Downingtown West's Will Howard tosses 2 TDs as Ohio State beats Notre Dame in CFP National Championship
Downingtown West's Will Howard tossed two touchdown passes to lead Ohio State past Notre Dame, 34-23, to win the College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Howard completed 17 of his 21 passes for 231 yards to help the Buckeyes win the program's first national championship since 2014. He also rushed for 57 yards on 16 carries.
Howard, who transferred to Ohio State last year from Kansas State, had an extremely efficient first half and started the game with three straight drives that ended in touchdowns. In the first half, Howard completed 14 of his 15 passes for two touchdowns and rushed for 26 yards on three carries. His 13 straight completions to start the game was an all-time record for a national championship game.
But the second half was a different story for the Buckeyes offense and Howard. They scored 10 points in the third quarter, but the Fighting Irish, who trailed 31-7 midway through the third quarter, marched back and made it a 31-23 game late in the fourth quarter.
Ohio State's offense needed to answer and keep the ball away from Notre Dame to win, and Howard delivered. Howard tossed a 56-yard bomb to freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith on third-and-11 from Ohio State's 34-yard line that set them up deep in Notre Dame territory. The Buckeyes then booted in a field goal to make it 34-23 and seal the win.
Howard and the Buckeyes went on a magical run in the CFP after going through adversity following losses to Oregon and Michigan. They dominated No. 9 seed Tennessee, rolled past No. 1 seed Oregon in the highly-anticipated rematch and defeated No. 5 seed Texas to make it to the championship game.
Howard was ranked as one of the best recruits in Pennsylvania in the 2020 class. He starred at Downingtown West High School in Chester County and led the Whippets to a District 1 Class 6A title over Coatesville as a senior in 2019. It was the school's first district title since 1996.
And Howard isn't the only tie the Buckeyes have to the Philadelphia region.
Ohio State's defensive coordinator, Jim Knowles, is a Philadelphia native and played football at St. Joseph's Prep. He earned All-City and All-Catholic honors in the 1980s as a linebacker and played center.
Chip Kelly, the former Philadelphia Eagles head coach, is Ohio State's offensive coordinator and works directly with Howard, along with Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day, who had two different coaching stints at Temple. He also coached with Kelly on the Eagles for a season.
"We know [Kelly's] time in Philadelphia wasn't the greatest for a lot of Philly fans, but he's been awesome," Bob Howard, Will's dad, told CBS News Philadelphia last week. "Will has learned a ton from him, likes him a lot, so everything has been really great."