Ryan Day raves about Will Howard's leadership for Ohio State entering Indiana game

Ohio State starting quarterback Will Howard has done everything that has been asked of him this season. The Kansas State transfer is completing nearly 73 percent of his passes. He’s thrown for 2,484 yards, with 24 touchdowns and only five interceptions.

In addition to that, Howard has established himself as the leader of the Ohio State team. Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day spoke on ESPN College GameDay Saturday morning ahead of the matchup with Indiana about how important Will Howard has been to Ohio State’s success in 2024.

“Well, this game is won with players,” Ryan Day said. “You know, we can talk and do all these different things. They’ve got to go out on the field and play. And a big part of that is the leadership that he brings, the maturity, the ability for him to get us into the right play.”

Howard is in his fifth season of college football after starting his career at Kansas State. He has been in big games, made big plays, and Day fully trusts him.

“You know, when you have a 22-, 23-year-old guy that has as much experience as he has, he can get you into the right play. He can make adjustments in-game,” Day said. “And also just know that there are going to be momentum swings in a game. Get everybody on the same page.”

Howard’s ability to handle momentum swings came up big for the Buckeyes in a top 5 matchup against Penn State earlier this season.

With Ohio State looking to grab control of the game, Howard fumbled the ball through the end zone, giving the Nittany Lions new life. However, he bounced back to play well the rest of the game and led Ohio State to a 20-13 road win.

Howard will need to come up big once again for the Buckeyes in a top 5 matchup against Indiana on Saturday.

“Get back out on the field. And then have the resiliency like he did in the Penn State game to maybe have something go sideways and get back down and get us in the end zone,” Day said.