Will Howard made the most of his opportunities against Nebraska, even if those were few and far between.
Whether it was the fact that Ohio State ran only 44 offensive plays (not counting the three kneel-downs to end the game), the offensive line struggles or the Buckeyes focusing on their ground attack, Howard didn't get many opportunities to throw the ball during Saturday's win over the Cornhuskers.
Much like he has since the season opener, Howard started the game with plenty of efficiency, completing his first 10 passes – something he has done three times this season – including all nine of his throws in the first half. While he struggled early on in the second half, missing on three of his first four passes including an interception, Howard completed his final three passes of the game, including a game-winning 9-yard touchdown pass to Quinshon Judkins with his last throw.
Buckeyes back on TOP!
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 26, 2024
Will Howard finds Quinshon Judkins for the @OhioStateFB TD pic.twitter.com/CwuLIUPHaV
After a career game at Oregon two weeks prior, Howard completed 13-of-16 passes for 221 yards, three touchdowns and an interception against Nebraska. His 16 throws were his fewest since Oct. 14, 2023 (nine at Texas Tech with Kansas State) and his 13 completions were his fewest since Oct. 21, 2023 (10 vs. TCU with Kansas State). That said, Howard's 81.3% completion rate was the third-best of his career as a starter. The fifth-year senior has now completed more than 80% of his passes in four of Ohio State's past five games after he did so just once as a starter at Kansas State.
Howard’s 246.7 quarterback rating against Nebraska was the best of his career as a starter.
Opponent-adjusted QB EPA/dropback
— Bill Radjewski | CollegeFootballData.com (@CFB_Data) October 28, 2024
OSU's Will Howard takes the top spot this week. This sets up a Top 10 QB matchup with Drew Allar, assuming the latter is good to go this weekend. pic.twitter.com/Du769uiYwD
To take a closer look at how Howard performed in the Buckeyes' win over Nebraska, we charted all 16 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.)
After throwing only 11 passes more than 20 yards through the air in the first five games of the season, Howard has made that part of the field a point of emphasis over the last two games. Against Oregon, he completed 3-of-5 passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield and carried that momentum into Saturday, as he completed both of his throws in that area for 100 yards and two touchdowns, his first scoring passes of the season that were thrown at least 20 yards downfield.
After throwing zero passes 20-plus yards between the hashes in the first five games of the season, Howard has now completed all three of his throws downfield in that area for 132 yards and two touchdowns over the last two games.
He also only threw one pass behind the line of scrimmage against Nebraska, which was by far his fewest of the season. Before the game against the Cornhuskers, his season-low in that area of the field was four against Western Michigan and Iowa.
| DEPTH (YARDS) | 2024 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| 20+ | 10/17 (58.8%), 392 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT | 15/46 (32.6%), 452 yards, 6 TDs, 4 INTs |
| 10-19 | 27/44 (61.4%), 516 yards, 6 TDs, 2 INTs | 43/78 (55.1%), 789 yards, 6 TDs, 4 INTs |
| 0-9 | 62/81 (76.5%), 627 yards, 8 TDs, 1 INT | 117/159 (73.6%), 1,043 yards, 7 TDs, 2 INTs |
| Behind los | 35/39 (89.5%), 260 yards, 1 TD | 43/46 (93.5%), 346 yards, 4 TDs |
Despite questions about his arm strength, Howard has been one of the most efficient deep passers in the FBS this season, especially after his 60- and 40-yard touchdown passes against the Cornhuskers.
Some analysts and fans have been critical of Will Howards ability to throw the ball downfield but its unwarranted, per @PFF (minimum 15 pass attempts 20-plus yards downfield this season):
— Josh Poloha (@JorshP) October 27, 2024
17 attempts (T-126th)
58.8% completion rate (T-3rd)
23.1 yards per attempt (3rd)
Howard threw for a season-high 19.9 yards per attempt on play-action passes against Nebraska despite attempting a season-low seven play-action passes, completing six of them with one touchdown and one interception.
| Play Action | Non-Play Action | |
|---|---|---|
| vs. Nebraska | 6/7 (85.7%), 139 yards (19.9 per attempt), 1 TD, 1 INT | 7/9 (77.8%), 82 yards (9.1 per attempt), 2 TDs |
| 2024 season | 61/76 (80.3%), 972 yards (12.8 per attempt), 7 TDs, 2 INTs | 72/104 (69.2%), 816 yards (7.8 per attempt), 10 TDs, 2 INTs |
| 2023 season At Kansas state | 66/104 (63.5%), 976 yards (9.4 per attempt), 16 TDs, 4 INTs | 152/254 (59.8%), 1,654 yards (6.5 per attempt), 7 TDs, 6 INTs |
Although Ohio State’s offensive line struggled against Nebraska, he was only pressured on six of his dropbacks per Pro Football Focus, completing one of two passes for five yards under pressure. He was only blitzed on one dropback and Howard completed a three-yard pass when they did.
