Ohio State Buckeyes College Football Pregame Quote, 01/05/2025

Q. You played at AT&T Stadium a couple years ago. What are your memories of that?

QB WILL HOWARD: Yeah, I’ve actually played there twice. We played there in 2021, but I didn’t start in 2021. It was our first game of the season there, my sophomore year. We played Stanford, and then obviously we played in the Big 12 Championship down there.

Yeah, man, it’s a fun place to play. I’ve got some fond memories there. I mean, it’s fun. It is nice to be able to go somewhere that you’ve played in before. I think a lot of people on this team have played in that stadium. I think they have some not-so-fond memories there, so we want to flip the script on that.

Q. Did you watch that game (Cotton Bowl) last year?

QB WILL HOWARD: I did, yeah.

Q. Pivotal game for you because that hadn’t happened in the Missouri game. How intently were you watching?

QB WILL HOWARD: I was watching. I was tuned in, man. We played Missouri last year. And obviously the Buckeyes are the Buckeyes. I was tuned in, man.

And so, yeah, I know a lot of these guys on this team didn’t feel great about how that game went. So, it’s good that we’re getting another chance to go down there and right some wrongs again.

Q. We know at Ohio State what it means to not beat a team like Michigan. How does that equate to losing to Texas from your time at Kansas State? And describe the feeling of getting another stab at Texas to beat them.

QB WILL HOWARD: Yeah, I don’t think it has anything to do with that rivalry. It’s not really the same. For me personally, that was the only team I didn’t beat when I was in the Big 12.

So, yeah, there’s definitely, personally for me, a little extra motivation there, because I never got the chance to beat these guys. Played them four years. I mean, they’re always a good team, but I don’t think ‚Äì none of those games were unwinnable. Last year we lost in overtime.

So definitely excited to get another chance at these guys.

Q. What do you think is the biggest difference between your time here versus your time at Kansas State? What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned from being here?

QB WILL HOWARD: There’s a lot of things I’ve learned. I feel like I’ve grown in a lot of different ways and matured on and off the field. And I’ve said this before, I think the biggest thing that I’ve taken away from this experience is that I don’t have to make things happen.

I think something profound that Coach [Chip] Kelly told me pretty early on in my career here was don’t make things happen, just let it happen. Just let the game come to you. Be a game manager, take care of the football, make good decisions, and keep us on track.

And when I do that, the completion percentage goes up. Efficiency goes up. A lot of things like that. I just feel like having more of that emphasis on taking completions, staying on check-downs, staying on schedule, not forcing things to work, but making positive yards on a play, because sometimes that’s all you need to get is just get back to the line of scrimmage.

And just making things work, I think that’s probably the biggest way I’ve grown this year.

Q. You’ve talked a couple times this year about, it’s the playoffs. Sometimes people have a tendency to press and want to be perfect. How do you juggle that with also knowing that you said you don’t have to be super-human, you don’t have to be perfect for this team to move the ball?

QB WILL HOWARD: Yeah, I think those two go hand in hand a little bit. I think you don’t want to press, and you don’t want to press to make any wild plays or anything like that because it’s the playoffs.

And I think your mindset can’t change from the regular season. Or either of the first two playoff games that we played, I think we did a really good job of hitting our shots and taking the game as it came and not forcing any shots. There were maybe some plays where we had even more shots down the field called and had to check it down. You’ve got to take the game as it comes. You can’t force things to happen.

And in the playoffs, things can come down to one play, and obviously, we want to leave no doubt and make sure that it’s not like that.

But we know that we’re playing a really good team in Texas. We’ve just got to keep playing free, playing with an edge, and doing what we’ve been doing.

And I think we’re playing really good football right now, but we’ve just got to keep ramping up and keep getting better and better.

Q. Luke [Montgomery] was talking about you, as a leader, the intensity you bring. Just everything you bring. It just seems like that’s kind of your personality. Put into words what this year’s been like, how much fun it’s been for you, knowing everything that’s gone on in your career.

