Will Howard breaks down game plan, mentality in national championship

Will Howard made it pretty simple for Ohio State’s game plan in the national championship game against Notre Dame.

Howard credited Ryan Day and Chip Kelly for making it easy on him. He pretty much just had to pull the trigger and find his offensive weapons.

Jeremiah Smith, a star freshman, made the game clinching catch against the Fighting Irish. Despite his other worldly performance in 2024, Howard knew that was just scratching the surface.

“Coming into this season, you know, I think something that coach Day and coach Kelly … really emphasized to me was completions,” Howard said after the national championship. “Get completions, take completions. You know, there was a couple times earlier where maybe I had to check it down, or maybe it wasn’t, you know, perfectly how it’s drawn up, but you want to just keep the ball moving, you know? And stay on schedule. 

“It may not always be pretty, and you may have to go pick it up with your legs, but you know, I got to give all the credit to my guys, my o-line, giving me time and those guys, the receivers. I mean, we got the best receiver room in the country, and it’s not even close. The running backs did a hell of a job, man. And everybody, you know, really stepped up when they needed it.”

Howard finished the game 17-of-21 passing for 231 yards, two touchdowns and ran 16 times for 57 yards. Smith had five catches for 88 yards and a touchdown, including the clinching catch that allowed Ohio State to run the clock out.

Speaking of those running backs mentioned by Howard, Quinshon Judkins had 11 carries for 100 yards and two touchdowns while TreVeyon Henderson had 12 carries for 49 yards.

“If he aces — like teams meet with him and fall in love with him and everything — then sure, who knows how high he can go,” NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah said of Howard’s NFL prospects. “When I’m watching him, I can’t take my eyes off 4 [Jeremiah Smith], I can’t take my eyes off TreVeyon Henderson. … It’s hard to separate someone from their situation. There were people with [Joe] Burrow that said he’s got Ja’Marr Chase, and he’s got Justin Jefferson, like how much of this is Burrow and how much of this is the supporting cast?

“We saw it last year with Jayden Daniels with Malik Nabers and the other freak who went to Jacksonville [Brian Thomas Jr.], so this is the way it works. Most of these quarterbacks especially in the NIL era where you can move around, they’re gonna gravitate toward where all the receivers are so they can play with them.”