After Howard completed just two of 12 passes for 14 yards while under pressure in the first four games of the season, Howard has done a much better job under pressure in the three games since. Over the last three games, he has completed 8-of-13 passes for 107 yards, one touchdown and an interception under pressure.
When Howard was kept clean against Nebraska, he completed 12-of-14 passes for 216 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.
| PRESSURE | 2024 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| KEPT CLEAN | 111/141 (78.7%), 1,463 yards (10.4 per attempt), 13 TDs, 2 INTs | 172/256 (67.2%), 2,075 yards, 15 TDs, 6 INTs |
| UNDER PRESSURE | 9/23 (39.1%), 104 yards (4.5 per attempt), 1 TD, 1 INT | 46/102 (45.1%), 555 yards, 8 TDs, 4 INTs |
| NOT BLITZED | 81/109 (74.3%), 952 yards (8.7 per attempt), 6 TDs, 2 INTs | 135/224 (60.3%), 1,565 yards, 10 TDs, 8 INTs |
| BLITZED | 39/55 (70.9%), 615 yards (11.2 per attempt), 8 TDs, 1 INT | 83/134 (61.9%), 1,065 yards, 13 TDs, 2 INTs |
Howard didn't record a rushing touchdown against Nebraska for the first time since the season opener.
Below, we take a look at three of Howard’s best throws along with his worst pass in the win over Nebraska.
Good Throw: 40-yard Touchdown to Carnell Tate
Day said in the week leading up to this game that Ohio State would "launch some balls" at practice to improve its downfield passing game. Practice makes perfect, right?
However, after the game, the head coach stated that he meant that towards the defensive side of the ball, not for Howard to do so.
"So when I said that (last week), I meant launching balls on our defense," Day said. "I think it was perceived the other way, which I was kind of a little nervous because I knew we were going to launch balls in this game. But we hit it."
Either way, it worked out.
On his sixth throw of the game, Howard found Tate for a 40-yard touchdown to give OSU a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter.
Will Howard Carnell Tate. pic.twitter.com/iuHHJsbjy1
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) October 26, 2024
Although it was a touchdown, Howard was critical of himself because he should have led Tate a little more than he did.
"I think I maybe held up Carnell just a little bit," he said after the game. "Maybe just want to push him down the field a little more, make it a little bit easier on him. But we got the perfect look."
Good Throw: 60-yard Touchdown to Jeremiah Smith
While Smith used his speed to get past the defense for his ninth touchdown in just seven games, Howard threw it right into the bucket and hit the freshman in stride for Ohio State's second touchdown of the game.
Will Howard hits Jeremiah Smith in stride for a 60-yard touchdown pic.twitter.com/SY6zbMKFhy
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) October 26, 2024
Good Throw: 17-yard Completion to Carnell Tate
Howard fakes the handoff, rolls out and throws a dart to Tate while on the run for a first down.
Good ball from Ohio State QB Will Howard to WR Carnell Tate, which goes for a gain of 17 yards. pic.twitter.com/Zk5YQUJ9VR
— Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom) October 26, 2024
Bad Throw: Interception
Howard tries to pass it to Emeka Egbuka on the seam route but Nebraska cornerback Malcolm Hartzog Jr. makes a tremendous play, anticipates the throw and comes off of Jeremiah Smith to make the interception.
While one could say this is more of a good play by Hartzog rather than a bad pass by Howard, throwing between four defenders is always questionable. Given that this occurred midway through the third quarter and the offensive line struggled throughout the game, Howard may have rushed the throw anticipating pressure, though he said after the game that the absence of left tackle Josh Simmons did not influence his decision-making.
NEBRASKA PICKS OFF OHIO STATE @HuskerFootball
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 26, 2024
Sponsored by @wendys #ad #WendysPartner pic.twitter.com/6Fm9C5Mulf
So far this season, Howard has been among the best quarterbacks in the country.
- 74% completion rate (fourth in the FBS)
- 9.9 yards per attempt (sixth)
- 86.6 QBR (sixth)
- 183.9 rating (third)
Howard's passing chart through seven games in 2024:
