The Ohio State Buckeyes have already exorcised a number of demons in just two College Football Playoff games this postseason. A win over the Tennessee Volunteers in the opening round… that snapped a winless streak against the SEC dating back to 2015. A win over the Oregon Ducks in the CFP quarterfinals… that avenged a last-second loss earlier in the season in Eugene. On Friday night in the Cotton Bowl, Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard has the chance to exact some revenge against the Texas Longhorns.

Before transferring to Ohio State at the conclusion of the 2023 season, Will Howard had spent the previous four seasons playing for the Kansas State Wildcats, where he accumulated a 15-12 record as their starter and played a role in leading K-State to their only New Year's Six Bowl Game of the College Football Playoff era. However, in those four years, the one team in the Big 12 that Howard never scored a victory over, as a starter or reserve, was the Texas Longhorns.

The College Football Playoff semifinals give Howard the opportunity to avenge all of those losses.

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“That was the only team I didn't beat when I was in the Big 12,” Howard said on Sunday, per Jake Trotter of ESPN.com. “They're always a good team. But none of those games were unwinnable. Definitely excited to get another chance at these guys.”

Well, one of those games was unwinnable. A 69-31 beatdown at the hands of the Longhorns in 2020 was a one-possession game for just over ten minutes of action. A year later, the Wildcats held a 17-16 halftime lead in Austin, but were shut out in the 2nd half and lost by 5. In 2023, Howard's third and final meeting against Texas while at Kansas State, the Wildcats gave the 7th-ranked Longhorns all they could handle in what ended up being a 33-30 loss in overtime at DKR.

“That one still sticks with me,” Howard said of last year's loss to Texas, a game in which he threw for what remains a career-high 327 yards. “I don't like how that one ended. … I know there's a lot of people back in Kansas that are rooting for the Buckeyes to get this one done against these guys.”

As of Sunday afternoon, the Ohio State Buckeyes are a 5.5 point favorite against Texas, who will be playing a virtual home game in Arlington, per FanDuel sportsbook.