[2] He verbally committed to play at TCU and signed his national letter of intent with the Horned Frogs on February 5, 2014.

After the first game of his sophomore season, Howard was moved to linebacker and led the Horned Frogs in tackles the next week against Stephen F.

He also earned Defensive MVP honors in the Frogs' triple-overtime victory over Oregon in the 2015 Alamo Bowl.

[6] He was named first-team All-Big 12 Conference in both seasons and again earned Defensive MVP honors in his final collegiate game, a win over Stanford in the 2017 Alamo Bowl.

Against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, Howard made the game-sealing interception on Jimmy Garoppolo in the final two minutes in the 20–17 win,[17] sending the Rams to Super Bowl LVI.