Will Howard came to Ohio State to win and win big. Like, big as in a national title.

The quarterback spent 4 seasons at Kansas State before deciding to finish his collegiate career in Columbus, lofty expectations and all. Howard mostly was successful in his 1 season at Ohio State, getting the Buckeyes to the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff despite some hiccups along the way.

There was, of course, the dud of a loss to Michigan in the regular-season finale, and then there was that deflating 32-31 heartbreaker at Oregon on Oct. 12 that was one of the games of the year in college football. For Ohio State though, it was awful, and for Howard, it has stung for a while now.

Howard had great numbers that night in Eugene, going 28-of-35 for 326 yards and 2 touchdowns, without an interception. But he didn’t win the game, although Howard still believed coming out of that loss. He believed in the Buckeyes, and he believed there would be a chance for retribution against Oregon.

Well, Howard was right, and that day will come on New Year’s Day at the Rose Bowl, when Ohio State and Oregon kick things off at about 5 p.m. ET (2 p.m. PT) in Pasadena, with a trip to the CFP semifinals on the line.

“I said the moment we were walking off that field (in October), we’re going to see those guys again, whether it was in the Big Ten (title game) or here. And here we are, man. We knew we were going to get another crack at these guys,” said Howard on Saturday. “I’m just so fired up that God blessed us with a second chance at this thing. In life, you don’t get a lot of second chances. It’s a blessing. We just got to let it not pass us by.”

Howard had another message for the Ducks.

“It’s hard to beat a team twice,” he said.