Kansas State quarterback Will Howard enters transfer portal
On the first day that the NCAA Transfer Portal opened, Kansas State’s starting quarterback announced his intentions to leave Manhattan. Will Howard, the all-time and single-season touchdown pass record holder at Kansas State, will finish his career after four seasons in Manhattan. He has one season of eligibility remaining thanks to the COVID exemption.
Howard started his career during the 2020 COVID season and was immediately thrown into action. Taking over the starting quarterback role after Skylar Thompson’s season-ending injury against Texas Tech. Howard experienced an up and mostly down freshman season. Leading Kansas State to immediate wins over TCU and Kansas, before the Wildcats dropped their final five games.
Proving to be turnover-prone and not ready for the moment yet, Howard returned to his role as a reserve quarterback in 2021. But another injury to Thompson threw Howard into a handful of games as the starting quarterback. Results were mostly negative and it led to Kansas State finding a transfer portal quarterback for the 2022 season.
Howard’s junior year began as the number two quarterback behind Nebraska transfer Adrian Martinez. Just as Martinez began to heat up and get Heisman buzz, a nagging injury prevented him from finishing against TCU. Howard entered and nearly won on the road at the eventual national runner-up.
Howard got the start the following week against a top-ten Oklahoma State team and threw for four touchdowns in a 48-0 win. After Martinez took his job back against Texas and briefly against Baylor, another injury gave Howard the job full-time. Howard continued to seize the moment and ripped off two more wins to finish the regular season, leading Kansas State to the Big 12 Championship game.
There, he was able to avenge the earlier loss to TCU, a game he also exited with injury, by giving Kansas State their third-ever Big 12 title in a 31-28 overtime win. Howard totaled three touchdowns in the win over TCU and punched Kansas State’s ticket to the Allstate Sugar Bowl.
When 2023 began, expectations were high, but struggles popped up again including a two-week period against Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. Many questioned Howard’s status as the starting quarterback. But he regained full control and finished the season on a much better note. In the last six games of the season, Howard threw 15 touchdowns to just three interceptions. Securing the all-time touchdown passing record against Baylor, and a share of the regular season record against Iowa State.
Unfortunately for Howard and Kansas State, they lost his final game to Iowa State 42-35 to finish 8-4 in 2023.
After four years Howard will exit Kansas State and hand the job off to the hyped Avery Johnson. The four-star quarterback from Kansas flashed in moments during the 2023 season. The expectation will be that he starts for Kansas State’s bowl game.
