Breaking Down Will Howard’s Performance In Ohio State’s Season-Opening Blowout Win Over Akron

In fact, it was a really good one once he got settled in.

Howard came to the Buckeyes with plenty of experience, as the fifth-year senior played in 34 games at Kansas State. At Ohio State, he's in charge of an offense with plenty of playmakers, both in the backfield and on the outside, and is expected to make plays with both his arm and his legs while also maximizing the talent OSU has.

He did quite a good job of that in Ohio State's season-opening 52-6 win over Akron on Saturday, completing 17-of-28 passes (61%) for 228 yards and three touchdowns. Of those 17 completions, five different players caught at least one pass, led by freshman Jeremiah Smith, who had six catches for 92 yards and two touchdowns in his debut. Howard also had four carries for 18 yards.

There's no doubt that Howard's legs could be a difference-maker in 2024. Whether it's RPO, scrambles, or any other running play as a quarterback, his running ability will give opposing defenses something to not only worry about and prepare for, but also open up the field for Ohio State's receivers as well. Chip Kelly has already shown his ability to take advantage of that part of Howard's game.

Chip Kelly just ran Belly H Lead with the QB I bet Howard feels like he never left Kansas State pic.twitter.com/UN1Wg7Lo4K

— Max Toscano (@maxtoscano1) August 31, 2024

Especially when you can attack the boundary and pair it with a) Q read; b) relief; or c) RPO quick out. pic.twitter.com/TR3ZtFsBm3

— Ross Fulton (@RossRFulton) September 2, 2024

In terms of passing, the 6-foot-4, 235-pound quarterback threw four straight incompletions to start the game, but that stretch included two drops and a should-be defensive pass interference penalty. He then completed six of his next eight attempts. Three of those were to Smith, including a 16-yard touchdown for Ohio State's first score of the season.

After missing on his next five passes, Howard had completed just six of his first 16 passes for 76 yards and a touchdown midway through the second quarter.

“I think just across the board they were a little uptight early on. I think they were kind of worked up. And you saw a couple of things off and we got ourselves off-schedule,” Ryan Day said after the game.

After that, the veteran signal-caller seemed to find his groove in his new threads. He completed 11 of his final 12 passes to five different receivers for 152 yards and two touchdowns.

“I thought we sort of settled in and started to have more fun, and we started to play a little looser, which is the way we need to play,” Day said. “I thought we were a little bit uptight early on, and we can't play like that. We gotta come out of the gates playing loose.”

After throwing at least one interception in eight of 12 games last season, Howard didn't turn the ball over in his first game as a Buckeye. Day was impressed with his decision-making aside from one poor choice to attempt to throw the ball backward to TreVeyon Henderson, resulting in a fumble that was a 10-yard loss for Ohio State and could have been six points the other way if Henderson hadn’t recovered the loose ball.

"I thought he had pretty good poise the whole day," Day said. "Took care of the football other than the one crazy decision at the end of the half there to try and force something."

RELATED Playing “Looser” Key for Ohio State Offense After Slow Start vs. Akron

Howard agreed with his head coach’s assessment of the day and reiterated what Day said about the fact that Ohio State's offense must start cleaner (and looser) going forward, especially against better competition.

“One of our goals in this game was to play clean,” Howard said. “I feel like we didn't really do that in the first half. But at the end of the day, we just kind of had to get together and say, settle down, just play our game. Don't think about it too much. Don't let the fact that it's maybe our first time playing the Shoe (be a distraction), you've got to settle in and play football. And I think we did a good job of that in the second half, but we definitely need to work on starting a little faster, starting a little better, and not having those mistakes that we had in the first half, me personally included in that.”

Howard played through the first drive of the fourth quarter, leading the Buckeyes on three straight touchdown drives after halftime, a second-half performance that Howard can build upon going into the second week of the season.

To dive into how Howard performed in Ohio State's blowout win over Akron, we charted all 28 of his passing attempts in the game. (Note: The passing chart is categorized by how many yards the quarterback threw the ball in the air past the line of scrimmage on each attempt and whether the ball reached its target inside or outside the hashes, though the stats listed include yards gained after the catch on each completion.)

Howard completed just 1-of-3 passes – a 45-yard completion to Jeremiah Smith – more than 20 yards downfield, an area he has struggled in throughout his career. That said, he was much better in the intermediate part of the field (5-for-7, 96 yards and two touchdowns) and similarly efficient close to the line of scrimmage, completing 11-of-15 passes for 87 yards and a touchdown within 10 yards or behind the line of scrimmage.

As Howard continues to build chemistry with Ohio State’s playmakers, his numbers should continue to improve, much like they seemed to between the spring and fall camp.

One thing that stood out about Howard’s Ohio State debut is his ability to make plays under pressure and while getting blitzed. He only had to throw under pressure twice against Akron, but that was in large part because of his ability to extend plays outside the pocket when Akron pass-rushers broke through the line.

One thing that Kelly, Day and Howard will likely continue to take advantage of as the season goes along is his ability as a play-action passer. In 2023, he completed 65-of-103 passes (63.1%) for 973 yards (9.4 yards per attempt), 15 touchdowns and four interceptions on 108 play-action dropbacks. Against Akron, Howard completed 8-of-12 passes (66.7%) for 141 yards (11.8 yards per attempt) and two touchdowns on play-action plays (44.8% of dropbacks). Comparatively, he completed 9-of-15 passes for 87 yards (5.8 yards per attempt) and a touchdown with no play action (55.2% of dropbacks).

Below, we take a look at Howard's best throw, two other impressive throws and his worst decision of the day against Akron.

Good Throw: 19-yard Pass to Emeka Egbuka

Howard was able to roll right and throw a perfect pass to Egbuka in stride while on the run to give Ohio State a first down.

Best Throw: 9-yard Touchdown to Jeremiah Smith

Howard threw a perfectly accurate dart into a small window just outside the right hash between three Akron defenders to give Smith his second touchdown of the day.

Another one for Jeremiah Smith

This Will Howard Jeremiah Smith combo for @OhioStateFB is going to be a problem this season for defenses pic.twitter.com/PQH9oeywsp

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) August 31, 2024

Worst Throw: Near-Turnover on Lateral to TreVeyon Henderson

This was the play that Day mentioned in his postgame press conference. It didn’t count as a pass attempt because it was thrown backward, but Howard made a poor decision by throwing the ball across his body while falling down, resulting in a fumble that could have been a turnover. While he was just trying to make a play on 3rd-and-7, he can't afford to do something like this and turn the ball over in a bigger game. Next time, Day and Kelly will expect Howard to just throw it away or scramble rather than risk a turnover that could give the opponent a defensive touchdown or really good field position.

Good Throw: 45-yarder to Jeremiah Smith

Smith certainly made one heckuva one-handed catch to secure the reception, but Howard put the ball on target and allowed the freshman to make a play near the goal line.

He caught that with one hand

Jeremiah Smith continues to add to his impressive @OhioStateFB debut.#B1GFootball on CBS pic.twitter.com/c0NShHyWEW

— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) August 31, 2024