Will Howard injury: Ohio State QB leaves game with injury following hit

Ohio State quarterback Will Howard was injured late in the first half of the Buckeyes game against Michigan State in East Lansing. Howard was drilled in the chest by a Michigan State defender and was slow to get up. Shortly after, he was tended to by trainers, before heading to the sidelines. Ohio State decided to put backup quarterback Devin Brown in the game, and he threw a touchdown pass to star freshman Jeremiah Smith.

Here is a picture of the play here.

Will Howard was taken out the game after this hit. pic.twitter.com/oS0rpekJ2G

— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) September 29, 2024

Howard eventually came back in for the Buckeyes at the start of the third quarter. He appeared to be fine and the injury didn’t seem to be affecting any of his passes.

Howard completed 67.7% of his passes for 244 yards, while tossing in two touchdowns with one interception on Saturday night. Backup quarterback Devin Brown completed 5 of 7 passes for 54 yards, while tossing in a touchdown pass to Jeremiah Smith. He’s one of the best freshman wide receivers in college football history and he’s got the highlight film to back that up. Smith finished with five catches for 83 yards and a touchdown.

Another OSU receiver, Emeka Egbuka, hauled in seven catches for 96 yards and a touchdown. He and Smith form one of the nation’s most dominant wide receiver tandems. They’ll continue to look for Howard to target two of college football’s biggest and brightest stars.

Ohio State rolled up 185 rushing yards against the Spartans. Michigan State greatly hurt their chances with three turnovers in the red zone. Those pretty much eliminated any sort of hope they’d be able to keep pace with Ohio State. The Spartans now have 13 turnovers in their first five games. They’ll have to try and clean that up if they wish to improve their success in the future.