Opportunity Knocked and Howard Was Ready
Oct 31, 2022 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
The images are everywhere. They're at an array of different angles. They all capture the 21-year-old at the current peak of his journey — a purple No. 18 jersey, a wide-open mouth that squeezes the eyes nearly shut, sweaty brown hair, and a right arm extended high above his head in a fist. He's on the shoulders of his Kansas State teammates and students and everyone is celebrating, and he's being paraded around the football field at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. It's the stuff you dream about, the stuff few ever experience, and at this moment, it's Will Howard, the backup quarterback, soaking it all in after a long journey.
He's a humble guy, Howard is — "I don't like the spotlight on me or anything," he says — but he's trust toward the sky following one of the greatest wins in a K-State football history that dates to 1896, as the 22nd-ranked Wildcats defeated No. 9 Oklahoma State, 48-0, which is the largest-ever shutout win by a lower-ranked team over an AP Top-1o team. The Associated Press started its college football poll in 1936, and yes, it bends the mind how absolutely ridiculously good Howard and the Wildcats were in a Homecoming Game unlike any other, how the purple loyalists screamed and screamed some more, and how Howard so confidently marched the offense down the field and the Wildcats never took their foot off the gas.
And Howard, as it seems, is just getting warmed up.
"There's so much more that we can do," Howard says, "and to me, that's scary."
The 6-foot-5, 235-pound Howard is a junior who we met for the first time on February 6, 2020 in the team meeting room at the Vanier Family Football Complex. Howard arrived at midsemester of his senior year from Downingtown (Pa.) High School, where he left as the 19th-rated pro-style quarterback by 247Sports, and the Maxwell Football Club Pennsylvania Player of the Year finished his career with 5,308 passing yards and 48 touchdowns to go along with 512 rushing yards and 12 scores.
He was the highest-rated high school pro-style quarterback to sign with K-State since Josh Freeman in 2006.
"I want to play and win championships," Howard told us. "That's what I want to do."
At age 17, Howard played in nine games with starts in each of the final seven contests in relief of injured Skylar Thompson in 2020, becoming one of just four true freshmen quarterbacks in the FBS to make at least seven starts during the season. He threw for 1,178 yards and eight touchdowns and 10 interceptions, and he faced immense ridicule. Last season, Howard stepped in for injured Thompson again. This time, he played in six games with three starts, and 332 yards and one touchdown and one interception.
"All of the stuff that he's gone through has prepared him for this moment," K-State head coach Chris Klieman says after the Wildcats' largest victory over a top-10 opponent in school history.
The question all week was whether senior transfer quarterback Adrian Martinez would be available to play after one of the most electrifying quarterbacks in the Big 12 Conference was only able to manage the first series of the Wildcats' 38-28 loss at No. 8 TCU due to a leg injury. As it turns out, Martinez didn't feel 100% prior to kickoff against Oklahoma State, and Klieman and offensive coordinator Collin Klein gave the nod to Howard, who had led the Wildcats to four touchdowns on four consecutive possessions against the Horned Frogs.
"I've seen nothing but confidence grow in Will since the spring," Klieman says. "You have to realize he was No. 1 in the spring, so he took all the reps with the ones. Then in fall camp we started intermixing those reps with Adrian. But Will is such a confident guy."
Here's what Howard did against Oklahoma State: He completed 21 of 37 passes for 296 yards and four touchdowns — tying the school record for touchdown passes in a game, and tying for the second-most touchdown passes this season by a Big 12 quarterback. Howard whizzed 50-50 balls to Malik Knowles, Kade Warner and Phillip Brooks, allowing them to make plays against man-to-man coverage. He hit Warner with a 38-yard touchdown pass on fourth down, he found Brooks for a 31-yard score, and connected with Warner for a 41-yard catch-and-run score. Meanwhile, Knowles had his best game yet with eight catches for 113 yards.
Howard also hit running back Deuce Vaughn with a 1-yard touchdown pass for a 35-0 lead with 7 seconds remaining in the first half.
"I'm so proud of him. I love him to death. I'm so excited for his future and for the future for this team. It's going to be a fun year."
It all started with a Twitter direct message to K-State offensive line coach Connor Riley in April 2019. Howard noticed that the coach followed him on the social media platform, and with a couple of clicks on the internet determined that K-State could be in the market for a future signal-caller. And so, Howard shot Riley a film of his football highlights to see if he'd bite.
Howard learned that Klieman, who previously led North Dakota State to four FCS national championships, had coached Howard's favorite NFL player, Carson Wentz, who went the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2016 NFL Draft. Howard, too, carried NFL aspirations.
So, imagine Howard's elation when Riley responded to his Twitter direct message. Riley and Klein phoned Howard. The next day, Klieman offered Howard a scholarship.
And now, here's Howard, on the shoulders of teammates and students after a long, long journey.
"I finished up my interview with TV and all the sudden I'm getting raised up and I was like, 'What's going on?'" Howard says. "It was kind of funny. That was really cool. That's something I'll cherish forever."
"Right then and there," Vaughn says, "you saw the type of game he was going to have."
Teammates reciprocated Howard's confidence.
