Will Howard is playing his best football at just the right time.
Howard, known for his very efficient starts to games throughout much of this season, continued that trend in Ohio State's 38-15 top-five win over Indiana on Saturday.
He completed his first 15 passes before throwing two incompletions (including an interception) midway through the second quarter. Overall, Howard completed 22-of-26 passes for 201 yards, two touchdowns and an interception against the Hoosiers. For his efforts, he was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week for the second time in three weeks.
The fifth-year senior's 84.6% completion rate against Indiana is the second-most efficient game of his career as a starter. Howard has completed 80% of his passes in five of his last seven games and six times this season after doing so just once as a starter at Kansas State.
According to Eleven Warriors researcher Matt Gutridge, Howard’s six games with an 80% completion rate are an Ohio State single-season and career record.
Will Howard is the only Ohio State starting quarterback to complete at least 80% of his passes in 6 games during a season...or a career. pic.twitter.com/f3ch2diCbd
— Matt Gutridge (@RemyBuckeye) November 23, 2024
“That's cool man, but it really doesn't mean that much to me as long as we're winning a game,” Howard said after the game of his school record. “That's really all that matters to me. Like I’ve said, completion percentage, if it's a good completion percentage, it means I'm making good decisions with the football and keeping us on track. So as long as we're winning games, I'm not really worried about stats.”
To take a closer look at how Howard performed in Ohio State's dominant win over Indiana, 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.)
Howard's 86.8 Total QBR was the best among Big Ten quarterbacks this past week, according to ESPN.
After completing 28-of-34 passes for 225 yards, five touchdowns and an interception thrown 1-9 yards on the left side of the hashes in Ohio State’s first 10 games, Howard did quite well – and threw the ball there much more often – in that area on Saturday. He completed 10-of-12 passes for 82 yards and a touchdown in that area of the field against Indiana.
Howard had his best game as a passer, especially downfield, against Northwestern. He followed that up with his most efficient game as a Buckeye and completed both of his passes – two 25-yard completions – thrown at least 20 yards downfield against the Hoosiers.
His 53.1% completion rate on deep balls is No. 7 among FBS quarterbacks while his 96.4 PFF rating on throws 20-plus yards downfield is the second-best in the country behind only Florida's DJ Lagway.
Howard's 12.8 yards per attempt on intermediate passes is sixth in the FBS among quarterbacks who have thrown 25 passes in that area of the field.
| DEPTH (YARDS) | 2024 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| 20+ | 17/32 (53.1%), 583 yards (18.2 per attempt), 4 TD, 1 INT | 15/46 (32.6%), 452 yards, 6 TD, 4 INT |
| 10-19 | 42/64 (65.6%), 822 yards (12.8 per attempt), 6 TD, 3 INT | 43/78 (55.1%), 789 yards, 6 TD, 4 INT |
| 0-9 | 101/131 (77.1%), 967 yards (7.4 per attempt), 14 TD, 2 INT | 117/159 (73.6%), 1,043 yards, 7 TD, 2 INT |
| Behind los | 48/54 (88.9%), 313 yards (5.8 per attempt), 2 TD | 43/46 (93.5%), 346 yards, 4 TD |
With a 90.9% completion rate on play-action passes, Howard had his most accurate game of the season on those throws, tied with the Oregon game, when he also completed 10-of-11 passes with play action. He has now completed 79.3% of his passes in that concept, the second-best percentage among quarterbacks who have thrown at least 50 play-action passes this season.
Howard completed 75% of his passes without play action against Indiana, an area he looked to improve on after completing a season-low 58.3% of his passes without it at Wrigley Field.
| Play Action | Non-Play Action | |
|---|---|---|
| vs. indiana | 10/11 (90.9%), 96 yards (8.7 per attempt), 1 TD | 12/16 (75%), 105 yards (6.6 per attempt), 1 TD, 1 INT |
| 2024 season | 92/116 (79.3%), 1,325 yards (11.4 per attempt), 12 TD, 2 INT | 115/165 (69.7%), 1,353 yards (8.2 per attempt), 14 TD, 4 INT |
| 2023 season At Kansas state | 66/104 (63.5%), 976 yards (9.4 per attempt), 16 TD, 4 INT | 152/254 (59.8%), 1,654 yards (6.5 per attempt), 7 TD, 6 INT |
On 19 dropbacks that Howard was kept clean against Indiana, he completed a superb 18-of-19 passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns. Under pressure, he completed 4-of-8 passes for 64 yards and an interception.
