In his last rodeo, newly minted Ohio State starting QB Will Howard faces championship-or-bust pressure

With Thursday’s announcement making his starter status official, Ohio State quarterback Will Howard enters the 2024 season as possibly the most important college football player in the country.

In what coach Ryan Day is deeming a national championship-or-bust season in Columbus, Howard must deliver. The transfer quarterback from Kansas State has all the attributes to be enough, especially with a star-studded supporting cast for the No. 2 Buckeyes, but an up and down last 12 months naturally led to questions about whether he will be enough. 

From having to fend off a hard-charging Avery Johnson last season at Kansas State to navigating a wild transfer portal market to a first spring at Ohio State that elicited mixed reviews, Howard entered fall camp as a seasoned, been-there-done-that 22-year-old (he will be 23 in September) who had tasted just about everything the modern college football experience can present a quarterback. and yet he was in a five-man quarterback battle that wasn’t guaranteed to go his way. 

But he showed up to fall camp leaner with better throwing velocity and more sure of himself in a Chip-Kelly orchestrated offense. He used the adversity of the last year to power growth displayed in fall camp that now has him ready to lead will be a high-octane Buckeyes offense. 

“He went through a lot of stuff that a lot of guys would have folded over and he made it through victorious regardless what perception could be,” said Vernard Abrams, who has worked with Howard since he was a high school sophomore. 

Abrams knew Howard had something special the first time he saw him throw back in 2017. He’s helped shepherd him from being a “tall, lanky kid” into one of the most productive returning quarterbacks in college football. He…

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Author : John Talty

Publish date : 2024-08-16 20:04:41

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