"You just looked around," Howard says. "You see that look in everybody's eye, and everybody had that look today — 'We're not stopping until the clock says zero.' We were keeping the foot on the gas and that's what we did. It was a heck of a game."
The plan was for Howard to redshirt this season as Martinez took the reins of the Wildcats' offense during his season with the team. Howard received limited reps with the first-team offense most of this season. That all changed this past week as Martinez's status remained unclear. Howard was ready.
"I'm all for the team and whatever happens, happens," Howard says, "and I don't know what the (injury) is with Adrian, and what's going on, so I guess we'll take it one day at a time."
In this day in age where quarterbacks transfer at an alarming rate, Howard has remained committed to K-State. His journey isn't finished quite yet.
"I love the dudes in the locker room," Howard says. "I said it on the field after the game, the reason I'm still here is because of the guys in that locker room, because of the relationship I've developed with them, and because of the bonds I have with guys on both sides of the ball.
"We have a special locker room and a special culture here, and it's going to be better in the future. Coach Klieman is a heck of a coach, and he inspires that. He said, 'This is a player-led team, this is your team, and you guys take care of it.'
"And we did."
K-State's historic win vaulted the Wildcats to No. 13 in the AP Top 25 poll. K-State, 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the Big 12, has another big game against Texas, 5-3 and 3-2, in Saturday's 6 p.m. kickoff in Manhattan.
"We have a lot of great talent, and the nice thing is that we haven't played our best game," Howard says. "That's still in front of us."
As Howard comes down from the purple cloud of teammates and students, after he pumps his fist into the cool sky in Manhattan, he finds his mother, Maureen, on the field.
She is bawling, overcome with emotion, knowing full-well her son's journey over the past few years, and after witnessing this monumental moment in her son's life.
After leading K-State to one of its greatest wins in school history, after engineering the Wildcats' offense in furious fashion, and after the TV interview, and the impromptu crowd surfing, Howard descends to the football field, to find his mother waiting for him.
The son hugs his mother.
"I got to give my mom a hug on the field," Howard says. "That meant the world to me."
It's the perfect ending to a perfect night.
The images are everywhere. They're at an array of different angles. They all capture the 21-year-old at the current peak of his journey — a purple No. 18 jersey, a wide-open mouth that squeezes the eyes nearly shut, sweaty brown hair, and a right arm extended high above his head in a fist. He's on the shoulders of his Kansas State teammates and students and everyone is celebrating, and he's being paraded around the football field at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. It's the stuff you dream about, the stuff few ever experience, and at this moment, it's Will Howard, the backup quarterback, soaking it all in after a long journey.
He's a humble guy, Howard is — "I don't like the spotlight on me or anything," he says — but he's trust toward the sky following one of the greatest wins in a K-State football history that dates to 1896, as the 22nd-ranked Wildcats defeated No. 9 Oklahoma State, 48-0, which is the largest-ever shutout win by a lower-ranked team over an AP Top-1o team. The Associated Press started its college football poll in 1936, and yes, it bends the mind how absolutely ridiculously good Howard and the Wildcats were in a Homecoming Game unlike any other, how the purple loyalists screamed and screamed some more, and how Howard so confidently marched the offense down the field and the Wildcats never took their foot off the gas.
"Nothing is scarier in sports than a man with nothing to lose," senior wide receiver Kade Warner told Howard prior to kickoff.We did this pic.twitter.com/M0cYgT4BAe
— K-State Football (@KStateFB) October 29, 2022
And Howard, as it seems, is just getting warmed up.
"There's so much more that we can do," Howard says, "and to me, that's scary."
The 6-foot-5, 235-pound Howard is a junior who we met for the first time on February 6, 2020 in the team meeting room at the Vanier Family Football Complex. Howard arrived at midsemester of his senior year from Downingtown (Pa.) High School, where he left as the 19th-rated pro-style quarterback by 247Sports, and the Maxwell Football Club Pennsylvania Player of the Year finished his career with 5,308 passing yards and 48 touchdowns to go along with 512 rushing yards and 12 scores.
He was the highest-rated high school pro-style quarterback to sign with K-State since Josh Freeman in 2006.
"I want to play and win championships," Howard told us. "That's what I want to do."
At age 17, Howard played in nine games with starts in each of the final seven contests in relief of injured Skylar Thompson in 2020, becoming one of just four true freshmen quarterbacks in the FBS to make at least seven starts during the season. He threw for 1,178 yards and eight touchdowns and 10 interceptions, and he faced immense ridicule. Last season, Howard stepped in for injured Thompson again. This time, he played in six games with three starts, and 332 yards and one touchdown and one interception.
"All of the stuff that he's gone through has prepared him for this moment," K-State head coach Chris Klieman says after the Wildcats' largest victory over a top-10 opponent in school history.
The question all week was whether senior transfer quarterback Adrian Martinez would be available to play after one of the most electrifying quarterbacks in the Big 12 Conference was only able to manage the first series of the Wildcats' 38-28 loss at No. 8 TCU due to a leg injury. As it turns out, Martinez didn't feel 100% prior to kickoff against Oklahoma State, and Klieman and offensive coordinator Collin Klein gave the nod to Howard, who had led the Wildcats to four touchdowns on four consecutive possessions against the Horned Frogs.
