Will Howard burns bridge with Kansas State during his praise for Ohio State

It wasn't that long ago Will Howard was starting games at quarterback for the Kansas State Wildcats. Now entering what will surely be his final season of college football, Howard joins an Ohio State Buckeyes team that is facing an absurd amount of pressure to win a national title. Of the handful of teams who should be making the College Football Playoff, Ohio State is one of the few who can win it.

Even though he hasn't officially won the starting quarterback job just yet, all signs point to that being the case for Howard at some point in the next few weeks. In the meantime, he is getting more and more acquainted of his new team at his new school. However, I don't think he did Kansas State a lot of justice in his praise of Ohio State. I get what he is saying, but you don't need to say this part out loud.

When speaking with local reporters, Howard said it is nice to not have to play hero ball at Ohio State.

"I think the one thing I would say is that I don’t feel like I have to be a hero here," said Howard, h/t Athlon Sports. "And I feel like I have the guys around me to where I just need to facilitate and just get them the ball and make good decisions. At the end of the day, I don’t have to go out there and do anything superhuman. I just have to be myself and trust the guys around me."

There is a lot to unpack here, both about the school he left and the team he is playing for now. I think it is a backhanded compliment to Kansas State, who may have rather played hero ball with Avery Johnson this season than to endure another year of 10-2 football with Howard under center. There is also an issue with Howard saying this at Ohio State. He went to Ohio State to get this, and to be this...

It will be up to Buckeyes players like Howard to answer the call when the team needs saving this year.

Will Howard's message about Ohio State looks real bad for Kansas State

The frustrating part about this for me is Kansas State has been a program of overachievers for the better part of 40 years. This team had a lot of quit in them before Bill Snyder took over in the very late 1980s. A few weird Ron Prince years sprinkled in between, and Snyder left the program in a far better place than he found it. Chris Klieman has taken over and has not skipped a beat leading the Wildcats.

Kansas State built its reputation on being a fast, fun football team with guys who loved to play hero ball. From Michael Bishop, to Darren Sproles, to Jordy Nelson, to Collin Klein, to even Howard himself at times, it has been in Kansas State's DNA! I fully expect that Avery Johnson will make the most of his first real shot at being a starter. We have to wonder if Howard will take advantage of his last shot...

While Howard is being treated well by Buckeye Nation now, all it takes is one stinker of a performance to go from in the penthouse and into the doghouse. Look at what happened to Kyle McCord in his one year at the Buckeyes starter. He is now trying to reinvent himself playing for Fran Brown at Syracuse. Again, Ohio State is not a place where you go if you want to gravy train your way to a championship.

Howard's comments may be more about Ohio State's talent than anything, but K-State aren't scrubs.