Will Howard Updates: It All Comes Down To Footwork

COLUMBUS — Ohio State starting quarterback Will Howard met with reporters on Tuesday prior to the Buckeyes’ team meeting. He discussed the upcoming game at Wrigley Field, the performance of the offense as a whole, his continued development as a leader of this team, and more. The highlights of everything he had to say can be found below.

On footwork: It’s something they’ve been looking at. When he’s inaccurate with the ball, you can see his feet go dead a little bit. He needs to keep his feet alive. “That’s something we’re looking at.” They’re emphasizing it a little bit. Can’t let the feet go flat.
Should you be in the Heisman talk? “I try not to think about that stuff. I’m not worried about it. As long as we’re winning football games and the Buckeyes are scoring points, I’m happy.” If you focus too much on that, a lot of things get cloudy. Only worried about taking care of the ball and winning games.
It’s huge that the OL has been named semifinalists for the Joe Moore Award. They’ve gotten a lot of criticism. Proud of them for that recognition. They only get seen when they don’t do their jobs. They’ve done a great job this year keeping him protected.
He had to relearn how OSU does their RPOs compared to Kansas State. But so much of that is also feel and seeing where guys are lined up and where their eyes are looking. Still getting better. Reads have been solid but can still get better.
On Ryan Day’s foundation of bricks: “It’s huge, man.” They talked about it early in fall camp. If you don’t have a strong foundation, your house can fall down. You have to build on it every day. “Every single day matters.”
On TreVeyon Henderson’s route and his ability as a pass catcher: He’s been grinding away at that route all week. They worked on those throws in the spring as well. If you put a linebacker on him, that’s disrespectful. Howard looked off at a safety at Emeka Egbuka, leaving Henderson in one-on-one coverage.
On his increased completion percentage: That’s a credit to coaching and Chip Kelly telling him that there are a bunch of completions all over the field, so just take them. He maybe tried to do too much at Kansas State. Every completion here is a blow to the defense.
“I kinda like getting up and rolling.” He doesn’t mind noon games. “There’s less thinking involved.” Sitting around for night games makes him antsy. He doesn’t like sitting around all day waiting.
Looking forward to Wrigley Field.
His confidence in the left side of the line has grown, but it was never low. Fans were concerned “but I really wasn’t.” He knew Donovan Jackson and Carson Hinzman were ready. You could see the look in their eyes and know they were gonna take care of business. “I’m not surprised.”
On the underthrow to Carnell Tate: “Sometimes I try to get too cute with it and I place the ball.” He just needs to let it rip and let them run under it. That’s what he needs to continue to rep and do it in practice. He needs to be better at it down the stretch.