"Thanks to my Lord and savior" - Will Howard cheers up after spectacular win over Texas Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl

Ohio State quarterback Will Howard led the Buckeyes to a thrilling 28-14 win over the Texas Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl Classic on Friday. The Buckeyes will face coach Marcus Freeman's Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the national championship game on January 20.

Howards tallied 289 yards on 72.7% completion resulting in one touchdown and one interception. During his postgame news conference, the Ohio State quarterback delighted the fans inside the AT&T Stadium for the Cotton Bowl with his proclamation about his faith.

"Man, first of all, God is good," Howard said. "And I gotta give all the thanks to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And man, we wouldn't be here without these guys (pointing to his teammates) right in front of me and this coach beside me. I love this place man, I'm so glad I decided to come here, I'm just blessed man. This is unbelievable."

When Will Howard almost declared for the 2024 draft

Will Howard nearly declared for the 2024 NFL Draft when he entered the transfer portal after leaving the Kansas State Wildcats last season. During his first news conference as an Ohio State Buckeyes player in January 2024, he disclosed that he had even been invited to the senior bowl.

"The week before I committed here I received a Senior Bowl invite," Howard said (1:58). "That was probably the thing I was closest to doing was going in the draft. I was projected a third- to sixth-round pick, that's what I was hearing. You can never really trust everything you hear, but that was consensus what I was hearing."

Before he committed to Ohio State, he visited the USC Trojans and Miami Hurricanes. The latter opted to sign Cam Ward from the Washington State Cougars instead. From the beginning, Howard proclaimed his dream to win the national championship with the Buckeyes.

"The goal I have, I want to go win a national championship," Howard said. "At the end of the day, I want to go be a starting quarterback in the NFL. ... I feel like the best place to stick as a quarterback in the NFL is as a first- or second-round pick in the NFL draft. Going to Ohio State gives me a chance to make a jump and leap into that conversation."

Will Howard is on the verge of winning the national championship with the Ohio State Buckeyes and has significantly raised his draft stock by choosing to return to college football for one year instead of declaring for the 2024 Draft.