OSU got Will Howard to win big games. They don’t get much bigger than at No. 3 Oregon

A marque showdown like the one we will see Saturday night in Eugene is exactly why Ohio State coach Ryan Day and his staff brought in quarterback Will Howard.

The Kansas State transfer will face his toughest test with his new program as No. 2 Ohio State faces No. 3 Oregon under the lights at Autzen Stadium (6:30 p.m. CT, NBC) in the first meeting between the teams as members of the Big Ten.

Through 5 games with the Buckeyes, the 5th-year senior has displayed the arm strength, experience and dual-threat ability that made him a star in the Little Apple. Heading into the 2024 campaign in Columbus, Howard had already won a Big 12 title (2022) and racked up 48 touchdown passes, thrown for 5,786 yards and rushed for 921 yards and 19 scores on the ground. Expectations were sky high. As of now, Howard has met them.

But will Saturday night be different as he faces his first major test of the year?

“Well, he came here for a reason,” Day told the media Tuesday. “He came here to play in games like this, and he’s played in games like this. He’s excited to do that, and his preparation’s going to be the same.

“He’s been looking forward to this game. Obviously, we all have been since when the schedule came out. So he’s going to have to have a great week of preparation, but there’s a reason you come to Ohio State, and there’s a reason he came for games like this.”

Certainly, this has been circled as one of the season’s marquee matchups for a while.

After some early season struggles, Oregon has been rounding into shape and resembling more of a national title contender as most had projected ahead of the season. The scares against Idaho and Boise State could actually be beneficial in a tight game: Ohio State’s closest game thus far was a 28-point victory. How will this team respond in the 4th quarter if the game is tight, which is expected?

Outside of the dominant performance by Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty, Oregon has been strong against the run this season. It will need to be against the Buckeyes’ lethal duo of Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson as well as Howard. If the Ducks can slow down the rushing attack, perhaps it would make things a bit easier both up front and in the defensive backfield against explosive receivers Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka. Can Dan Lanning’s squad put Howard in uncomfortable, obvious passing downs?

Howard has been steady all season, and he’s coming off a win over Iowa in which he completed 21-of-25 passes for 209 yards with 4 passing touchdowns and an interception. He had more total touchdowns (5) than incompletions (4), and his 84% completion rate was the 2nd-best of his career as a starter.

The playmakers are there to make things easy, but the Ducks’ defense will pose a stiff challenge. OSU needs the Howard who nearly rallied K-State past Texas on the road last November. The Longhorns dominated the first 3 quarters and led 27-7 with 4:13 remaining in the third. But then the Wildcats rallied — albeit helped by some Longhorn miscues — behind Howard’s 26-of-41 passing effort. He threw for 327 yards and 4 touchdowns with 1 interception.

It was big-game play against a big-time opponent.

As has been the case for most of this season, Howard didn’t take many shots down the field against Iowa. He simply continued to get the ball out of his hands quickly to his playmakers, who have been able to do the rest throughout the season. He did complete 1 deep ball to Smith for a 53-yard gain, but there were more short and intermediate routes against the Hawkeyes. Expect Lanning’s game plan to take that away as much as possible and force Howard to take more shots down the field.

Generating pressure and getting after Howard would also bode well for the Ducks. While he fared much better under duress against Iowa than he did in his first 4 games, he did throw his pick while pressured. However, he also connected on 2 touchdowns when Iowa blitzed.

The game of chess between Buckeyes OC Chip Kelly and the Ducks’ defensive staff should be fun. Day knows Oregon is ready to put pressure on his QB.

“I mean, it’s just everything gets ramped up,” he said. “And we have to make sure that we’re doing a great job in protection, knowing that we have a really good front we’re going against and that we’re doing a great job of getting open. You know, they’re going to challenge us in coverage.

“And we’ve got to create separation. And so everything’s a part of that. And the quarterback’s a big part of it as well, for sure.”

No matter what happens at Autzen Stadium this weekend, here’s hoping college football fans get a classic similar to the one we saw on a sunny September afternoon in Columbus in 2021, when these teams last played. The closing moments saw Ducks defensive back Verone McKinley III make a game-sealing interception on Ohio State quarterback CJ Stroud as the Ducks pulled the upset, 35-28.

Dave Miller

Dave Miller has covered the college football landscape nationally since 2009 with stops at National Football Post and Campus Insiders. In addition to contributing to Saturday Tradition, he can be seen on Stadium Network.