"I've seen nothing but confidence grow in Will since the spring," Klieman says. "You have to realize he was No. 1 in the spring, so he took all the reps with the ones. Then in fall camp we started intermixing those reps with Adrian. But Will is such a confident guy."
Here's what Howard did against Oklahoma State: He completed 21 of 37 passes for 296 yards and four touchdowns — tying the school record for touchdown passes in a game, and tying for the second-most touchdown passes this season by a Big 12 quarterback. Howard whizzed 50-50 balls to Malik Knowles, Kade Warner and Phillip Brooks, allowing them to make plays against man-to-man coverage. He hit Warner with a 38-yard touchdown pass on fourth down, he found Brooks for a 31-yard score, and connected with Warner for a 41-yard catch-and-run score. Meanwhile, Knowles had his best game yet with eight catches for 113 yards.
Howard also hit running back Deuce Vaughn with a 1-yard touchdown pass for a 35-0 lead with 7 seconds remaining in the first half.
"Anytime he's in the huddle, man, just the command and confidence that he has just from the experience of being in this offense for three years, you learn a lot," says Vaughn, who rushed for 158 yards on 22 carries and one touchdown. "Now getting to this part, man, he's super confident and super relaxed.Mambo no. 2️⃣2️⃣
— K-State Football (@KStateFB) October 29, 2022
pic.twitter.com/7KPmHkjxRX
"I'm so proud of him. I love him to death. I'm so excited for his future and for the future for this team. It's going to be a fun year."
It all started with a Twitter direct message to K-State offensive line coach Connor Riley in April 2019. Howard noticed that the coach followed him on the social media platform, and with a couple of clicks on the internet determined that K-State could be in the market for a future signal-caller. And so, Howard shot Riley a film of his football highlights to see if he'd bite.
Howard learned that Klieman, who previously led North Dakota State to four FCS national championships, had coached Howard's favorite NFL player, Carson Wentz, who went the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2016 NFL Draft. Howard, too, carried NFL aspirations.
So, imagine Howard's elation when Riley responded to his Twitter direct message. Riley and Klein phoned Howard. The next day, Klieman offered Howard a scholarship.
And now, here's Howard, on the shoulders of teammates and students after a long, long journey.
"I finished up my interview with TV and all the sudden I'm getting raised up and I was like, 'What's going on?'" Howard says. "It was kind of funny. That was really cool. That's something I'll cherish forever."
Rewind to just before 2:30 p.m., before kickoff, and Howard just carried an inkling that the Wildcats could have a good day. He went around the locker room and fist-bumped every single player and said, "I'm playing for you all boys." That's when Vaughn knew that Howard was going to start at quarterback.It means everything @whoward_ pic.twitter.com/JlzyqCvRvN
— K-State Football (@KStateFB) October 29, 2022
"Right then and there," Vaughn says, "you saw the type of game he was going to have."
Teammates reciprocated Howard's confidence.
"You just looked around," Howard says. "You see that look in everybody's eye, and everybody had that look today — 'We're not stopping until the clock says zero.' We were keeping the foot on the gas and that's what we did. It was a heck of a game."
The plan was for Howard to redshirt this season as Martinez took the reins of the Wildcats' offense during his season with the team. Howard received limited reps with the first-team offense most of this season. That all changed this past week as Martinez's status remained unclear. Howard was ready.
"I'm all for the team and whatever happens, happens," Howard says, "and I don't know what the (injury) is with Adrian, and what's going on, so I guess we'll take it one day at a time."
In this day in age where quarterbacks transfer at an alarming rate, Howard has remained committed to K-State. His journey isn't finished quite yet.
"I love the dudes in the locker room," Howard says. "I said it on the field after the game, the reason I'm still here is because of the guys in that locker room, because of the relationship I've developed with them, and because of the bonds I have with guys on both sides of the ball.
"We have a special locker room and a special culture here, and it's going to be better in the future. Coach Klieman is a heck of a coach, and he inspires that. He said, 'This is a player-led team, this is your team, and you guys take care of it.'
"And we did."
K-State's historic win vaulted the Wildcats to No. 13 in the AP Top 25 poll. K-State, 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the Big 12, has another big game against Texas, 5-3 and 3-2, in Saturday's 6 p.m. kickoff in Manhattan.
"We have a lot of great talent, and the nice thing is that we haven't played our best game," Howard says. "That's still in front of us."
As Howard comes down from the purple cloud of teammates and students, after he pumps his fist into the cool sky in Manhattan, he finds his mother, Maureen, on the field.
She is bawling, overcome with emotion, knowing full-well her son's journey over the past few years, and after witnessing this monumental moment in her son's life.
After leading K-State to one of its greatest wins in school history, after engineering the Wildcats' offense in furious fashion, and after the TV interview, and the impromptu crowd surfing, Howard descends to the football field, to find his mother waiting for him.
The son hugs his mother.
"I got to give my mom a hug on the field," Howard says. "That meant the world to me."
It's the perfect ending to a perfect night.
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