QB Will Howard led Ohio State to the national championship in the 2024 season, earning the offensive MVP honor and more accolades. But listing out his criticisms, tossing two interceptions to Michigan tops the list, one that he can never really live down. So, when he went to the 2025 Combine, the Wolverine Slayer was waiting for an explanation.

Will Howard took the program to the national championship cup. But the Michigan game? He threw two interceptions, drowning in a 10-13 loss, while Ryan Day stared down at a 0-4 streak. The Michigan-OSU rivalry is sensitive, as the bragging rights are passed down from generation to generation. At the Combine, his passing workout earned him considerable heat from Michigan faithful. But that paled in comparison to what OSU JT Barrett’s side-eye had in store for him.

“I actually got to see JT Barrett over there with the Bears (presently a QB coach with the Chicago Bears), and the first and the only question he really asked me at the Combine was what happened against those guys?” he shares on Just Football with Cam Heyward.

Well, those moments don’t really escape you, do they? Last season, a 6-5 Michigan team beat a 19.5-point favorite Ohio State in an overwhelming upset. The Buckeyes were 3-0 by the start of the third quarter. On 3rd & 9, OSU was on their four-yard line. Howard dropped back, targeting Carnell Tate. What happened next was Aamir Hall picking off the pass at the 13-yard line and returning it 11 yards to the Buckeyes’ 2-yard line. Two plays later Kalel Mullings rushed 1-yard and touchdown. The score was now 7-3.

However, soon after Howard scored a touchdown, ending the second quarter, 10-10. During the next fifteen minutes, he threw another interception on 3rd & 7 on Michigan’s 16-yard line. For the rest of the game, the Buckeyes did not score, while Michigan scored a field goal, winning 13-10.

J.T. Barrett is popularly called the Wolverine slayer for his celebrated 4-0 record as a starter. Naturally, Barrett’s only question to Howard makes sense. However, the conversation quickly shifted to Barrett himself and his involvement in a controversial fourth-down decision.

JT Barrett’s fourth-down conversion controversy

In 2016, No. 3-ranked Michigan faced off against No. 2 Ohio State. By the end of the fourth quarter, the scoreboard read 17-17, after the Buckeyes scored a 23-yard field goal. The game moved into overtime. However, it resulted in a tie again, with Barrett’s 7-yard TD run and Wilton Speight’s TD pass to Amara Darboh.

The game spilled to a second overtime. On the first possession, Michigan scored a field goal. It was 27-24. In the next play, a three-play drive that included a sack had Ohio State on 4th & 1 at Michigan’s 16-yard line. They just needed another yard to gain another set of downs. On the next play, Barrett dove for another gain, and he was awarded the first-down marker by the nose of the ball, gaining another set of downs and earning the ire of Michigan fans everywhere.

In the next play, OSU ran a 15-yard touchdown, winning 30-27.

Ever since, Michigan fans have just had a three-word reaction anytime Barrett receives compliments about his time at Ohio State. “J.T was short.” Even the then-head coach Jim Harbaugh still has a pain point attached to that fourth-down conversion call.

“Getting to the CFP and not winning that kind of thing, some of those games. 2016, coming up, we thought that measurement was short, the fourth down, we thought,” he said in January 2024, after winning the national championship.

So, when Will Howard referred to Barrett as ” you know he was the Wolverine Slayer,” Hayden Walsh was quick to point out,” he was short. He was 100% short.” And that was it. As history repeatedly tells us, the Michigan-OSU rivalry often sparks passionate conversations with some old and familiar arguments.