Ohio State quarterback Will Howard tripped and fell during the Buckeyes’ Cotton Bowl victory over the Texas Longhorns.
The star Buckeye claimed that he played it that way.
Cheekily, Howard, who will lead the Buckeyes into Atlanta for the National Championship Game next Monday, said that he fell down on the turf on purpose, but that he also should have scored a TD.
“Yeah, I fell on purpose,” Howard said via On3. “I’m joking. I didn’t fall on purpose. It should’ve been a dang touchdown, but I was trying to keep a couple seconds on the clock. No, I’m joking. Yeah, it was a great play, and a statement drive. We needed that.”
Howard praised the guys around him for stepping up. Ohio State has indeed met the moment this postseason. After a disastrous fourth consecutive loss to rival Michigan, head coach Ryan Dady and OSU have turned the corner. Ohio State throttled Tennessee at Ohio Stadium in Columbus in the team’s CFP opener. Then, the Buckeyes avenged an earlier defeat this season to the Oregon Ducks, throttling their new Big Ten rivals in Pasadena at the Rose Bowl.
Ohio State then turned around and defeated the SEC’s Texas Longhorns 28-14 in a memorable encounter. Linebacker Jack Sawyer picked up a scoop and score to put the game to bed.
Howard and his teammates can become legends if they pick off Notre Dame in Atlanta and win it all. We’ll see how they fare.
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