Will Howard shares what his first impressions of Michigan rivalry were

It didn’t take long for Kansas State quarterback transfer Will Howard to get acquainted with the Michigan rivalry after transferring to Ohio State. Not long at all.

In fact, while on a visit to Ohio State while still sussing out his options out of the transfer portal, Howard nearly committed a humorous — at least to some — gaffe. He explained on Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger.

“I remember I showed up on my visit. I visited, I think it was right after you guys played in the Cotton Bowl against Missouri,” Will Howard said to teammate Jack Sawyer. “And the second day I woke up and I put on a blue Rhoback hoodie. And I didn’t even think about it and I walked into the facility. And then I just felt like people were looking at me weird.

“Nobody actually said anything to me, but as soon as I got in there it was freezing cold. It was damn near negative degrees and I was walking around in a T-shirt. I was like, ‘Mom, can you throw this in your purse or something?’ I balled it up. I didn’t want to be that guy. I didn’t want to be that guy. I’ll take my shirt off and wear a crop top or something.”

The quick thinking by the quarterback likely saved him some grief from the guys who would become his future teammates. Will Howard picked Ohio State, eventually leading the Buckeyes to a national championship.

The route there did not include a win over Michigan, and there were some theatrics that unfolded after the game late in 2024. All part of the rivalry, which Howard would soon learn.

He embraced it. From Day 1.

“You have to jump into it. It’s hard not to. When you first get there, yeah it is new, it’s different, it means a lot to the people that have been there,” Will Howard said. “But I was, we do ‘Team Up North’ abs damn near every day. Every ‘M’ in the building’s crossed out, so there’s not a lot of, you don’t really have a choice. You’ve got to kind of dive in or you’re going against everybody.”

Make no mistake about it, Rhoback hoodie in the wrong color or not, Will Howard was out to prove he was fully bought in. No ifs, ands or buts about it.

“I had to. Like I had to jump into it,” he said. “I knew that like, I’m a person that doesn’t, I’ve said this before, I don’t do things halfway. If I’m going to do something… if I’m going to be a Buckeye, I’m going to be a Buckeye. I’m not going to wear blue.”