SE: For the QB from PA, Saturday Brings Unexpected Opportunity
Oct 30, 2020 | Football, Sports Extra
By: Austin Siegel
This game has been circled on the calendar for months.
If they don't hit traffic, Will Howard's family can make the drive from the Philadelphia suburbs to Morgantown, West Virginia in less than five hours.
It's not a quick trip, but it's nothing compared to the usual Saturday routine.
"It's been a little harder for them to get out to games. I have three siblings at home with a brother that plays high school football," Howard said. "So, my parents have been trying to alternate which game they come to."
When Howard signed with K-State, West Virginia was always going to be the game.
The one where Howard's entire family could see him on the sidelines as the true freshman quarterback watched his K-State teammates take on West Virginia in front of a capacity crowd.
Obviously, a couple of things have changed since national signing day.
Howard will be under center on Saturday afternoon, starting the third game of his college career after Skylar Thompson went down with a season-ending injury in early October.
Just a few weeks after stepping in as the starter, Howard has kept the offense on schedule and earned the respect of his K-State teammates.
"It's just really impressive to see because I could not have done that when I was a true freshman at 18 years old; I don't think there are a ton of people who could," Noah Johnson said. "He's always been very poised, he's always very vocal, and he does a great job of keeping everyone calm and focused on one play at a time."
The "firsts" are almost out of the way for the freshman signal-caller. Against TCU in Fort Worth, Howard became the only true freshman quarterback in K-State history to win his first road start.
It's that second road start on Saturday that will give Howard the opportunity to play in front of his entire family. And it's added a few more things to his plate during game week.
"I've been trying to talk to a lot of guys to try and get some extra tickets," Howard said. "I've definitely had to do some scalping off my other teammates."
Howard said that along with 10 family members headed to Morgantown, a few friends are also making the trip. So, put the cheering section on Saturday at about 15 to 18 people.
Given the reduced capacity at West Virginia football games season, that kind of support tells you something about Howard and his football roots in Downingtown, Pennsylvania.
It's Philadelphia Eagles country on Sundays, but the town is split on Friday nights between the high school where Howard played, Downingtown West, and their crosstown rivals.
"Our Downingtown East game last year was packed. There had to have been probably 8,000 people there," Howard said. "You get noticed in stores and everything. All of the townies that have been there for years come to games and live Downingtown football through and through."
They won't forget about Howard anytime soon, after a senior season when he threw for 2,543 yards and 27 touchdowns to lead the Downingtown West Whippets – objectively, just an outstanding high school nickname – to their first state championship in school history.
Those numbers came after one of the more important decisions Howard will ever make, when his football credentials and sparkling GPA left with him both Power Five and Ivy League offers.
Howard said that Kansas State doesn't have much of a following in Eastern Pennsylvania, but an important connection to the new head coach of the Wildcats kept them on his radar.
After all, the most famous player Chris Klieman has ever coached is the quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles, and Carson Wentz was Howard's favorite player growing up.
It didn't hurt that the K-State coaching staff believed in his potential right away.
"Some other schools will string you along for a while and say, 'Hey, we want to see you at this camp.' K-State saw my film, talked to me and offered me a couple days later," he said.
Rather than enjoy his senior year after football season wrapped up, Howard headed to Manhattan in the spring to enroll early at K-State. Of course, COVID-19 had other plans.
Once fall camp began, it didn't take him long to make an impression.
"He made a ton of throws and he just made a lot of plays. So, we all knew how talented he was," Johnson said. "Then when he got into that Texas Tech game, everything was smooth. There were no noticeable nerves…He was completely ready."
Due to limits on Big 12 attendance, the crowds that Howard has played in front this season aren't much bigger than what he faced when the Whippets took on Downingtown East.
And because he didn't take a game visit during his recruiting process, the starting quarterback of the Wildcats has never seen Bill Snyder Family Stadium packed with fans.
"I'm looking forward to seeing that, I can't even imagine how cool it is to play in front of a sold-out crowd here," he said. "That's going to be a lot of fun whenever that happens."
In the meantime, Howard is focused this weekend's matchup in Morgantown and the opportunity to play just a few hours from where his football career began.
As No. 16 K-State has surged up the national rankings, Howard has helped the Wildcats start to make a dent back home, even though Downingtown is deep in the heart of Penn State territory.
Downingtown Diner is a local landmark where Steve McQueen filmed one his first movies about a giant alien amoeba that attacks the town back in 1958. It's worth asking Howard about just to hear the quarterback of a Big 12 football team say, "Oh yeah, The Blob."
"It hasn't changed in years," he said. "It's still a big spot for high schoolers to hang out."
And for the first time, it's where you can talk a little K-State Football on a Saturday morning.
"A bunch of my friends have been reaching out to me and it's pretty cool to see how many K-State fans there are in PA or at least starting to pay attention," Howard said. "I wouldn't say there were a ton of K-State fans back in Downingtown. But there definitely are now."
This game has been circled on the calendar for months.
