Riley Leonard and Will Howard took eerily similar route to CFP national title game
ATLANTA — At the time, they were two quarterbacks preparing for the biggest season of their lives. Riley Leonard and Will Howard, the soon-to-be starting quarterbacks at Notre Dame and Ohio State, attended the famed Manning Passing Academy at Nicholls State over the summer.They were roommates, getting ready for the pressure cooker of big-time college football at two of the biggest brands in the sport. “We probably wouldn’t have imagined that a couple of months later, here we are playing for the national championship for two new schools, but it is pretty cool,” Howard said on Saturday, as Ohio State and Notre Dame continued preparations for the national championship game Monday night. Their paths are eerily similar, as transfers who joined established programs and guided their respective schools to the final game of the season despite doubts and each suffering an ugly loss.
The two dual-threat seniors enjoyed some degree of personal success at their previous stops, Howard at Kansas State, Leonard at Duke.But nothing compared to this season. Howard set a career high this year in completion percentage (72.6), touchdown passes (33) and passing yards (3,779).
Leonard ran for 866 yards and 16 scores, both personal bests as well.They have combined to account for 11 touchdowns in the playoff, each coming up big when the games matter most. But their value exceeds their on-field ability.
In both cases, they had to win over their new teammates in a short period of time.There isn’t a more important position than quarterback.
He is the leader.Traditionally, that happens over multiple years, not months. “I couldn’t imagine it,” ESPN analyst and former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy said.
“It’s hard to lead guys.It is just naturally difficult to have a gravitational pull with your teammates.
It’s hard to cultivate the relationship necessary in a seven-to-eight-month period to have the guys depend on you when their career might end in an instant....