Howard has been made intimately aware of all the comments and social media posts in the offseason about how winning a share of the MEAC championship in 2022 isn’t legit.
The Bison rolled into MEAC Media Day on Friday wearing bedazzled conference title rings, though the program split the regular season crown with North Carolina Central because both schools completed the regular season with a 4-1 record.
But the noise outside Washington, DC, would indicate Howard still has much to prove despite the Bison being picked to finish runner-up in the MEAC.
And that’s just fine for Howard running back Jarrett Hunter, who will use all the doubts and that 50-21 loss to NC Central as motivation heading into 2023.
“We’re going to use it as motivation,” Hunter said. “We still remember the score and everything like that. We see all the disrespect and posts on Twitter. We’re just excited for this season and ready to play.”
Howard will enter its prove it season backed by 14 preseason All-MEAC selections, including First Team offensive lineman Anim Dankwah and Second Team graduate QB Quinton Williams.
It would appear Howard is in a position to show that 2022 was indeed no fluke. Coach Larry Scott, who has suggested the MEAC move toward considering a conference championship game to prevent co-champions, understands that the Bison will not surprise opponents this year.
“We have a long way to go before we get to that game,” said Scott in reference to a regular season meeting with NC Central in Washington on Nov. 11. “Hopefully, we can put ourselves in a position to make that game what it should be.”
