ATLANTA — Will Howard, like all of us, has felt lost at times in his life.

He felt lost as a freshman at Kansas State University when the coronavirus quarantined so many people, left him alone and then pushed into the workforce before he was ready to start. Two years later, when he was finally ready to start his junior year, Kansas State brought in a transfer quarterback, Adrian Martinez, and he felt lost.

Perhaps he felt the most lost when his grandmother, one of his closest family members, died later that season.

There is more sense of loss. In November 2023, when he completed his fourth season at Kansas State and a fifth season of eligibility was in place, the school turned again to another quarterback, the highly-paid Avery Johnson, moving Howard Chase into the transfer portal.

"There's a lot," Howard said.

“It’s not easy here, either,” he said of his year at Ohio State. “The Oregon State loss and ‘Going to the North School,’ it was so tough.”

But there will be no more losses, at least not yet.

On this night, in the warm dome of Mercedes-Benz Stadium, far from the unseasonably cold temperatures of the Deep South, Will Howard felt a victory, the biggest of all: winning the national title as the sport's most valuable player. champion.

He completed his first 13 passes -- a CFP and BCS championship game record. He threw for 231 yards, hauled in 56 yards on some key first downs and scored two touchdowns, capping a roller coaster ride at the top of college football.

Ohio State and Howard beat Notre Dame 34-23 to win the program's ninth national title, vindicate their maligned head coach, end the longest season in college football history (149 days) and put Howard, a 23-year-old Pennsylvania kid from the small town of Downingtown, scored the Buckeyes' buzzer-beater.

He then glowed on stage, swimming in a long-running celebration — an unthinkable outcome after losing at home to a three-touchdown favorite seven weeks earlier. After all, Ohio State lost to Oregon and Michigan in the regular season and therefore failed to advance to the four-team playoffs.

In their first year of expansion, the Buckeyes broke out of their shell, carving a path that Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti called "the greatest performance in college football history."

On a personal level, Howard's run has also been a remarkable journey.

It started as a three-star recruit who received few offers from power programs and was overlooked by his true love: in-state power Penn State. The journey took four years of ups and downs at Kansas State University.

He started 15 games in his first three seasons, mostly in relief of injured starters. As a freshman, he was benched. He was benched as a sophomore. Heck, he was even benched (sort of) before the start of his fifth season (he transferred).

Between those obstacles, he led the Wildcats to the Big 12 Championship in 2022 and threw for more touchdowns than any other Kansas QB. No hard feelings. He still keeps in touch with people at Kansas State. In fact, his brother Ryan is a freshman offensive lineman there.

But Howard went his own way — a unique one, of course. He is one of the few players to win a major conference championship at one school and a national championship at another.

“It’s crazy to look back at all the things that have happened in my career,” he said. "All the people back in Downingtown and the K-State and Ohio State families. I relied on a lot of people. I wouldn't have been able to go through what I did."

But it ends with an exclamation point, a big exclamation point.

As usual, this season comes down to a single game.

Ohio State cut the lead from 24 points to eight in the fourth quarter and faced an 11-point third quarter deficit with 2:45 left.

Should they run the ball and force another Notre Dame timeout? Or go to the jugular vein?

They go deep.

Howard fired a moonsault to Jeremiah Smith that streaked down the sideline after beating defensive back Christian Gray. The ball fell directly into his waiting arms - a 56-yard completion that secured the championship.

“I wanted to call the game early, but everyone was talking to me about cutting it short,” coach Ryan Day said after the game.

In the crowd before the game, OSU offensive tackle Josh Fryar did a double take when the game was called.

Are we throwing it deep?

"Oh my God," Flair said, thinking to himself, "We better get this."

"They were lined up in a five-man formation. I knew I had to stop my guy, stop my ass," he continued. "(My) defender looked (his head) and saw the ball and I was like, 'Where is the ball going?' And then I saw Jeremiah and I was like, 'Thank you, Jesus.'"

Longtime head coach and assistant offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, who eventually won a championship ring, said there were other routes in the game. Howard can make his choice based on Notre Dame's defense.

"If they give us guys (covers), Will will take it. If they don't give us guys, we know Will will make great decisions and check the ball. I said to him: 'Look at the way he looks. Do it. Get the right look.'"

Of course, he did. Kelly described Howard as "smart, sharp and tough."

"He did it with his legs, his arms and his brain," Kelly said. "He's so good. We put a lot on his plate. He goes two plays, sometimes three plays at the line of scrimmage, and he always puts us in the right position."

How fitting it was for the season to end, for the final blow to come from Smith, perhaps the most dynamic player in college football.

But it was originally written by a completely normal person, a kid from Pennsylvania who had long felt lost. That includes this year too.

You may recall that Howard slipped up too late in the loss to Oregon while Ohio State was still within field goal range. He clenched his helmet in disgust as the clock hit zero in Eugene—Eugene lost 32-31.

Then against Michigan, he missed a series of passes, threw two interceptions, and was held under 200 yards.

In the playoffs, he turned things around.

His combined stats over four games are some of the best you'll see: 82 of 109 (75.2%) for 1,150 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions.

Lost?

no longer.

He got a win, a historic win that will go down in Buckeyes lore.