These plays show where Will Howard needs to improve after first defeat as K-State QB
When Chris Klieman says he has confidence in freshman Kansas State quarterback Will Howard, he means it.
K-State’s first three plays from scrimmage against West Virginia last weekend showed how much the Wildcats believe in their young passer. There he was, making the third start of his college career in a difficult road environment against the best defense in the Big 12 and offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham dialed up three straight passing plays for Howard.
No hesitation. No fear. All guts.
That strategy, unfortunately for everyone wearing purple, turned out to be ill conceived. Howard responded with a pair of incomplete passes and then an interception that gave the Mountaineers good field position for their first drive of the afternoon. That series set a bad tone for the day for Howard, as he went on to complete just 19 of 37 passes for 184 yards a touchdown and three interceptions.
By no means was Howard the reason K-State went on to lose 37-10, but his play left much to be desired in a game that required sharp execution from his position.
Though Howard didn’t light up the stat sheet in any of his previous appearances for the Wildcats, he played well enough to help his team rattle off victories against Texas Tech, TCU and Kansas. In those games, he protected the ball and took advantage of what the defense gave him. On Saturday, he turned the ball over multiple times, forced throws into traffic and, well, looked like a freshman.
What changed?
Chalk it up to a mixture of freshman nerves, injuries and a top-flight defense.
It was obvious from the start Howard was going to be in for a long day. He made three different mistakes on his first three passes.
His first error was waiting too long to throw the ball on first-and-10. Howard had all kinds of time to find an open receiver following a fake hand off to star running back Deuce Vaughn. K-State’s offensive line provided excellent protection. But Howard waited to go through his reads against zone coverage, which gave West Virginia time to pressure him. The play ended with a pass that was too short for Chabastin Taylor.
On the next play, Howard took advantage of solid protection and attempted a fade pass to Taylor up the right sideline. But Taylor never ran anywhere near the ball and appeared to be blocking his defender as if he was expecting a running play.
That was likely a miscommunication and it’s hard to tell who was at fault there. Either way, the ball landed well out of bounds.
His third play was the worst of all. Howard targeted Phillip Brooks despite the presence of three West Virginia defenders surrounding him in zone coverage. The pass was high and the Mountaineers came up with a pick.
Howard, to his credit, showed a short memory and drove K-State to the West Virginia 2 on its next possession. And he nearly connected with Jax Dineen a touchdown pass, but a WVU defender knocked it out of his hands.
On that drive, Howard showed moxie until he faced third-and-goal from the 3 and hesitated to throw the ball into the back of the end zone.
Early on, Howard did enough to help K-State take a 3-0 lead. But that advantage was short lived, and West Virginia dominated from there.
Klieman defended his quarterback when the game was over, saying things like “I’m not worried about Will,” and “let’s not pile on Will Howard” and “he’s got that ‘it’ factor.”
But Howard will need to play much better if K-State hopes to bounce back on Saturday against Oklahoma State.
“You can’t have mistakes where you’re turning the football over, but we still have to push the ball down field,” Klieman said. “We still have to be able to run the correct routes for him to get the ball out on time. We have to be able to protect so he knows he’s going to have a cleaner pocket to throw the football.
“It’s a culmination of things where maybe it was an errant throw to maybe a wrong route or maybe a busted protection, and then all the sudden hands are all over you and maybe you get a tipped ball or something. You have to realize that this kid is a true freshman that’s playing high-level football and learning on the run. More than anything, I like the way he handles things and like the way he handles himself.”
Howard never backed down against West Virginia. That much was clear when he completed a 35-yard touchdown pass to Malik Knowles on a post route against man coverage.
He looked much more comfortable against man than zone last weekend.
But he made a few other mistakes.
His second interception was a head scratcher. On that play, receiver Seth Porter seemed to find a soft spot against zone coverage, but he either ran the wrong route or Howard threw the ball to the wrong place. The pass ended up in the hands of a West Virginia defender with Porter trying to pry it loose.
In the second half, Howard continue to throw the football into traffic. At one point, the ESPN announcers used a replay to show four defenders surrounding his target, Taylor. Once again, the Mountaineers were in zone coverage.
Howard also threw the first pick-six of his career in the third quarter on a busted screen pass to Taylor. Everything went wrong on that play.
The pass was from Howard was too high. Taylor bobbled the ball instead of securing it. Brooks whiffed on a block. West Virginia players blew up the play from the start and capitalized with a defensive touchdown.
K-State hasn’t called many plays like that all season, but it had to try something different with West Virginia bottling up Vaughn and tight end Briley Moore on the sideline with a back injury.
Still, that third interception was the culmination of a disappointing day for Howard.
It will be fascinating to see when K-State is bold enough to begin its next game with three more passing plays.
This story was originally published November 5, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "These plays show where Will Howard needs to improve after first defeat as K-State QB."