If they don't hit traffic, Will Howard's family can make the drive from the Philadelphia suburbs to Morgantown, West Virginia in less than five hours.
It's not a quick trip, but it's nothing compared to the usual Saturday routine.
"It's been a little harder for them to get out to games. I have three siblings at home with a brother that plays high school football," Howard said. "So, my parents have been trying to alternate which game they come to."
When Howard signed with K-State, West Virginia was always going to be the game.
The one where Howard's entire family could see him on the sidelines as the true freshman quarterback watched his K-State teammates take on West Virginia in front of a capacity crowd.
Obviously, a couple of things have changed since national signing day.
Howard will be under center on Saturday afternoon, starting the third game of his college career after Skylar Thompson went down with a season-ending injury in early October.
Just a few weeks after stepping in as the starter, Howard has kept the offense on schedule and earned the respect of his K-State teammates.
"It's just really impressive to see because I could not have done that when I was a true freshman at 18 years old; I don't think there are a ton of people who could," Noah Johnson said. "He's always been very poised, he's always very vocal, and he does a great job of keeping everyone calm and focused on one play at a time."
Making it look easy @whoward_ ➡️ @Briley_moore22 #KStateFB ⚒ pic.twitter.com/y2d3bxtK8Y
— K-State Football (@KStateFB) October 24, 2020
The "firsts" are almost out of the way for the freshman signal-caller. Against TCU in Fort Worth, Howard became the only true freshman quarterback in K-State history to win his first road start.
It's that second road start on Saturday that will give Howard the opportunity to play in front of his entire family. And it's added a few more things to his plate during game week.
"I've been trying to talk to a lot of guys to try and get some extra tickets," Howard said. "I've definitely had to do some scalping off my other teammates."
Howard said that along with 10 family members headed to Morgantown, a few friends are also making the trip. So, put the cheering section on Saturday at about 15 to 18 people.
Given the reduced capacity at West Virginia football games season, that kind of support tells you something about Howard and his football roots in Downingtown, Pennsylvania.
It's Philadelphia Eagles country on Sundays, but the town is split on Friday nights between the high school where Howard played, Downingtown West, and their crosstown rivals.
"Our Downingtown East game last year was packed. There had to have been probably 8,000 people there," Howard said. "You get noticed in stores and everything. All of the townies that have been there for years come to games and live Downingtown football through and through."
They won't forget about Howard anytime soon, after a senior season when he threw for 2,543 yards and 27 touchdowns to lead the Downingtown West Whippets – objectively, just an outstanding high school nickname – to their first state championship in school history.
Those numbers came after one of the more important decisions Howard will ever make, when his football credentials and sparkling GPA left with him both Power Five and Ivy League offers.
Howard said that Kansas State doesn't have much of a following in Eastern Pennsylvania, but an important connection to the new head coach of the Wildcats kept them on his radar.
After all, the most famous player Chris Klieman has ever coached is the quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles, and Carson Wentz was Howard's favorite player growing up.
It didn't hurt that the K-State coaching staff believed in his potential right away.
"Some other schools will string you along for a while and say, 'Hey, we want to see you at this camp.' K-State saw my film, talked to me and offered me a couple days later," he said.
Rather than enjoy his senior year after football season wrapped up, Howard headed to Manhattan in the spring to enroll early at K-State. Of course, COVID-19 had other plans.
Once fall camp began, it didn't take him long to make an impression.
"He made a ton of throws and he just made a lot of plays. So, we all knew how talented he was," Johnson said. "Then when he got into that Texas Tech game, everything was smooth. There were no noticeable nerves…He was completely ready."
Due to limits on Big 12 attendance, the crowds that Howard has played in front this season aren't much bigger than what he faced when the Whippets took on Downingtown East.
And because he didn't take a game visit during his recruiting process, the starting quarterback of the Wildcats has never seen Bill Snyder Family Stadium packed with fans.
"I'm looking forward to seeing that, I can't even imagine how cool it is to play in front of a sold-out crowd here," he said. "That's going to be a lot of fun whenever that happens."
In the meantime, Howard is focused this weekend's matchup in Morgantown and the opportunity to play just a few hours from where his football career began.
As No. 16 K-State has surged up the national rankings, Howard has helped the Wildcats start to make a dent back home, even though Downingtown is deep in the heart of Penn State territory.
Downingtown Diner is a local landmark where Steve McQueen filmed one his first movies about a giant alien amoeba that attacks the town back in 1958. It's worth asking Howard about just to hear the quarterback of a Big 12 football team say, "Oh yeah, The Blob."
"It hasn't changed in years," he said. "It's still a big spot for high schoolers to hang out."
And for the first time, it's where you can talk a little K-State Football on a Saturday morning.
"A bunch of my friends have been reaching out to me and it's pretty cool to see how many K-State fans there are in PA or at least starting to pay attention," Howard said. "I wouldn't say there were a ton of K-State fans back in Downingtown. But there definitely are now."
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