Penn State's matchup with Ohio State next weekend was already a highly-anticipated battle coming into the year. Now with both schools ranked inside the top four of the AP Top 25 poll, College Gameday AND Big Noon Kickoff coming to State College and College Football Playoff implications on the line, the stakes have gotten bigger.
So too has the motivation for Ohio State quarterback Will Howard.
Following the Buckeyes' win over Nebraska on Saturday, Howard, a Downington, Pennsylvania native, was vocal about what the opportunity to play Penn State means to him.
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"I'm stoked. I cannot wait. It's going to be a homecoming for me. Grew up a Penn State fan. I wanted to go there my whole life. They didn't think I was good enough. I guess we'll see this week if I was," Howard told reporters.
A three-star recruit in the 2020 class, Howard was not offered by James Franklin and the Nittany Lions during the recruiting process, although he did take a pair of visits in June and September of 2018. The Penn State staff ultimately passed on the in-state product, who wound up choosing Kansas State over offers from Rutgers, Minnesota, Maryland, Kansas, Cincinnati and others.
The Nittany Lions took former three-star signal caller Micah Bowens in that class, which didn't work out for either side. After a brief stay in State College, Bowens transferred to Oklahoma, and then Charlotte, now he's at Bethune-Cookman where's he's found himself as the backup this season.
The quarterback situation for Howard and Penn State have worked out this season, however. Howard transferred this off-season and is now leading the Buckeyes to a No. 4 ranking, while Penn State signal caller Drew Allar has been lights out in his second season as QB1 in Happy Valley.
In a matchup already with high stakes, Howard has some added motivation against the team he grew up rooting for and will have an opportunity to exact revenge of sorts on Saturday afternoon.
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