Alabama A&M, Howard Put Rebuilt Teams to the Test in MEAC/SWAC Challenge

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Two Rebuilds, One Primetime Stage: Howard, Alabama A&M Open 2026 in Atlanta

ATLANTA – The 2026 Cricket MEAC/SWAC Challenge Kick-Off puts two teams who are rebuilding. Still, in today's college football world, rebuilds are expected to be immediate rather than three- to four-year projects. When the annual tilt kicks off on ABC on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CT / 7:30 p.m. ET from Center Parc Stadium, we will expect neither to be a finished product but to be highly competitive and focused, just like their coaches.

Howard opens under a first-year head coach who once wore the uniform himself. Alabama A&M opens under a second-year head coach who finally got a full offseason to build a roster.

"I feel like our strength conditioning staff did a great job with our players getting them ready, not just physically but also mentally, instilling some mental toughness," Shade told reporters at the Alabama A&M press conference on Monday.

Neither program has won this contest. Howard is 0-1 in the Challenge, losing 23-13 to Alabama State in 2022. On the other side, Alabama A&M is also 0-1, beaten 47-13 by North Carolina A&T in 2014.

The MEAC is riding high again after North Carolina Central's 31-14 victory over Southern last year, snapping a three-game skid. Currently, the conference boasts a 12-7 all-time MEAC/SWAC Challenge record.

Coach White noted in his MEAC Coaches media call: "I'm excited for these guys more than anything because I really believe that we have a great football team, and just displaying that not only against Alabama A&M but on the national stage and being able to represent the conference, the MEAC Conference, is a great thing."

2026 Cricket MEAC/SWAC Challenge Kickoff presented by Toyota Game Info

Teams: Alabama A&M Bulldogs (SWAC) vs. Howard Bison (MEAC)
Date: Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026
Time: 6:30 p.m. CT / 7:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Center Parc Stadium
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
TV: ABC; Tiffany Greene (play-by-play) and Jay Walker (analyst)

Howard: a homecoming with a scheme still forming

Ted White was hired Jan. 14 by Howard vice president and director of athletics Kery Davis, weeks after Larry Scott left the program to become Auburn's tight ends coach. White, known as a Howard legend, quarterbacked the Bison from 1995-99 and still holds the program marks for passing yards (9,808), touchdowns (92) and completions (639).

He's not new to coaching. He was an assistant at Texas Southern, Southern, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Prairie View A&M, Maryland, UCLA and with the NFL's Houston Texans.

Asked on the MEAC Coaches' call whether nerves would arrive with the opening kickoff, White pointed to the rsum.

"I think I was more nervous as a player than I would be as a coach," he said. "I've been coaching right now for going on my 21st year. I've called plays numerous times, had an opportunity to coach at the biggest levels on Power 4 as well as in the NFL. … I think I'd be more anxious than anything, but more excited to watch these guys perform."

He has yet to commit to an offensive identity for the Bison. Pressed on whether the physical brand he has promised means a run-first attack or the passing game his background suggests, White declined to pick.

"Our job is to make sure that we score one more point than the opponent. So whether that's running the football or whether that's passing the football … we definitely have that ability to do both."

He was more specific about the other side. "On defense, we want to be able to stop the run first and foremost," White said. "And if we're able to stop the run and we allow guys to fight left-handed, now we figure we have a better chance of being successful to win that football game."

There is room to grow at Howard. Last season's 5-7 overall and 2-3 in the MEAC record, a change in leadership, and a tough schedule have the Bison picked sixth, dead last, in the league's 2026 preseason poll.

The Bison's rushing output fell from 172.6 yards per game in 2023 to 123.3 in 2025, and they ranked last in the MEAC in scoring at 19.8 points, according to HBCU Sports. Also, there's a three-horse race for the starting quarterback position, including Ja'Shawn Scroggins, Lincoln (Pa.), Hampton transfer Isaiah Freeman, and TJ Russell.

Howard will have a relatively healthy roster in Atlanta. "We've been fortunate enough to be healthy," he said. "We had spring football and, you know, really no one has really got a major injury."

He credited the players for policing camp themselves – "we do believe in iron sharpens iron."

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Alabama A&M: the quarterback is back, and so is the depth chart

Sam Shade posted in his first season with the Bulldogs a 4-8 record. Before Week 6's injury to quarterback Cornelious "Quad" Brown IV, who tore three ligaments in his ankle against Jackson State, Alabama A&M was trending upward. The NCAA later granted him a medical redshirt and an eighth season. He is the starter again Saturday.

"We lost Quad Brown last year – we seemed to be doing pretty well as a team, and things kind of got away from us a little bit after that," Shade said. "But having him back as the number one guy for us going out there first is really big for our football team."

The larger change is that Shade found depth behind Brown. This year, Shade says, six quarterbacks competed in camp, and the No. 2 job is still open.

"Right now we haven't named a second-team quarterback," he said. "That's how tight the race is." The room now includes Ty'Jarian Williams, a two-year starter at Mississippi Valley State; Mekhi Hagens, who started at Arkansas-Pine Bluff; and Eric Handley, who started most of last season after Brown's injury.

The offensive line is largely reassembled around Tyrell Lawrence, back at right guard after missing 2025 due to injury, with center Elias Cloy and right tackle Bruce Crenshaw returning and South Alabama transfer Adrian Griffin at left tackle.

Shade singled out linebacker transfers DJ Barber and Dajwon DeLoach. The Bulldogs' secondary is literally a sore spot: "We've had some injuries there … so the depth isn't quite where we want it right now, but that's part of football."

Shade's team received the fifth spot in the SWAC East based on the preseason poll. He credits strength coach John Williams for a productive offseason of working with the team.

"A lot of them look different than they looked last year physically, but also the mental toughness that was instilled."

What each coach is watching

Shade watched Howard's 2025 film and made a point of separating the roster from the coaching change.

"They weren't a bad football team last year," he said. "It's not like their coach got fired. The head coach, he left on his own. And so I feel like Coach White has come in and inherited a pretty good program as far as the talent goes."

His key to Saturday is unglamorous. "We feel like the least penalized team is gonna give themselves a really good opportunity to win the football game," Shade said. "I think the team that wants it the most is going to have the opportunity to win."

White says Howard has been studying Alabama A&M for weeks: "It's just a lot of film out on these guys." He concentrated on situational work, red-zone, and two-minute periods into good-on-good periods "to make sure that guys are constantly on their toes."

Both coaches landed on the same definition of Saturday night. "We're representing not only ourselves, we're representing Alabama A&M University, and we're also representing the SWAC," Shade said.

White called it MEAC business, while the Bulldogs will be all business.

One of team leaves Atlanta with an early victory. Who will it be?

We shall see.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/hbcu as Alabama A&M, Howard Put Rebuilt Teams to the Test in MEAC/SWAC Challenge.

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