The reason Ohio State quarterback Will Howard was barred from the Rose Bowl stage by …..read more

The reason Ohio State quarterback Will Howard was barred from the Rose Bowl stage by a security guard revealed

Will Howard was arguably the hero of the Rose Bowl as he led the Ohio State Buckeyes to victory over Oregon Ducks, but he was banned from the stage in a bizarre exchange with a guard. So what actually happened?

 

The quarterback completed 17 passes for 319 yards and three touchdowns in a 41-21 victory over the top speed on January 1 as the Buckeyes booked their place in the College Football Playoffs semifinals.

But he went viral for a very different reason when he tried to join his teammates on stage to celebrate the victory, only to be denied by one of the security guards. Fans theorized it was because Howard praised god in an acceptance speech, but the Rose Bowl firmly denied this.

This is completely false,” the Rose Bowl said in the Instagram comments. “The College Football Playoff regulates that the players of the game, team captains and head coach are the only team personnel allowed on stage.

 

“While Will was able to eventually get on the stage, this came down to the weight limit of the stage, and the safety of everyone involved in the postgame awards ceremony.”

 

Howard is neither a team captain nor a Player of the Game for the 2025 Rose Bowl, and as a result found himself at odds with the security guard who was doing his job by protecting the stage. But some fans weren’t convinced by the justification.

The victory saw the Ohio State Buckeyes progress to the Cotton Bowl, where they will take on the Texas Longhorns at the AT&T Stadium.

Both teams are now one win away from the national championship game, where they will take on either the Penn State Nittany Lions or the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.