Will Howard Sees Akron Win As Good Start, Just The Beginning

COLUMBUS — Ohio State starting quarterback Will Howard met with the media prior to practice on Tuesday. He answered questions about his Player-of-the-Game performance in Saturday’s win over Akron, what’s next for him, and much more. The highlights of everything he had to say can be found below.

• How important is it to get settled quick for a fast start? It’s huge as the quarterback. Everybody looks to you. “I understand that responsibility.” “We go as I go.” “I want to be that guy that everybody looks to.” If he’s locked in, then that should be a green light for everybody else.
• What were you most proud of Saturday? Once he got settled in, he was most impressed with his decisiveness. It wasn’t always the right decision, so he needs to improve on that. Get into a rhythm quicker and be cleaner. Avoid the sloppiness early. They want to start fast and not have to work through adversity if they don’t have to.
• Western Michigan does some different stuff than they did last year. Pretty standard in that they don’t try to fool you but they’re good at what they do. Some pretty good players inside. One of their corners isn’t a bad player. Just have to attack the defense wherever they give them opportunities.
• On his bad play/throw to TreVeyon Henderson? “That is something I can’t do.” He was trying to make something happen, but he needs to be smart enough to not put the ball in harm’s way like that. Next time, he just needs to eat the ball “because at that point they got us.” They called a good defensive play on that one.
• On the helmet communication on not being able to respond: They’ve been working with it since the spring so it’s no longer new to him. They did well with it the first game. They also have hand signals to let Chip Kelly know certain things/responses.
• Will Howard graded out a champion, which he wanted to do, but the most important thing was getting the win and keeping the offense on schedule.
• This was almost like an away game for him because he’s still settling in. But he is now settled in.
• What is it like being with the media all the time? “I like it. I like talking to you guys and spreading the news of the Buckeyes.” Happy to be the face of the team. Comes with the territory of being the quarterback. “That’s what I want to be here and do.”
• Was there anything that surprised you on Saturday after watching film? No, but there were more opportunities for him to run more than he did. But having the film on the sideline he is already getting that kind of feedback. That then speeds up the film work after the game.
• On the iPads: “I like it a lot. We used to do it in high school.” “I’m a visual learner.” Now being older, a lot of the usage now is just confirming looks.

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