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Ohio State quarterback Will Howard he sealed his team’s resounding victory in the Rose Bowl with a kiss.
After Howard, 23, and the Buckeyes dominated the Oregon Ducks 41-21 on Wednesday, January 1, the quarterback made his way over to his girlfriend, Lauren Leikerwhat a smooch
Howard flipped his brand new Rose Bowl Champions hat backwards and leaned in for the kiss, that is was captured by ESPN social media. The move was supported by Kelly Staffordwife of Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Staffordhe wrote via her Instagram Story: “Never say it… hat backwards = easy access 👏👏👏”
While Howard mostly keeps his personal life close to the vest, he did post a photo with Leiker via Instagram in April 2023. At the time of the post, Howard was still the quarterback at Kansas State.
Courtesy of Mady Barnes/Instagram/Instagram University of Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers and his girlfriend, Mady Barnes, have already survived one of the toughest tests of a relationship: go to competitive colleges. Barnes, 21, is currently a student at the University of Oklahoma while her boyfriend, Ewers, 21, is one of the college’s most recognizable faces (…)
Howard transferred to Ohio State prior to the 2024 season, where he has helped lead the Buckeyes to the College Football Playoff semifinals. Ohio State will play Texas in the 2025 Cotton Bowl on Friday, January 10 with a trip to the National Championship Game on the line.
Will Howard with his girlfriend Lauren Leiker.
Courtesy of Will Howard/InstagramOutside of the kiss with his girlfriend, the post-game celebration came with a side of awkwardness for Howard.
Despite being the team’s starting quarterback, Rose Bowl officials denied Howard access to the stage for the trophy presentation.
In a clip that circulated on social mediaHoward could be seen asking an official for permission to join his teammates for the post-game huddle.
“That’s the starting quarterback!” Ohio State defensive tackle Tyleik Williams plead
Howard apparently had a good sense of humor about the whole ordeal, laughing as he told bystanders, “They’re blocking me!”
“Guys, there’s probably a weight limit,” Howard said. He added, “They are literally blocking me out.”
Eventually Howard managed to make his way to the stage, where he was throwing out celebratory roses to commemorate the great victory.
“We came out and played hard and I think it showed,” Howard told reporters after the game. “We jumped out to an early lead and it was hard for them to come back.”
Howard continued, “We knew they were going to come back and do something, they’re too good of a team not to score any points. We knew they were going to bring some kind of comeback. It wasn’t going to be perfect so we had to weather the storm and make sure we won the game when it counted.”
The quarterback threw for 319 yards and 3 touchdowns in the win, a revenge win for the Buckeyes after Oregon defeated them 32-31 earlier in the season.
“It’s unbelievable,” Howard told reporters after the game. “Someone younger would blow me away and I just had to take it all in and enjoy this with my boys and we’ve got two more (games), so we’re not done yet.”
Ohio State and Texas will battle it out in the Cotton Bowl on Friday, January 10 at 7:30 pm ET. The winner will face either Penn State or the winner of the Sugar Bowl on Thursday, January 2 between Notre Dame and Georgia in the National Championship Game on Monday, January 20.
