Former Kansas State star quarterback Will Howard has won the starting job at Ohio State, Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day announced on Thursday.
Howard, who left K-State following the final regular season game of the 2023 season and transferred to preseason No. 2 Ohio State, had a talented but inexperienced quarterback room in Columbus to compete with. The Downingtown, Pennsylvania native managed to beat out returning sophomore Devin Brown and five-star freshman Julian Sayin for the starting job.
“(Howard) graded out significantly ahead of the other guys in team work,” said Ohio State head coach Ryan Day according to a Cleveland.com article. “…We’re excited about Will being the starter. Will has really taken a command of the offense, I believe. You feel him in the huddle. You feel his experience.”
Howard is coming off a four-year stretch at K-State where he won a Big 12 Championship, broke the record for touchdown passes thrown in a career (45) and tied the record for touchdowns thrown in a season (21).
Howard came to Manhattan as a true freshman during the 2020 pandemic season. Because of an injury to Skylar Thompson, Howard played in the final nine games of the season with starts in each of the final seven contests. He set the school record for passing touchdowns by a freshman and ranked fifth in school history among freshmen in rushing yards and passing yards.
Then, as a sophomore, he played in six games with starts in three.
In 2022, Nebraska transfer Adrian Martinez won the starting job to start the season but versus TCU midway through the year, Howard took over mid-game for Martinez after an injury and didn’t let up the rest of the way, leading K-State to its third Big 12 title and its first appearance in the Sugar Bowl.
As a junior, he threw for 1,633 yards and 15 touchdowns with just four interceptions on 119-of-199 passing.
In 2023, Howard threw for a career-best 2,190 yards and 21 touchdowns on 64% passing (182-285). He’s also ran for 287 yards on 66 carries for a career-high seven rushing touchdowns. He helped guide K-State to eight wins for the third-straight season, the first time that’s been done since 2011 through 2014.
Howard left Manhattan ranked in the top 10 all-time in completions (421, tied for 5th), completion percentage with a minimum of 400 attempts (60%, 5th), passing yards (5,333, 5th) and yards per game (166.7, 6th).
Ohio State opens the 2024 season at home versus Akron on August 31.
Source link : http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=66bef0f2a7c149aaa503b17009987569&url=https%3A%2F%2Fthemercury.com%2Fk_state_sports%2Fformers-ksu-qb-howard-wins-starting-qb-job-at-ohio-state%2Farticle_a03616ec-5b8e-11ef-968f-a3809226f24f.html&c=121685273378066625&mkt=en-us
Author :
Publish date : 2024-08-15 18:16:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.