Ohio State adds experienced QB from transfer portal

He told ESPN the Buckeyes had everything he was looking for after entering the transfer portal last month.

“When I started talking to Ohio State, everything kind of lined up,” Howard told national college football reporter Pete Thamel. “I had a list of things I was looking for, in terms of needing to go somewhere where there was a lot of talent around me and……compete for a national championship.”

Ohio State missed the College Football Playoff last season after making it in three of the first four seasons under head coach Ryan Day.

Day has been known for stellar work developing quarterbacks, but first-year starter Kyle McCord endured some ups and downs last season and opted to transfer to Syracuse.

Howard was a three-star prospect coming out of Downingtown West High School in Pennsylvania four years ago.

The No. 13 pro-style quarterback prospect in the class of 2020, he trailed OSU signees C.J. Stroud (No. 2) and Jack Miller III (No. 10).

He earned a spot on the All-Big 12 second team last fall after completing 219 of 357 passes for 2643 yards with 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 12 games. He also ran for 351 yards and nine touchdowns despite being sacked 16 times.

Howard was a hero of the 2022 season for the Wildcats when he started five games for injured starter Adrian Martinez and led them to a Big 12 championship, but this season Howard had to share time with true freshman Avery Johnson, a top 100 recruit who appears to be the quarterback of the future for KSU.

In 34 career games at KSU, Howard threw for 5,786 yards and 48 touchdowns with 25 interceptions. He ran for 921 yards and 19 touchdowns as well.

This spring he presumably will compete with sophomore Devin Brown and redshirt freshman Lincoln Kienholz to be the Buckeyes’ starter in a season that could have Day and his coaching staff under the microscope following three consecutive losses to Michigan.