In A Pinch, Ineligible Howard QB Plays In Win Over Spartans

Howard quarterback Greg McGhee began Saturday's game against Norfolk State as ineligible to play, due to NCAA violations.

He finished it by running for a two-yard touchdown in overtime, which led to the winning extra point.

The Norfolk State coaching staff hadn't game-planned for McGhee and was surprised by his appearance, particularly because the Howard athletics website noted McGhee would "be available for the team's game against Savannah State on Sept. 29."

"He's not the reason we lost the football game," NSU head coach Pete Adrian said of McGhee, who threw for 46 yards and rushed for 63. "I'm not going to say much because if I do it's just going to be sour grapes. I'd be the bad guy and blah, blah, blah. The most political answer I can give is each coach is going to run his program the way he wants to run his program."

The MEAC Freshman of the Year in 2011, McGhee regained his NCAA eligibility with 4:35 left in the first quarter, when backup Randy Liggins Jr. left with back spasms. The only other quarterback on Howard's roster was injured in a Sept. 8 game against Rutgers.

Despite the fact that neither of the others were missing due to eligibility issues, Howard officials and MEAC Commissioner Dennis Thomas said the NCAA ruled that McGhee could come into the game if Howard was left without a quarterback because teams are allowed to "stagger" player ineligibility.

According to the NCAA rulebook: "Staggering should be allowed when multiple student-athletes from the same team are required to be withheld and the impact of the withholding condition affects the ability to field a team or creates a potential health risk on the eligible student-athletes due to playing with a decreased squad size."

Adrian said he wasn't convinced either of those standards was met, but he had no plans to appeal the result.......