QB WILL HOWARD: Yeah, man, it’s been a lot of fun. It’s been a blast. The guys here on the team, they’ve taken me in and loved me for me.

Sometimes, I’m unapologetically myself. And I don’t know if that rubs some people the wrong way sometimes. But I’m me. And I’m going to try and have fun and keep things light at times but also be super intense. I’m one competitive son of a gun, so I’m going to make sure that we’re making every opportunity we can to go out there and compete.

So being here, it’s been a blessing for me in more than one way, and I’ve been able to have fun on one of the biggest stages and be myself and let people see that. And I think that’s one of the best parts of this. And I just appreciate these guys here for putting up with me and loving me for me.

Q. You made the transition in the last year look seamless, but I’m sure it was a lot coming in, learning the new playbook, learning new system, in general. Who would you identify as your support system? And how have you leaned on them in this past year at Ohio State?

QB WILL HOWARD: Yeah, that’s a good question. My support system is always my family, and I lean on them for a ton of different stuff.

When I originally went out to Kansas State as an 18, 19-year-old kid, my mom came out there a lot, my dad. They helped me a ton when I was transitioning there.

And here it was different. I’m older now. I can kind of be on my own a little more. But for me, it was more acclimating to the team, a new environment. It felt more like a professional kind of move. And I think my family did an unbelievable job of helping me.

Obviously, it helps that I’m a little closer to home now. I’m only six and a half hours, I think is the drive, from here to Downingtown. It was about 18, 19 when I was at K-State. I never made that drive. But it’s been great. My family was awesome.

And also, those other transfer guys I came in with helped a ton, with me being able to come in with – really, it was Seth [McLaughlin] and Q (Quinshon Judkins) and Will Kacmarek. And then Caleb [Downs] and Julian [Sayin] came in a little later, but that was a couple weeks after I had gotten here.

But we all leaned on each other because we were all going through something similar. We’d all played a lot of football but had to acclimate to a new team and to a new culture. I think we had a lot of fun with it. And I think we’re just all thankful to be here and be Buckeyes.

Q. I feel like this season, there’s been a big theme of redemption and revenge for you, whether it’s against Oregon, or making that statement against Penn State. Now you have a chance to do it against Texas. How does that fire you up? Is that a difference-maker for you out there?

QB WILL HOWARD: Yeah, I think I try to find motivation in a lot of different things. I’ve always kind of looked at myself as somewhat of an underdog. And I wasn’t super highly recruited. Nobody really expected me to play early at K-State (Kansas State), and I kind of got thrown in.

I kind of like to take on that underdog mentality a little bit and that chip on my shoulder. I think

that does help myself and give myself a little edge, a little more extra motivation at times.

But it also has to come from within, and it can’t be making up a story to get you pumped up every single week. You, obviously, have to strive and want to be the best. It’s just so happened that there’s been some games this year that have been a little personal to me and that have hit home.

But we’ve got two more games left. And this one coming up is the biggest game that we’re going to play this year, because it’s the next one, and because ‚Äì I mean, there’s four teams left.

And we know Texas is a heck of a football team. I played them for four years and wasn’t able to beat them. They’re a good squad. So we’re going to have to be on our stuff. And I’m just excited and thankful to be here, and I’m ready for the challenge.

Q. As you got into the Texas film the last couple days, how much of it looks the same or looks different to you?

QB WILL HOWARD: I went back and watched our game from last year. I think there’s some different personnel in there, some new players, but a lot of the same stuff.

I feel like defensively, they kind of do what they do and they’re pretty darn good at it. They got some dudes in the back. [Jahdae] Barron is a really good player. They’ve got that freshman up front who’s really good. I think No. 95 (Alfred Collins) is playing really good football right now.

They’ve got a stout front. Not necessarily as big as those two dudes were last year, but they’ve got some dudes, man. So, schematically, yeah, they’re doing some of the same stuff.

But everybody changes year in and year out, so got to continue to grind on them and make sure that we know them inside and out.