Indiana blitzed just as much as it didn't on Howard's 28 dropbacks and the quarterback did well whether the Hoosiers brought extra pressure or not. He completed 12-of-14 passes for 84 yards and two touchdowns when blitzed and 10-of-13 passes for 107 yards and an interception when he wasn't.
After Howard completed just two of 12 passes for 14 yards under pressure in the first four games of the season, he has done exponentially better under pressure since that dismal start. Over the last seven games, he has completed 28-of-41 passes for 371 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions under pressure.
Howard's 55.4% completion rate under pressure is ninth-best in the FBS among quarterbacks who have attempted at least 25 passes under pressure, per PFF.
| PRESSURE | 2024 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| KEPT CLEAN | 157/206 (76.2%), 2,150 yards (10.4 per attempt), 19 TD, 4 INT | 172/256 (67.2%), 2,075 yards, 15 TD, 6 INT |
| UNDER PRESSURE | 27/47 (57.4%), 321 yards (6.8 per attempt), 5 TD, 1 INT | 46/102 (45.1%), 555 yards, 8 TD, 4 INT |
| NOT BLITZED | 119/161 (73.9%), 1,533 yards (9.5 per attempt), 12 TD, 4 INT | 135/224 (60.3%), 1,565 yards, 10 TD, 8 INT |
| BLITZED | 65/92 (70.7%), 938 yards (10.2 per attempt), 12 TD, 1 INT | 83/134 (61.9%), 1,065 yards, 13 TD, 2 INT |
The 6-foot-4, 235-pound quarterback ran the ball five times for a combined -1 yards but found the end zone for his seventh rushing touchdown of the season in the game’s final minute.
The Buckeyes add on another late @OhioStateFB pic.twitter.com/IU8KeifdAq
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 23, 2024
Below, we take a look at a bad decision and four very good throws by Howard against Indiana.
Bad Decision: Will Howard Doesn't See Wide-Open TreVeyon Henderson on 3rd-and-5
This is nit-picking given how good Howard was against the Hoosiers but he will definitely want this one back. On 3rd-and-5, Howard threw it to Emeka Egbuka for three yards because Indiana showed man pre-snap and played zone post-snap.
The problem: Henderson was wide open on Howard's right side.
Oh man, TreVeyon Henderson had a ton of green in front of him out in the flat on that 3rd-and-5... pic.twitter.com/Uu4QfPrquG
— Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom) November 23, 2024
Good Throw: Will Howards Drops It In the Bucket While Escaping Pressure to Carnell Tate for 25 Yards
On 3rd-and-35, Howard was pressured, escaped the pocket and dropped a perfect pass to Tate down the field for 25 yards while on the run, making it a manageable fourth-down situation, one that Ohio State converted.
3rd & 35: Throw to Tate for a 25 yard gain
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 23, 2024
4th & 10: Throw to Tate for a first down
Carnell Tate to the rescue for @OhioStatefb pic.twitter.com/qZFl5du6l7
Good Throw: 11-Yard Touchdown to Emeka Egbuka
Another absolute dot by Howard. With a defensive end matched up on Egbuka, Howard threw him a perfect slot fade for the Buckeyes' first score of the game.
This Will Howard-Emeka Egbuka touchdown pic.twitter.com/tjSiaEiirw
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) November 23, 2024
“That was a play that we worked continuously throughout the week,” Egbuka said. “It was a look that we studied. That drop defensive end, I anticipated it. So trying to not let him collision me too much. And then Will just trusting it, putting it in the back of the end zone in the right spot.”
Good Throw: 25-Yard Pass to Emeka Egbuka
Another beauty of a deep ball as Howard threw it right over Egbuka's shoulder and the wide receiver didn't have to break stride.
Superb ball placement from Will Howard on these throws
— Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom) November 23, 2024
1/2 pic.twitter.com/SdNnpeCbCm
Good Throw: 13-Yard Pass to Jeremiah Smith
Howard threw an accurate pass between three Indiana defenders and the wideout leapt and came down with two feet in bounds for a first down on 3rd-and-7.
Howard has been at his best in the intermediate range (10-19 air yards).
— Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom) November 23, 2024
He came into today ranked 1st in comp %age (69.4%) among all B1G QBs w at least 25+ attempts in that depth this season, per @PFF. He also entered w 794 pass yds, 10 TDs & only 2 INTs on those throws.
2/2 pic.twitter.com/9AIDHszEW3
Howard's 85.4 Total QBR this season ranks fourth among FBS quarterbacks and is the second-best mark in the conference behind only Indiana's Kurtis Rourke (85.9), who had a dismal 42.6 Total QBR against Ohio State.
Howard's passing chart through 11 games in 2024:
