COMMENTARY
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — With his fall semester composed entirely of online courses, Skyler Howard skirts the daily notoriety of being a big man on campus. Sometimes the attention finds him nonetheless.
Like Monday night, when he ordered a Jimmy John’s sandwich and the delivery girl requested a selfie with him. He obliged.
Recognition stems from being the starting quarterback at a Power 5 program. So does responsibility. And Howard feels largely responsible for whether West Virginia sizzles of fizzles this season.
It’s an obligation he relishes. An opportunity few could have predicted two years ago when he wasn’t even given the chance to play quarterback at the FCS level and had to implore junior college coaches for a shot.
Howard’s getting his shot now. He’s resolute about making the best of it.
One night in May, days before West Virginia players were to begin their summer conditioning program, Howard was charging up and down Law School Hill—by himself. As if the steep, grassy slopes weren’t challenge enough, he wore a weight vest borrowed from last year’s top offensive lineman Mark Glowinski.
This wasn’t punishment, just Howard feeling the need to rehearse for the infamous team runs up Law School Hill that would start in June.
One night in May, Howard was charging up and down Law School Hill—by himself, wearing a weight vest. This wasn’t punishment, just Howard feeling the need to rehearse for the infamous team runs up Law School Hill that would start in June.
“He’s a different guy when it comes to preparing,” said Mountaineers center Tyler Orlosky. “He attacks every day like he wants to win that day. Whether it be practice, or lifting or just watching film, he’s in there for a purpose.
“He’s always in there working. You could never question his work ethic.”
Instead we question his size, his accuracy, his lack of FBS scholarship offers.
You could reason that West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen no longer cares where Howard was two seasons ago, or what perceived limitations left other college football powers—and non-powers—reluctant to pursue him. But Holgorsen does care, because the slights still provoke Howard, whose battle with skepticism dates all way back to his high school days in Fort Worth.
“He’s tired of hearing how he is not big enough, fast enough or good enough,” Holgorsen said Tuesday. “He wakes up every day competing with himself and doing what he has to do to make all that go away.”
Among Big 12 quarterbacks, Trevone Boykin glistens as the Heisman co-favorite and Baylor’s Seth Russell is being hyped as a 4,000-yard passer-in-waiting. Former four-star recruit Mason Rudolph has Oklahoma State panting, and Davis Webb fired 44 touchdowns in his first 18 games for Texas Tech. Even those Red River QBs Baker Mayfield and Tyrone Swoopes—with almost as many career INTs (20) as career TDs (25)—generate buzz simply by taking snaps for two legendary programs.
Howard, meanwhile, hangs on the clearance rack.
That makes him a likable character at any program, but especially suited for a school like West Virginia, which for years battled for scraps of national notoriety and still, at times, feels like a forgotten outpost in the Big 12.
Skyler Howard would be a likable character at any program, but he’s especially suited for a school like West Virginia, which for years battled for scraps of national notoriety and still, at times, feels like a forgotten outpost in the Big 12.
Howard’s bullpen production late last season was downright alarming, throwing eight touchdowns and zero interceptions, Then, just as we geared for William Crest to drive us into QB controversy, Howard made it a one-man quarterback race this spring through his take-charge nature. That verve hasn’t diminished, not even when the quarterback argues over pre-snap calls with Orlosky, who’s four inches and almost 100 pounds larger.
“We kind of butt heads at times, but essentially it’s my offense now,” Howard said. “So I’ve got to take it by the reins.”
Thus, he pops into the receivers meetings to reinforce what the freshmen wideouts need to know. After all, they may become primary targets this year as opposed to next. And he balances smarts with aggression when plays break down, because turnovers are brutal but “you’ve still got to go play ball.”
Count Howard among the Big 12’s overlooked players, just not by his teammates, and certainly not by the girl in the Jimmy John’s hat.