‘It’s his football team’: Will Howard ready to burn redshirt, lead K-State offense

It’s too bad there is no such thing as a Most Improved Player award in the Big 12.

Will Howard would probably win that honor if football season ended today.

Seriously, has any player in the conference undergone a bigger transformation over the past few months? It wasn’t long ago that Kansas State fans would have melted down over news that starting quarterback Adrian Martinez was injured and Howard was taking over as the team’s primary passer for a game with conference championship implications at West Virginia. But few were complaining when that exact scenario unfolded earlier this week.

After watching Howard light up defenses for 717 yards and nine touchdowns in his past three games, the Wildcats are eager to see what he can do as the full-time starter.

“Will is going to be the guy. It’s his football team,” Klieman said. “I am excited for Will. Everybody knows Will is playing at a really high level.”

The Wildcats could always decide to pivot back to Martinez later on this season after he recovers from the lower-body injury he suffered while running a quarterback sneak against Baylor last weekend, but it’s clear that Plan A is centered around Howard shining as the team’s new QB1.

“He brings an edge to our offense,” offensive lineman Hadley Panzer said. “Will is a very good player. He knows his stuff. He knows what he is doing. It honestly doesn’t matter who is in there for us, whether it is Adrian or Will. We just tell him we have his back and then we go get it. Hopefully that calms him down.”

Originally, Howard planned to redshirt and play in no more than four games this season in order to preserve an extra year of college eligibility. But he happily scrapped those plans when K-State coaches asked him to lead the team to a Big 12 championship.

The Wildcats can clinch a spot in the conference title game with two more wins — or one victory combined with a Texas loss.

No way Howard was missing out on that.

“With everything that we know is in front of us and us controlling our own destiny, it’s exciting,” Howard said. “Obviously, (redshirting) was the plan coming in, but we know that no matter what, with what is in front of us, I am ready to take over and do what I can for this team. This is what our goal has been. Everything that we are playing for right now is what we have talked about for the three years since I’ve been here. It’s cool.”

Howard is optimistic that he can continue carving up defenses in his new role, but one thing is about to change for him. This is the first time all season he has known that he was going to start well ahead of kickoff.

He came off the sideline and replaced an injured Martinez against both TCU and Baylor. He did start against Oklahoma State — and led K-State to a 48-0 victory in that game — but coaches waited until game time to decide between Howard and Martinez.

This time around, he will spend an entire week preparing as the starter. West Virginia will spend more time on him, too.

“It’s definitely a big mindset adjustment,” Howard said. “You want to say that you are going to prepare as the starter no matter what, but it is a little different when you actually know. It is a little more calming in a way. You can prepare and get all the reps with the ones and prepare like you are the starter. You always want to do that as the backup, but it’s easier when you know you’re the starter.”

Howard shouldn’t feel overwhelmed by the opportunity. Though he didn’t have much success as a starting quarterback in previous seasons, he has been here before.

K-State has turned to Howard as its starting quarterback in 11 previous games, including one at West Virginia.

That game didn’t go well for him, as he threw three interceptions and the Mountaineers won easily 37-10 at Milan Puskar Stadium.

Howard, who grew up a few hours away in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, plans to use that blowout loss as motivation this week. He is expecting better results this time around. After all, he has dramatically improved as a quarterback since then.

“Being a young kid in there two years ago, not really understanding the offensive scheme, now I am able to sit back there and dissect the defense,” Howard said. “I know the offense like the back of my hand right now, just because I’ve been in the system so long.

“When I was a young kid going through those struggles, you didn’t really see it in the moment, but those things helped me prepare me for what I’m going through now. It’s kind of cool to see things come full circle.”