Who is Will Howard? Ohio State QB won't be overlooked again after dissecting Notre Dame

ATLANTA Ohio State coach Ryan Day had his arm around Jeremiah Smith as they relived the defining play of the Buckeyes 34-23 triumph over Notre Dame .

Facing third-and-11 in the final three minutes with a chance to all but seal a national championship, was there any doubt the ball would go to the Buckeyes freshman sensation? Advertisement No, they both said, almost in unison.

But thats not entirely true.

The play had multiple options and multiple routes.

It was up to quarterback Will Howard to make the right read and right throw to the right receiver.

He did, of course, as he did almost all of Monday night and almost all of his only season with the Buckeyes after transferring from Kansas State .

It was just easy to overlook.

On a team loaded with ultra-talented skill players, Howard steadily tied it all together.

He was a perfect fit from the moment he stepped on campus, receiver Emeka Egbuka said.

Hes a Buckeye through and through.

I wouldnt rather have anyone else leading our team.

That was easy to say and believe after Monday nights College Football Playoff final.

It wasnt always so.

In his first season at Kansas State in 2020, Howard threw more interceptions (10) than touchdown passes (eight).

When he should have been clicking in Year 3 there, the Wildcats brought in transfer Adrian Martinez from Nebraska to supplant him.

Even after transferring to Ohio State after last season, Howard was not exactly a superstar.

He was a third-team All-Big Ten honoree.

He didnt finish in the top 10 in the Heisman Trophy voting unlike his Buckeyes predecessor, Kyle McCord , who led the nation with 4,779 passing yards at Syracuse.

There were questions, especially early, about Howards deep passing.

A 19-of-33, two-interception game against Michigan fueled the doubts.

Howards reputation was shaky enough that Fox Sports Emmanuel Acho called him the worst quarterback remaining after the quarterfinals.

But Howard quietly delivered, time and time again, against quarterbacks with bigger names and (in some cases) NIL bags.

Howard went head-to-head against Indiana s Kurtis Rourke late in the regular season and against Tennessee s Nico Iamaleava , Oregons Dillon Gabriel and Texas Quinn Ewers in the Playoff.

Advertisement Rourke and Gabriel were top-10 Heisman vote-getters who bested Howard in All-Big Ten accolades.

Iamaleava was one of the most high-profile quarterback recruits of the NIL era.

Ewers is a former No.

1 recruit who will be drafted this spring.

Howard threw for more yards with a higher completion percentage and better passing efficiency in his matchup against every one of them.

Monday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium was his masterpiece.

He completed his first 13 passes and 80.9 percent of his throws overall.

Both set CFP championship game records and lifted his season-long completion percentage to 72.6 the best in Buckeyes history.

He finished 17 of 21 for 231 yards and rushed for 57 yards.

GO DEEPER Riley Leonard and Will Howard were 3-star recruits.

Now they're playing for the national title The two-touchdown showing with zero interceptions was even more impressive considering the opponent.

Notre Dame allowed the lowest completion percentage in the country (50.7) and never let an opponent complete more than 63 percent of its throws.

Penn State s Drew Allar regarded as a better NFL talent than Howard threw for only 135 yards against this Fighting Irish defense in the Orange Bowl semifinal.

Howard had 144 by halftime.

Wills been like that all year long, Buckeyes offensive coordinator Chip Kelly said, except for the one game he got banged up.

That one game? Michigan, in the defeat that threatened to define Ohio States season and, by extension, Howards brief Buckeyes career.

Weve gone through some hard times, Howard said.

That Oregon loss, that Team Up North loss, they were tough.

We had to lean on each other.

Howard helped the Buckeyes stay upright.

Its easy to marvel at his elite teammates when Egbuka racks up 42 yards after catches, Quinshon Judkins rips off a 70-yard run and Smith whips into the end zone.

Its harder to be impressed by the four gritty runs Howard converted on third down, or by the way he scans the defense to see which of the two or three plays at his disposal is the right one.

Advertisement Like the one with 2:45 left which Day said will be remembered as a huge play in Ohio State history.

Notre Dame had trimmed Ohio States lead to 31-23 and just corralled Howard for a 1-yard loss to set up third-and-11.

Day wanted to be aggressive, so the Buckeyes planned to hit Smith for a deep shot ...

but only if Smith faced man-to-man coverage.

If they gave us man, Will took it, Kelly said.

If they didnt give us man, we knew Wills going to make a great decision and check the ball down.

In Jeremiah Smith, we trust Take another look at the game-sealing 3rd down catch made by the @OhioStateFB star freshman #B1GFootball x #CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/6LAE34Emlz Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) January 21, 2025 The Irish showed man defense, so Howard took it and lobbed a gorgeous 56-yard pass to Smith.

Howard threw his arms to the sky, then spread them out in jubilation.

Everything about the play the poise, the read, the trust from his coaches and actual pass validated what the Buckeyes staff saw in Howard when they took him from the transfer portal in the wake of McCords departure and quarterback woes in last years Cotton Bowl.

An hour and a half later, Howard was back on the field, sloshing through red and white confetti a few short steps from where Smith was tackled on the biggest throw of Howards life.

A celebratory cigar waited in his locker.

Another interview for the games offensive MVP remained.

But first, Howard took out his phone and hit record.

He spun clockwise in a slow circle, capturing one national championship sign after the next.

No, Howard was not the brightest star on his team.

He does not have the transcendent talent of Smith or the breakaway ability of TreVeyon Henderson or the power of Judkins.

But he was the quarterback at the heart of it all a good-enough runner and better-than-good passer who gutted out first downs, kept drives alive, avoided disastrous mistakes and spread the ball to an army of future pros.

That left Howard as the unlikely hero of a historic team.

One who earned the right to be the last Buckeye on the field, savoring every moment of the glory that was finally his.

(Top photo: Kevin C.

Cox / Getty Images).

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