Ohio State QB Will Howard suffers gross-looking hand injury during CFP semifinal

The College Football Playoff has been a war of attrition for the teams that made it to the semifinals. So an injury to Ohio State quarterback Will Howard isn't the most shocking development. Will Howard growing an extra knuckle was.

Howard took a blow that caused a giant knot to form on the back of his hand in the first half against Texas at the Cotton Bowl. It didn't stop him from playing but it looked plenty gnarly.

I mean, look at the size of this bump:

Social media had fun with it, but mostly the knot caused grimmacing cross America.

Will Howard wasn't slowed by massive bump on his hand

Big ups to Howard for playing through that. Apparently that kind of bump wouldn't impact the mobility of his hand. Even so, Howard is a righty. He doesn't need his left hand to be an effective passer.

Just about everyone playing in CFP games this week is playing through some sort of bump, bruise or worse. Ohio State defensive lineman JT Tuimoloau suffered an ankle injury in the first half, needing a whole lot of tape to stabilize that part of his leg to allow him to play.

In the grand scheme of things, that's the best possible injury Howard could have picked up, if he was always going to end up with something.

Howard had 200 yards and a touchdown in the first half as Ohio State took a 14-7 lead. Granted, 75 of those yards came on a screen pass to TreVeyon Henderson in the final minute of the first half. He completed 14-of-19 pass attempts.

The Buckeyes are hoping to make it through to the CFP national championship game. If they do, Howard and whatever is left of his giant knot will take on Notre Dame. The Irish bested Penn State on Thursday night to punch their ticket.