K-State QB Avery Johnson reflects on the biggest lesson he learned from Will Howard
It’s fair to say that things worked out well for both Avery Johnson and Will Howard this college football season.
Johnson took over as Kansas State’s starting quarterback as a sophomore, and he led the Wildcats to nine wins, including a wild 44-41 victory over Rutgers at the Rate Bowl.
Howard transferred to Ohio State and performed so well as QB1 with the Buckeyes that he is still playing. The senior who guided K-State to a Big 12 championship in 2022 can lead his new team to a national title in 2025 by beating Notre Dame on Monday in Atlanta.
None of that came as a surprise to Johnson.
Even though he only spent one year with Howard at K-State, Johnson learned much from his older teammate. That is one reason why Johnson hasn’t been shy about praising Howard, who has thrown for 3,779 yards and 33 touchdowns this season.
“It’s really good to see him be successful and have a lot of success at Ohio State,” Johnson said in an interview during the 2024 season. “Really, though, I’m just grateful that I got to spend time with him here.”
When Johnson first arrived in Manhattan as a freshman out of Wichita, he knew he was going to play behind Howard as a backup. So he did everything he could to help Howard win games while also learning from his veteran teammate.
From afar, it may have seemed like Howard and Johnson had a frosty relationship. Johnson played so well as a change-of-pace quarterback that some K-State fans called for him to take over as the starter after he rushed for 90 yards and a school-record five touchdowns against Texas Tech.
But they supported each other, and Johnson became a better quarterback along the way.
He still credits Howard for teaching him how to handle the job.
“Will really showed me what it looks like to be a leader and how to get the guys to rally behind you,” Johnson said. “He kind of walked me through what my everyday routine might look like during a game week. I roomed with him before games, and I got to see what he did and how differently he handled things if it was an early kick or a late kick.
“It was great getting to see how he went about that. It allowed me to stand back and say, ‘I love that. I’m going to use that.’ But there were other things I didn’t like and decided not to do. He helped me put together the perfect pregame formula.”
Johnson used the lessons he learned from Howard to throw for 2,712 yards and 25 touchdowns this past season. It was an up-and-down year for him, as he led the Wildcats to feel-good wins over Tulane, Colorado and Kansas but also threw multiple interceptions in losses to BYU and Houston.
Still, the future appears bright for Johnson as he enters his junior season with the Wildcats.
Meanwhile, Howard can end his college football career in the best way possible with the Buckeyes.
Much has changed since they were teammates at K-State. It seems like that time together served them both well.
This story was originally published January 15, 2025 at 6:30 AM with the headline "K-State QB Avery Johnson reflects on the biggest lesson he learned from Will Howard."