Howard head coach Ted White knows there is a difference between talking about the Power Four and actually lining up across from it.
The Bison will get that reality check Saturday in a game that will pay the program $525,000 when they travel to Indiana to face the defending FBS national champions.
White has been on the other side of the matchup before. He went back through film from his days coaching at Maryland and UCLA and saw familiar faces — players and coaches on the Hoosiers side he knows firsthand.
What stood out most was the difference in the trenches.
“Absolutely, it’s a big difference,” White said on Monday. “When you talk about just the difference between HBCU linemen, offensive and defensive linemen, and Power Four offensive and defensive linemen, that’s the difference.”
For White, the biggest advantage Power Four programs possess isn’t necessarily talent at every position. It’s the sheer amount of talent they can stockpile.
Indiana can rotate players without seeing a dramatic drop-off.
HBCU programs generally don’t have that luxury.
“Depth-wise, those guys being able to have three guys at each position deep and the HBCUs one and possibly two, you know,” White said. “So from a depth standpoint, it is a major difference.”
That depth becomes even more important over the course of a game, particularly when Howard is trying to match the physicality of a team that just reached the top of college football.
But White doesn’t believe his players are overmatched everywhere.
When it comes to the skill positions, he sees a much smaller gap.
“From a skill standpoint, I wouldn’t say it’s different at all,” White said. “From a size and dimensions and everything that, you know, skill guys that we have here at HBCUs, we match up.”
That’s the challenge for Howard: find a way to survive the physical mismatch up front while allowing its playmakers to make the difference.
And there may be no better measuring stick.
Howard already opened its season on a national stage, defeating Alabama A&M in the MEAC-SWAC Challenge on ABC.
Now the Bison get another spotlight — this time against the defending national champions, in their stadium, with tens of thousands of fans watching.
“Our first game was on the big stage on ABC against Alabama A&M,” White said. “Now we get a chance to go play the national champions at their home on the Big Ten Network.”
For many of his players, it will be their first experience playing in an atmosphere that large.
And that’s part of what makes Saturday bigger than the final score.
The Bison will be playing against players they’ve watched on television. They’ll be playing in front of a massive crowd. And they’ll have an opportunity to show what Howard — and HBCU football — can do against the best college football has to offer.
White believes that’s exactly the kind of experience his players should embrace.
“What better opportunity if you wanted to go play in the National Football League to be able to go play against the best competition that has been assembled in college football?” he said.
