Ohio State football quarterback Will Howard is loving the system he's working with in Columbus. Howard is a new man on campus, after transferring in from Kansas State. The quarterback says working in Ryan Day's system is opening his eyes to new possibilities.

“I mean no disrespect to the guys I’ve played with because I’ve played with some really good players, and I don’t want anyone to take this out of context,” Howard said, per On3. “I’ve played with a lot of good players.

“But I think here it’s a little different in the way that Coach Day and Coach Kelly teach some things. You know, ‘Hey, that guy’s wide open. He may not look wide open. He might have a guy right on him, but he’s wide open. In the NFL, he’s wide open.’ And that’s the mindset that I’ve had to kind of develop a little more is, he may not look to the to the general public like he’s open, but if you put a back shoulder ball on him, that’s a play you can make.”

Howard is the starting quarterback for Ohio State football in 2024. Last season with Kansas State, the play caller threw for 2,643 yards, a career-high season. He tossed 24 touchdowns, while throwing 10 interceptions for the Wildcats.

Will Howard faces tremendous pressure with Ohio State football this year

Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard (18) laughs with quarterback Devin Brown (33) during football camp at the Woody Hayes Athletic Complex.
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
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Ohio State football faces high expectations this season. The Buckeyes are favored to win the rigid Big Ten Conference, which now includes USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington. The Buckeyes are also looking to go to the College Football Playoff, after losing to Michigan three years in a row and missing out.

Howard did well at Kansas State, but wasn't able to lead the Wildcats to the CFP. He did help the school win the Big 12 Championship in 2022. In that game, Howard threw for 199 yards and two touchdowns. Ohio State fans hope that type of big-game experience will help their experienced gunslinger win more games this season.

The quarterback will have some solid targets to throw to. Although Ohio State lost two outstanding wide receivers in Marvin Harrison Jr. and Julian Fleming, the Buckeyes have a lot of talent in that wideout room. This includes experienced wideout Emeka Egbuka, who finished the 2023 campaign with 515 receiving yards. In 2022, Egbuka had 1,151 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns, so he will certainly be a top target for Howard.

“With the guys that we have here, I mean they make plays like I’ve never seen anyone make plays before,” Howard added.

Ohio State football starts their 2024 season with a game Saturday against Akron.