"That's a broken bone": Fans jump to conclusions about Will Howard's hand lump as Ohio State takes on Texas

The Ohio State Buckeyes emerged victorious in the Cotton Bowl Classic matchup against the Texas Longhorns. Speculation ran rampant on X (formerly Twitter) after a picture of Ohio State's Will Howard's hand showed a noticeable lump near his knuckles, suggesting something was affecting the left hand of the quarterback.

Different fans had different theories of what was affecting Howard:

"That’s a broken bone" one fan said.

"Could be a hyperextension, I’ve had that same injury," another fan added.

"Bro get that thing drained," one fan said.

"Good looking ganglion cyst," one fan wrote.

"wtf is that. No way it got that big that fast if someone just fell on it. That’s got to be a broken bone or sum," another fan said.

"Well that doesn’t look good," one fan noted.

Despite the visible hand injury, Will Howard didn't show any noticeable discomfort while throwing. Entering the fourth quarter, he recorded 289 yards, with one touchdown pass. He did throw a costly interception in the second half of the encounter.

Texas's Quinn Ewers struggles against Will Howard and the Ohio State Buckeyes

The Buckeyes defense managed to get its hands on Quinn Ewers throughout the game. JT Tuimoloau was awarded 1.5 sacks, with Ty Hamilton getting half a sack. Beyond that, the player looked sluggish when the pocket collapsed around him.

Ewers recorded 283 passing yards, with two touchdowns, and like Howard, he recorded one interception. His average yardage has been 7.3 yards, to Howard's 8.8. He completed 23 out of 39 pass attempts.

Ewers struggled after losing an important weapon early on in the game. Texas's wide receiver Matthew Golden left for the locker room midway through the first quarter. While he had initially returned to the game after first being taken to the medical tent, following two offensive drives he was seen limping off the field and leaving for the locker rooms.

According to ESPN, he returned to the sidelines and was seemingly out of the game. However, he returned to the game, connecting with Quinn Ewers for a 27-yard pass.

Quinn Ewers's biggest mistake in the game came when the Longhorns arrived in the end zone late in the fourth quarter. With a bit over two minutes left in the game, on fourth and goal with the season on the line, he dropped the ball in a fumble recovered by Jack Sawyer, which was returned 83 yards for an Ohio State touchdown.

In the following offensive drive, Ewers threw an interception to Caleb Downs almost immediately. The play sealed Ohio State's victory 28-14. Ryan Day's men will play Notre Dame on January 20th in the national championship game.