ATLANTA – Will Howard was talking about this strange season, one that began long before he took his first snap as the Ohio State quarterback and long after a loss to Michigan brought the program to its collective knees.
There are the stories, he says, no one knows. Stories that make up Ohio State’s perplexing run to the College Football Playoff national championship game that can only be told if the Buckeyes win.
Or one that can be told for the first time right now.
It was November of 2023 when Howard sat down with Kansas State coach Chris Klieman, and a difficult conversation concluded with two options: head to the NFL, where he had an invite to the Senior Bowl to work out for NFL scouts, or use his final season of eligibility somewhere else.
While Kansas State wasn’t running off Howard, it most certainly was moving on. There was too much to like about rising sophomore quarterback Avery Johnson, and there was little doubt where the conversation was headed.
Howard hadn’t yet made an NFL decision, but knew if he were to return to college football, he could play at an elite level.
“We both knew it was kind of the way it was going to be,” Howard told USA TODAY Sports. “No ill intent on either side.”
But you better believe there’s motivation.
Because more than anything, this is a story about the ever-shifting state of college football. K-State moved on to Johnson because with free player movement and NIL collectives throwing around high-dollar compensation deals, it was either commit to him or lose him.
Howard had one year of eligibility; Johnson had three. These decisions are made all over college football now, including at the elite levels of the game.
There’s a reason Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, despite his NFL draft stock slipping since the beginning of the season, left early for the NFL. Uber-talented young backup Arch Manning needed to play.
And while Howard says he speaks with both Klieman and Johnson regularly and there’s “no love lost” between them, this story begins with a decision. K-State chose Johnson over Howard.
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Make no mistake, Johnson has shown flashes of remarkable talent, and could eventually develop into one of the game’s best players. But Howard had one thing to prove when he spoke with Ohio State coach Ryan Day, and no one else: he could lead a team to a national championship.
It just so happened that Day, who had moved on from quarterback Kyle McCord, was in the process of changing his offense with his good friend and former UCLA coach Chip Kelly. An all-in moment for Day at Ohio State.
With an all-in transfer quarterback with something to prove.
“I kind of realized when I was a sophomore in high school that this football thing might be something I could do,” Howard said. “Since then, you get people telling you that you can’t do this or be this. If you’re any kind of competitor, you want to prove them wrong.”
Then this season arrived, and it was like some cruel joke was playing out when it mattered most. There was the scramble and failure to stop the clock in a late loss at Oregon, and two key interceptions in the loss to Michigan.
That loss, even though it didn’t end the season for Ohio State, may have been the best thing to happen to the most talented team in college football ― the program that spent nearly $20 million in building a championship-or-bust roster.
“It brought us together, tighter,” said Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka. “There’s just too much talent on this team to play the way we were playing.”
They’re averaging 37 points per game in three CFP games, including a 28-14 victory over Texas, which vanquished the big, bad SEC from the CFP final for the second consecutive season.
The quarterback who completed 57 percent of his passes against Michigan and averaged 5.3 yards per attempt, is completing 74 percent of his passes in three playoff games and more than doubled his averaged yards per attempt (10.8) ― against three top 15 defenses.
The ball is going downfield, and putting defenses in constant conflict. Most have tried rolling coverages and doubling star wide Jeremiah Smith, while leaving Carnell Tate and Egbuka in single coverage.
It hasn’t worked.
Ohio State has 20 pass plays of 15-plus yards in the playoff, including a whopping seven of 30 yards or more. An offense that took three months trying to prove it was more physical than anyone it played, finally realized what made it unique under Day for the previous seven seasons.
No one in college football understands the pass game like Day, whose concepts and play calling led to the most prolific offense in college football over the last decade — as both offensive coordinator and head coach at Ohio State.
Before last season, Day’s quarterbacks were averaging 41 touchdown passes a season. It took 12 games this season, but Day realized what made this team different from others he had at Ohio State that couldn’t win the national title, was the very thing that made it so dangerous in the first place.
Sometimes it’s the decision right in front of your face that makes the most sense. You just need to embrace it.
“We put the ball in Will’s hands, and good things happened,” Day said.
Earlier this week, Howard and Johnson texted back and forth like the typically do. Howard’s brother, Ryan, is a freshman offensive lineman at K-State, and Will still stays deeply connected with his first college home.
How could he not? He won a Big 12 championship at K-State, and invested four years in Klieman’s buildout. He was Klieman’s first quarterback recruit from a full recruiting cycle, the player to build and grow around.
And then he wasn’t.
It’s nobody’s fault, really, and everyone’s better for it. But you better believe there’s motivation.
“I’m not going to lie, that was not an easy conversation (with Klieman),” Howard said. “I love Kansas State, and my boys there. Love everything about it. But it didn’t take long for me to realize how unique Ohio State is, and what we could be this season.”
They’e one game away now.
Then maybe every story can be told.
Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.