New Ohio State quarterback Will Howard didn’t take long to acclimate to his new community. Howard committed to the Buckeyes on Thursday after dealing with a variety of suitors in the NCAA’s transfer portal. THe former Kansas State quarterback probably understands a thing or two about rivalries. But there is no other rivalry quite like Ohio State-Michigan.
It’s known as “The Game’ for ar season. The annual November tussle between the two teams is a point of finality for each of them. Every year, both fanbases aspire for, well, mostly one thing: To beat the other in football and otherwise. Michigan has defeated the Buckeyes three years in a row after Ohio State dominated the rivalry for well over a decade. So Ohio State will be playing from behind in 2024 at Ohio Stadium.
But it sounds like Howard understands the deal.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel, who broke the story on Howard’s commitment to Ohio State, later explained Howard’s thought process. He also implored on what the rivalry meant, and Howard is willing to play along.
“We definitely talked about that. That game means so much. The pressure is on,” Howard told Thamel via ESPN.com. “Beating that Team Up North is priority No. 1 on the way to the national championship and all our other goals. That’s huge and it’s everything when it comes to playing for Ohio State. I know the implications and what it means to the fan base and everyone in the program.
“That’s the Team Up North now,” he said.
Well, it’s all talk until it isn’t. So we’ll see what happens come November.
[ESPN]
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022