Wisconsin added some needed depth to its quarterback room on Saturday with a preferred walk-on commitment from Marshall Howe.

A 6-foot-1, 195-pound senior from Avon Old Farms in Connecticut, Howe joins a position group that currently includes Graham Mertz, Chase Wolf, Deacon Hill and Myles Burkett. Mickey Turner served as the lead contact for Howe, who reclassified from the 2021 class.

"My recruitment in general came about really late," Howe told BadgerBlitz.com. "I'm actually from Los Angeles but am currently doing a post-graduate year in Connecticut. COVID took my fall season away in 2020, which was my senior year, so I decided to take a post-grad year at AOF to have a real senior season. That season didn’t start this past year until late September, so I was naturally a little bit behind the 8 Ball when it came to my recruiting process. Our season finished up in late November, so by the time colleges were finalizing their 2022 classes, it was around the start of the new year. Once colleges started coming back to visit our school in January I started picking up a ton of interest from a lot of bigger schools that had already filled most of their classes but had needs left at quarterback.

"That left me with a handful of really great opportunities, but I was really looking for a school that challenged me enough academically. My coach knew Coach Turner from before and reached out in February, and there was immediate interest on both sides. I came out and visited just about three weeks ago and from there I fell in love. Everything was exactly what I was looking for from the coaching staff to the environment in general."

This fall, Howe earned league offensive MVP honors after be completed 169 of 253 pass attempts (66.8%) for 2,730 yards and 34 touchdowns. Wisconsin's mix of athletics and academics put the Badgers on top.

"I’ve always looked for a school that aligned with my academic goals," Howe said. "I have known a lot of people who have gone to UW from around my home, so I understand the academic prestige of the school. To follow that up, I understand and have a great respect for the tradition and history of Wisconsin football and was able to witness the community aspect of the team, both of which were really important to me. Finally, I really loved the entire coaching staff. Coach Turner has been awesome throughout. I really can’t wait to play under Coach (Paul) Chryst, Coach (Dean) Engram and even Keller Chryst, who I watched play a lot against my dad’s Alma mater, Cal.

"I got some really great feedback from the beginning with Wisconsin. It seemed like from the moment I came across their board, they wanted to do whatever they could to make me a Badger as Coach Turner put it. Coach Chryst really liked my ability to create plays and my footwork, as well as being able to make plays from in the pocket and command an offense. Coach Engram had said from the beginning he also loved my competitiveness."

Howe had scholarships from Davidson and Eastern Illinois but ultimately chose UW over opportunities from three other Power 5 programs.

"By the end of the process I had pretty much narrowed it down to Wisconsin, Wake Forest, Miami and Penn State," Howe said. "Once I visited Wisconsin I knew it’s where I wanted to be.

"It was a difficult decision at first, for sure. There were coaches at places like Eastern Illinois, which has produced some incredible quarterbacks like (Jimmy) Garoppolo, (Tony) Romo and Sean Payton, that really wanted me. I’m incredibly grateful for opportunities like those and those coaches, but I really wanted to be a part of a program and school like Wisconsin, so at the end of the day it was all worth it."

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