Howard faced Harvard on Saturday in the second annual Truth and Service Classic, with the Bison coming up short, losing 41-25.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Jaylon Tolbert started under center for the first time in place of Quinton Williams, who was injured.
Tolbert played well, completing 19 of his 26 pass attempts for 207 yards connecting for two touchdowns (both in the second quarter).
Bison head coach Larry Scott spoke highly of Tolbert’s performance during the MEAC’s weekly press conference on Monday.
“You don’t challenge your redshirt freshman quarterback with his first start with all different looks, fronts and coverages and different things in saw,” said Scott in regards to starting Tolbert against Harvard. “For the most part, I thought he did a good job. He made some critical mistakes in critical areas where we put our defense in bad situations, short fields because of those mistakes. When you’re playing a freshman quarterback like that, you don’t want those things to happen…but it felt like this was something that we can build upon. That kid has such a bright future here on our team and in our program.”
Scott also provided an update on the status of his primary starter ahead of the team’s homecoming contest against Delaware State.
“Quinton Williams is back and practicing. I just want to go ahead and put this all out there. Nothing is more important than the overall health of the football player when it comes to that, Scott said. “Winning a football game and putting a player’s health in jeopardy is something we are never going to do in this program. We made the decision to ensure that Quinton is 100 percent healthy and ready to go, be himself, and be the talented, strong-armed quarterback that he is. We are excited to have him back and that he is cleared and has a clean bill of health.
Before their MEAC opener this Saturday, the Bison currently hold an overall record of 1-5, including two consecutive losses.
Howard will be facing a Delaware State team that is coming off a win in its MEAC debut against Norfolk State, beating the Spartans 28-7 to improve to 4-2 overall.
Howard is looking for its first win in a Homecoming game since 2017, in a season that was also the last time the Bison finished with a winning record.
