Will Howard will be Ohio State’s starting quarterback to open the 2024 season.
The Kansas State transfer has won the quarterback battle and will start for the Buckeyes in Week 1 against Akron, Ohio State coach Ryan Day told reporters on Thursday.
[Related: Ohio State is No. 1 in RJ Young’s Ultimate 134 CFB rankings]
“When you take the aggregate of all the numbers, Will graded out significantly ahead of the other guys in the team work,” Day explained.
Devin Brown is currently the team’s No. 2 quarterback, Day said. However, Day added that the team has a “big scrimmage” on Saturday that could change things, noting that the team still has a lot of practice reps to go around.
Entering the offseason, it wasn’t clear who would be Ohio State’s starting quarterback in 2024. Kyle McCord transferred out of the program after a disappointing end to the 2023 season.
Day was eventually able to land Howard and Julian Sayin (Alabama) from the transfer portal. Howard was viewed as one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in the portal following his two-season stint as Kansas State’s starting quarterback.
Sayin was arguably the most talented quarterback in the portal. Sayin, a five-star recruit in the Class of 2024, transferred out of Alabama following Nick Saban’s decision to retire in January. He had enrolled early at Alabama.
Brown was viewed as the incumbent with the strongest chance of winning the job. The redshirt sophomore lost the quarterback battle with McCord last season, but started in the team’s loss to Missouri in the Cotton Bowl.
Ryan Day speaks on veteran players returning & additions from the transfer portal
In the end, though, Howard’s veteran presence helped him win the job.
“We’re excited about Will being the starter,” Day said of the fifth-year quarterback. “Will has taken a command of the offense, I believe. You can feel it in the huddle. You can feel his experience. He did a really good job of changing his body in the offseason. He’s become a threat with his legs and his arm. The more he understands what he’s doing out there and what he does, he’s really executing very well.
“I think the guys are excited when he gets in the huddle. Not to say that they aren’t excited when the other quarterbacks are in there, but they do feel Will and I know he’s excited about leading the team.”
Howard threw for 2,643 yards, 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions to go with 351 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns last season. He helped Kansas State win the Big 12 in 2022.
Ohio State arguably has its most talented team in Day’s six seasons as head coach entering 2024. The Buckeyes were ranked second in the first AP Poll of the 2024 season on Monday.
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