New Ohio State quarterback, Will Howard had been toting around a chip on his shoulder for years but that flame was sparked in high school. If things seemed promising as a top considered QB during his junior year, this Pennsylvania-born talent had a bright future ahead of him. The dream school, Penn State, was knocking and almost everything seemed set. But then emerged the event that changed all this—Howard inflicted a wound on the wrist while playing in a rivalry game which set back his recruiting severally and had to start all over again.

Discussing that moment, Howard recalled in an interview on the Big Ten Football YouTube channel, “I kind of stopped hearing from some people, especially Penn State… it kind of lit a fire under me.” This disappointed much, but it did not last long before Howard showed his best side and twisted the game.

But even when all these things are in place, fire is still there burning. Each time Will Howard gets out to compete, he is not competing for Ohio State or himself but to prove himself to people who never believed in him. As he mentioned in his recent interview,” I want to prove those people wrong that kind of looked me over when I had that injury.” And it seems he is doing just that.

It is here that his tendency to mope became replaced with a desire to prove to his seniors what he was capable of doing. It was not just about hit and run, it was about telling those people who wrote him off, that they were wrong, and to this date, he continues doing so.

A determined senior year and Kansas State success

After that injury Howard did not just recover, he utterly erupted. He was able to finish high school and the following year Kansas State, albeit not as fancy as Penn State was interested in him. Howard seized that opportunity and scored the highest number of touchdowns in the school ever set. The adversity served to warp him more effectively, to make him stronger than ever.

When he decided the time was right to move up, Howard left Kansas State for greener pastures. He put his name in the transfer portal and immediately some of the premier football programs in the country expressed interest in him – USC and Miami being among the best. But Ohio State? That’s where he discovered his purpose in life. But, the moment Howard began to converse with the head coach Ryan Day, Ohio certainly looked like his kind of place. As he put it, “When I started talking to Coach Day and coming to play for the Buckeyes, it was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down.”

Now, as the starting quarterback for Ohio State, the junior, Howard has gone a long way from the fight of his junior years. It’s with these figures in terms of passing yards, touchdowns, and putting up solid numbers—1,248 passing yards, 12 touchdowns, and a QBR of 84.2–that he is delivering. With the upcoming game against Oregon, he has got another shot at proving Penn State wrong.

The Buckeyes are the team that did not lose any games in the current season, and Howard Plays an important role in this team this season. He’s not some little nobody anymore that Penn State let go; he’s the quarterback for one of the biggest college football teams in the country.