Former Ohio State quarterback Will Howard had a pretty brutal assessment of one of his team’s College Football Playoff opponents.
Howard was a guest on Jon Gruden’s “Gruden’s QB Class” show in the lead-up to the NFL Draft, and watched some film from the Buckeyes’ CFP first-round victory over the Tennessee Volunteers. Part of the video involved Tennessee players emerging from the tunnel at Ohio Stadium shirtless despite the frigid December weather.
Howard was very much not impressed with Tennessee’s move, as he outlined to Gruden.
“The funny thing is, they came out with their shirts off, and they ran over to the opposite end zone, and immediately put them back on,” Howard said. “I was like, ‘What the f— are these clowns doing?’ At that moment, I knew we had them.”
Cracking up at Will Howard talking about Tennessee coming out shirtless
— Stefan Krajisnik (@skrajisnik3) April 8, 2025
“What the f— are these clowns doing, man?” pic.twitter.com/Ia0feh6TRK
The Buckeyes did have them, as Howard said. Ohio State wound up jumping out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter on the way to a 42-17 victory.
The Vols definitely came in wanting to make a statement, and they kept trying to do that even as they were trailing. In Howard’s eyes, it just wound up coming off as embarrassing, and that is coming from a quarterback who knows a thing or two about trolling.
NFL teams will probably like Howard’s confidence, though there are some other issues he might have to work through once he gets drafted.
