Following Ohio State’s victory over Oregon in the College Football Playoff Rose Bowl quarterfinal on Wednesday, several Buckeyes players took the stage in Pasadena for a made-for-TV celebration. Curiously, that group didn’t include Ohio State quarterback Will Howard.
As captured by 10TV’s Adam King, Howard did his best to join his teammates on the stage for their postgame celebration, only to repeatedly be told by a stagehand that there wasn’t enough room. ESPN’s cameras even captured Howard and Buckeyes defensive lineman Tyleik Williams unsuccessfully pleading with the man to let the quarterback on the stage as Ohio State head coach Ryan Day answered a question about his senior signal-caller from Chris Fowler.
“They’re blocking me,” Howard told onlookers shouting at the stagehand to let the quarterback climb the podium. “There’s a weight limit apparently.”
Will Howard can’t get on the stage!
Let Will on the podium. pic.twitter.com/6lEGb5H7US
— Adam King (@AdamKing10TV) January 2, 2025
Ultimately, the on-stage celebration continued for more than five minutes, with Howard finally allowed to join his teammates at the very end to pose for some pictures with the Rose Bowl trophy.
Howard wasn’t the Buckeyes’ biggest star of the night, as freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith earned Rose Bowl MVP honors after tallying seven receptions for 187 yards and two touchdowns. Nevertheless, the sight of a starting quarterback being kept of the stage was certainly a strange one, especially considering Howard had just completed 17 of his 26 pass attempts for 319 yards and three touchdowns in Ohio State’s blowout victory.
Presumably, this was merely a miscommunication and either a matter of the stagehand not being aware of who Howard was or ESPN and/or the Rose Bowl not accounting for the 235-pound quarterback’s presumed presence during the postgame celebration. In any event, the good news is that Howard will still get the opportunity to celebrate on stage with his teammates at least one more time — if not twice — with the Buckeyes advancing to face Texas in next week’s Cotton Bowl CFP semifinal.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.