It looks like Penn State football’s eighth opponent of the 2024 season has found its quarterback out of the transfer portal.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel first reported that Kansas State QB Will Howard has committed to Ohio State, per Howard himself.
Ex-Kansas State QB Will Howard commits to Ohio State and tells @espn what attracted him to Columbus over USC and Miami. He also quickly realized the importance of the Michigan game. “That’s the Team Up North now.” https://t.co/Ap2jpdoN3n
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 4, 2024
Howard would be coming to OSU after four seasons at Kansas State, starting games in each season.
The highlight of Howard’s Kansas State career came in the second half of the 2022 season when he started KSU’s last five regular season games.
In that stretch, Kansas State went 4-1 and earned a spot in the Big 12 title game against eventual national runner-up TCU. Howard threw for two touchdowns and no interceptions, helping Kansas State to a 31-28 overtime upset. In 2023, Howard started all 12 of regular-season games, and the team went 8-4. Howard threw for 24 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and 2,643 yards, completing 61.3 percent of his passes.
Howard’s 75.1 QBR was good for 22nd in the country.
Barring a surprise, Howard will be Ohio State’s starter in 2024, replacing Kyle McCord, who transferred to Syracuse.
Like McCord, Howard played high school football in Pennsylvania.
McCord’s hometown is Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, but he played at Philadelphia’s St. Joe’s prep. Howard is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania, and played at, well, Downingtown West High School. Assuming Howard signs from the transfer portal and starts for Ohio State Nov. 2, when it takes on Penn State at Beaver Stadium, and assuming Drew Allar does the same for Penn State, it will be the second straight season an Ohio high school star (Allar) takes on a Pennsylvania one. McCord and Ohio State got the best of Allar and Penn State in Columbus this season with a 20-12 win in October.
