Breaking Down Will Howard’s Performance in Ohio State’s Shutout Win Over Purdue

The Buckeyes easily took care of business, dominating Purdue in a shutout win over the Boilermakers Saturday afternoon in Ohio Stadium, and Howard’s efficient play was one reason why.

Like he has throughout much of the season, Howard started the game with plenty of accuracy. He completed eight of his first 10 passes and only threw back-to-back incompletions once on his way to completing 21-of-26 passes for 260 yards and three touchdowns against Purdue before being pulled in the fourth quarter. Howard earned Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week for the first time as a Buckeye for his efficient game against Purdue.

His 21 completions were thrown to eight different receivers as Howard did his best to spread the ball around against the Boilermakers.

"That means that we got everybody clicking. I mean, when you get eight guys involved, that's huge," he said. "That's crazy to say when I just said that our three starters are the best in the country; to say that our backups aren't a huge drop-off is saying something. We got a lot of talent in that (wide receiver) room. And the tight ends, I think the tight ends are doing some really good things, too. So, yeah, it's encouraging."

Howard's 80.8% completion rate was the fourth-best of his career as a starter. The fifth-year senior has now completed at least 80% of his passes in four of his past five games and five of OSU's past seven games after he did so just once as a starter at Kansas State.

To take a closer look at how Howard performed in Ohio State's shutout win over Purdue, we charted all 26 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.)

For the first time this season, Howard threw an incompletion on the right side of the hashes behind the line of scrimmage. One of his four passes behind the line of scrimmage, though, went for a touchdown for the first time since OSU's win over Marshall in the third game of the season.

He flourished in the short and intermediate passing game against Purdue, completing 16-of-17 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns on throws past the line of scrimmage within 20 yards.

While Howard's five pass attempts thrown at least 20 yards downfield were a season-high, he only completed two of them for 57 yards, and two of his incompletions were due to underthrows. Howard's underthrows on deep balls have been arguably his biggest flaw, but his 50% completion rate on passes 20-plus yards downfield is tied for the ninth-best in the FBS. His 19 yards per attempt in that area of the field are the sixth-most in the FBS.

Howard completed 10-of-13 passes with play action, his most since the win over Marshall the third week of the season. Through nine games this season, Howard's 76.9% completion rate with play action is the third-best in the FBS among quarterbacks who have thrown at least 25 passes with play action this season, per PFF.

After completing a season-low 63.2% of his passes without play action against Penn State, Howard completed a season-high 84.6% of his passes without it against Purdue.

While Purdue blitzed (18 dropbacks) more often than it didn't (11) against Howard, he flourished when the Boilermakers brought pressure. Not only did Howard complete 13-of-17 passes for 183 yards and three touchdowns when Purdue brought extra pass-rushers, but he had by far his best game of the season throwing the ball under pressure. With at least one defender pressuring him in the pocket, Howard completed eight of nine passes for 91 yards and two touchdowns.

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 exponentially better under pressure since then. Over the last five games, he has completed 20-of-27 passes for 260 yards, four touchdowns and an interception under pressure.

Despite his early-season struggles, Howard's 56.1% completion rate under pressure is the fourth-best in the FBS, per PFF.

The 6-foot-4, 235-pound quarterback got back in the scoring column with his legs against Purdue, running for a touchdown for the sixth time this season after not doing so in Ohio State’s previous two games.

Ohio State is on the board! pic.twitter.com/gZ5KsN1EUJ

— Eleven Warriors (@11W) November 9, 2024

Below, we take a look at two of Howard's best throws and two of his worst throws from the game.

Good Throw: 25-Yard Completion to Jeremiah Smith

On his first throw of the game, Howard noticed Smith had single coverage and threw a perfect pass near the sideline for a 25-yard gain.

Will Howard sees a 1-on-1 opportunity for Jeremiah Smith, and he throws it to his star wideout.

Smith makes the catch over Purdue CB Nyland Green for a 25-yard gain.

Ohio State will take that all day. pic.twitter.com/FFZXTeJiXZ

— Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom) November 9, 2024

Bad Throw: Throw Too High For Gee Scott Jr.

While Scott should have still come down with the catch given that it hit his hands, Howard's high throw made it tougher for the tight end to do so. Smith was open on the next level, too.

Ohio State's opening drive halts at its own 40-yard line. TE Gee Scott Jr. can't come down with a 3rd-and-3 pass from QB Will Howard.

Scott could have reeled that in, but Howard could have put it in a better spot, too.#Buckeyes punt. pic.twitter.com/KfbHSmRYnb

— Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom) November 9, 2024

Good Throw: Will Howard Buys Time, Finds Jeremiah Smith for First Down

With plenty of pressure following play action, Howard rolled to his left to buy some time, took a step back and regained his footing before finding Smith and moving the chains.

Ohio State QB Will Howard buys time, sets his feet and fires a 9-yard strike to WR Jeremiah Smith, moving the chains.

Nice play by Howard. pic.twitter.com/q8R8MY6bqj

— Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom) November 9, 2024

Bad Throw: Would-Be Touchdown Underthrown to Carnell Tate

Howard underthrew a deep ball to Tate and instead of it being a long touchdown, it turns into an incomplete pass.

Howard underthrows Tate on what should have been a walk in TD. Tate still had a chance to come down with it but couldnt pic.twitter.com/VXErLisi3z

— Brodie (@BrodieKnowsBall) November 10, 2024

For the season, Howard has the seventh-best QBR (83.6) in the FBS and third-best in the Big Ten behind only Indiana's Kurtis Rourke (88.6) and Oregon's Dillon Gabriel (86.7). His 9.7 yards per attempt are tied for the third-most in the FBS.

Howard's passing chart through nine games in 2024: