Shortly before Kansas State left Bill Snyder Family Stadium a couple of weeks back to travel to Fort Worth, Texas, to play TCU, Wildcat offensive coordinator Collin Klein looked out the window of his office inside the Vanier Football Complex, which overlooks K-State’s home field.

His eye was stuck on one of his players on the field by himself practicing alone. Whether killing time before the Wildcats boarded their bus or working on his craft, Klein watched as one of his quarterbacks zipped football after football towards a net a few yards downfield.

Alone, on the spacious turf field with a printed purple Powercat at the 50-yard-line was K-State’s backup quarterback Will Howard flicking his right arm towards the net where football after football zipped through the air before violently crashing into the strings holding together the net.

“If there’s one of those,” Klein said. “There’s 100.”

That warm fall Saturday night, at TCU, Howard was inserted into a game for the first time in the 2022 season. K-State’s starter that night at Amon G. Carter Stadium, Adrian Martinez, was removed from the game because of a lingering knee injury he suffered two weeks before in the Wildcats' 10-9 win over Iowa State.

Against the Horned Frogs, Howard led four touchdown drives in his first five opportunities, including two passing scores and a one-yard quarterback sneak. Howard helped Kansas State take a 28-10 lead over an undefeated TCU team on their home field. In the second half, though, Howard was hit hard and was removed from the game for a couple of offensive series and the vaunted TCU offense was revived as the Horned Frogs took a 38-28 lead to the final siren.

Howard started for Kansas State the following week in their 48-0 win over Oklahoma State as Martinez continued to nurse his injured knee. Howard led the offense with 296 passing yards and four first half touchdowns.

“I think it’s a materialization of his work, time, how he has broken his game down,” Klein said following Howard’s performance vs. Oklahoma State. “Attacked the process and how he has continued to improve…He’s developed true confidence.”

“True confidence” showed again when K-State won 31-3 against Baylor last week with Howard, again, leading the Wildcat offense after Martinez left the game in the first half because of an injury.

“I am frustrated for him that when he got dinged up against Iowa State it just – he just couldn’t get it back,” Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman said on Tuesday of Martinez’s injury-riddled 2022 season. “And then when he finally got it back something else comes up. It just is bad luck a little bit.”

Despite not playing in the Wildcats' 34-27 home loss to Texas – Martinez returned from his original knee injury and played effectively for much of the game – Howard was called upon again vs. the Bears who he diced like soft fruit on a cutting board with a cleaver to the tune of 196 yards and three touchdowns on a season-high 70.4 percent completion percentage.

“I feel like I did a good job of taking what the defense gave me,” Howard said. … “I feel like I did a good job of taking things on step at a time and not forcing things into windows that I didn’t have.”

One finds it impossible to disagree with Howard, who is in his third season with the K-State football program. His first touchdown pass was laced through a smaller hole than that left by a thumbtack in a wall to hold a poster in place in Howard’s college bedroom. His third touchdown pass lofted softly toward tight end Ben Sinnott’s back shoulder as elegantly as a soapy bubble floats through the air while doing dishes sometimes.

“He prepares and he’s got confidence,” Klieman said. “Some guys are making some pretty good catches, too. To send it in between a few defenders, Benn went up and grabbed one over the top. Kade [Warner] did it a few ago at TCU (for a touchdown).”

This week, on the road at West Virginia, Howard is going to make his second start of the 2022 season. But it’s the first time that Howard is spending the entire week of practice taking nearly all of the reps as the first-string quarterback. Martinez has already been ruled out for the game, so for at least a week “it’s his football team,” Klieman said of Howard.

“I’m excited for Will,” he said. “Everyone knows Will is playing at a really high level and he gets to play back closer to home. Jaren [Lewis] and Jake Rubley will be the backup to Will this week, but excited about the challenge that we have.”

Howard admits that while he mentally puts himself in the mindset of K-State’s starting quarterback each week – even when he knows he’s not going to start – that his preparation for the Wildcats game at West Virginia is different because of his change in status.

“It’s a little more calming in a way and you can kind of prepare,” he said. “You get all the one's reps and prepare like you’re going to be the starter. You kind of want to do that when you’re the backup.”

Maybe before K-State leaves for West Virginia this weekend, Klein will, again, look out his window and see Howard flinging football after football at a net again. Preparation, of course, is how Howard got here.

“I’ve had two years under my belt and been in this system for a while there’s no better thing to get you ready than real game experience and being out there and bullets flying. Now that I’ve had two years of that, going out there is not really overwhelming anymore. It’s like this is my job, let’s go out there and get it done.”