said it wasn’t a late-breaking development.
“We knew that we would be facing that challenge in December,” Odums said on the MEAC coaches’ weekly call. “This is not something that just came about. We understood coming out of the fall semester that this is a possibility, had a plan in place to where we tried to execute the things that we needed to before we put it in the hands of the NCAA.”
Odums said NSU waited until the end, trying to figure out how that decision would play out, but it was prepared to start the seasons without Kuhns.
So the Spartans will turn to Jalen Daniels, a former three-star quarterback who joined the team from junior college after starting his career as a walk-on at South Carolina of the SEC. According to Odums, Daniels has been with the team since the summer and has quickly adapted to the system.
“A lot of people haven’t seen him play – but he’s a special talent,” Odums said. “Like I tell guys – ‘you get recruited to go to the to play in the SEC for a reason. And there’s a lot of reasons why guys leave. But when they recruit you is something gotta be seen in you that allowed them to say, hey, we want that guy. And he has that kind of talent.
Still, Jalen Daniels faces a significant challenge in his first start as the Spartans go head-to-head with Florida A&M, a team that won the HBCU national championship last season. While the Rattlers have undergone significant changes to their roster and coaching staff, they remain a formidable opponent. Now in his fourth season at Norfolk State, Odums says execution will be key.
“If we do those things, we feel like we have a chance in this football game,” Odums said. “If we don’t do those things very well, then this football game could be lopsided.”
Despite his confidence in Daniels, Odums didn’t rule Kuhns out of the picture.
“He’s still with the team, but he’ll rejoin back to the being a part of that QB conversation after that four-game (suspension),” Odums said.
The MEAC/SWAC Challenge kicks off the 2024 HBCU and college football season on Saturday, August 24. The game will be broadcast live on ABC and is scheduled for a 7:30 EST kickoff.