Will Howard Excited About Oregon Challenge: ‘This is what you signed up for’

Saturday’s game against No. 3 Oregon may not be the biggest game that Ohio State quarterback Will Howard plays in this year, but it will be the biggest game he’s started to this point in his career.

Howard is 1-1 as a starter in games against Top 5 opponents. His Kansas State Wildcats defeated No. 3 TCU in the 2022 Big XII Championship Game, and then lost to No. 5 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.

But now at the helm of a national-title contender, the stakes are higher than he’s ever experienced.

One of the reasons Howard decided to transfer to Ohio State was for an opportunity to play in more games like those two contests to end the 2022 season.

In that regard, he’s gonna get several wishes fulfilled this season, and it starts on Saturday on the road against the 5-0 Oregon Ducks.

“When you come to a place like Ohio State, you want to play on the biggest stage, College Gameday, all the hype, two versus three matchup,” Howard said on Tuesday. “This is what you signed up for, and this is what I was looking forward to. It’s a challenge, man. It’s fun. This is what college football is all about. This is what you dream about as a kid, man. Just being on this stage, playing in front of a ton of people, and a ton of people watching on TV. It’s a dream, man, and it’s definitely a big reason why I came here.”

And yet, with stakes like that, Will Howard can’t let the game get bigger than it is. It is still football, after all, so there are plenty of controllables.

“You know, it’s a big game, and you want to say that you don’t want to treat any game more than another, but we know how big this one is, and we know it’s a big matchup, and we’re going to have to be on our stuff,” he said. “So going into the game, man, just being poised, being confident, and you just want to stay neutral, stay level-headed, and be as prepared as you possibly can going into the game.”

Howard was also Kansas State’s starting quarterback last year when the Wildcats went to Texas to take on the No. 8 Longhorns. His team trailed 27-7 in the fourth quarter, but they fought back and got the game to overtime. Texas ultimately prevailed 33-30, but Howard learned a lot from that game.

“I’ve learned you just can never say die, and you can never be up by too much, either,” he said. “It goes both ways and you have to understand that the situations really matter and that one play can make the difference in a game, and every single play really matters. In a matchup game like this, we’re really focused on that, and want to make sure that we take every opportunity we get to capitalize on opportunities.”

This being a “matchup game” that can turn on any play at any time puts a lot of pressure on a quarterback. Head coach Ryan Day has always asked his quarterbacks to “do the routine things routinely,” but there will be moments when a quarterback will feel the need to do more.

Which also means there will be times when a quarterback has to fight the urge to do too much, which can cost his team the game just as quickly.

How does Will Howard plan to toe the line between doing everything that is needed while stopping just short of trying to do too much?

“That’s a good question. Balancing that is huge,” he said. “You’ve got to know when to take your medicine, if you will, and just kind of take the check down and not force things. There’s this balance between forcing and capitalizing, you know? You don’t want to force something, or try and make something happen, but you’ve got to take advantage and capitalize when those opportunities are there, and that’s the game that you’ve got to play.”

Howard then cited the Kenny Rogers song “The Gambler” when talking about living to fight another day.

“You’ve got to know when to hold them and know when to fold them,” he said. “And there’s no doubt, man, that’s the game that we’re playing. We definitely want to go downhill and run a little bit. We want to take some shots, and that’s every game, so we’ve got to know when to hit them and when to kind of take our medicine and check down.”

That’s not quite how all of the lyrics go, of course, but if it works and the Buckeyes come away with a win, Will Howard might just have a hit on his hands.

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