Why a new football number helped K-State QB Will Howard start playing with confidence
It is a big deal whenever a football player decides to change the number he wears on his uniform.
That statement may seem silly on the surface. After all, when has a game ever been decided based on a wide receiver suiting up in the No. 83 instead of the No. 38?
But there is no denying that a number switch is often very meaningful for the player who is opting to make the change.
Such was the case with Will Howard. The junior Kansas State quarterback quietly changed numbers from 15 to 18 during the offseason and, well, he doesn’t think it’s a coincidence that he is now playing the best football of his life.
“Eighteen was the number I used in high school,” Howard said this week. “It was always kind of a special number to me.”
During his two seasons wearing the No. 15 at K-State, Howard mostly disappointed while filling in for Skylar Thompson. He threw for 1,510 yards and nine touchdowns to go along with 548 yards and seven touchdowns, but the Wildcats only won three of the 10 games that he started.
His play inspired so little confidence that K-State coaches brought in Nebraska transfer Adrian Martinez as a one-year rental this season to give Howard or possibly Jake Rubley more time to develop as backups before competing with Maize quarterback Avery Johnson for playing time next season.
But Howard has played like a Heisman contender since he switched to No. 18. During his two game appearances this season, he threw for 225 yards and two touchdowns against TCU and then followed that up with 296 yards and four touchdowns against Oklahoma State.
He only saw action in those games because Martinez has been dealing with a lower-body injury. But Howard has played so well that he might be ready to take over as QB1 on a full-time basis.
What has been the biggest change in his game? He can answer that question with one word: confidence. Part of that stems from his new number.
“When I got here I wasn’t sure about 15,” Howard said. “I liked it, but I wanted to get that mojo back. It probably doesn’t matter or anything, but the number opened up and the opportunity came and I decided to jump on it and get a fresh start, back to where I was in high school, feeling confident.”
His new number is also the same day as his mother’s birthday and the same number that Peyton Manning wore with the Indianapolis Colts. And Howard grew up a huge Manning fan.
There was no way he was going to let anyone else wear No. 18 on offense this season when it became available.
Still, regaining the confidence he played with in high school was what he wanted most. As a recruit in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, few were better than Howard. He threw for 5,308 yards and 48 touchdowns during his prep career and finished as the Maxwell Football Club Player of the Year in his home state.
K-State coaches don’t usually recruit in that area, but Howard signed with the Wildcats because he admired what coach Chris Klieman accomplished with Carson Wentz during their time together at North Dakota State.
The only drawback to playing for the Wildcats was that his favorite number was taken.
Not anymore.
“I’m glad,” Howard said, “I got the opportunity to get back into it.”
This story was originally published November 2, 2022 at 12:30 PM with the headline "Why a new football number helped K-State QB Will Howard start playing with confidence."