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Will Howard roasted by college football fans, media for throwing pick-6 on first pass vs. Penn State

Spenser Davis

By Spenser Davis

Published:

Will Howard wanted to prove a point when he lined up against his childhood team on Saturday afternoon — but he’s not off to a good start.

Howard grew up a Penn State fan, but didn’t end up earning an offer from the Nittany Lions as a 3-star recruit back in the class of 2020. Instead, he began his career at Kansas State before transferring to Ohio State ahead of the 2024 season.

Last week after Ohio State’s win over Nebraska, Howard made no mistake about how much this game means to him.

“Stoked. I can not wait,” Howard said in advance of this game. “It’s gonna be a homecoming for me. I grew up a Penn State fan. I wanted to go there my whole life. They didn’t think I was good enough. I guess we’ll see next week if I was.”

But on Howard’s first pass attempt of the game on Saturday, he threw a pick-6. It’s a nightmare start for the Buckeyes, who fell behind 10-0 following that defensive score.

That was just Howard’s 5th interception of the season. He’s been good from a ball-security standpoint to start the year for Ohio State while averaging a career-high 9.9 yards per attempt as well.

Given the context of Howard’s comments toward Penn State, college football fans and media had plenty to say about his first-quarter miscue:

Spenser Davis

Spenser is the news manager at Saturday Road and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.