Howard pulls biggest point-spread upset in college football history

— -- By point-spread standards, Howard pulled off perhaps the biggest upset in modern college football history Saturday night.

The Bison, an FCS team from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, entered as 45-point road underdogs against UNLV?and stunned the Rebels 43-40 in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas sportsbooks were not offering a money line on the game, but the Bison could be found as 600-1 long shots and even higher at some offshore books.

Howard's win comes a day after the 10-year anniversary of Appalachian State's upset of Michigan in Ann Arbor. No point spread was archived on the game between the Wolverines and the then-Division I-AA Mountaineers.

In the same season, Stanford upset USC as a 39-point underdog.

Howard quarterback? Caylin Newton, the younger brother of Carolina Panthers star Cam Newton, accounted for 330 total offensive yards and three touchdowns to lead the upset Saturday in the debut for new Bison coach Mike London.

Newton had 21 carries for 190 yards and two scores and passed for 140 and a score.

Howard raced to a 21-9 lead when Devin Rollins returned a fumble for a 75-yard score midway through the second quarter. The Rebels responded by reeling off 24 consecutive points and led 33-21 after? Charles Williams plunged in from a yard out with 6:45 left in the third.

Anthony Philyaw posted touchdown runs of 3 and 11 yards to put the Bison back up 34-33. Lexington Thomas scored for UNLV for a 40-36 lead, and Newton concluded the scoring with a 4-yard run with 7:34 left to play.

Thomas had 21 carries for 151 yards and two touchdowns, and Armani Rogers passed for 220 yards and a touchdown for UNLV.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.