Rapid recap: A special night for Kansas State QB Avery Johnson

Big night for Kansas State true freshman

Kansas State true freshman quarterback Avery Johnson provided a big-time spark for the offense in Lubbock. The true freshman ran for 91 yards and five touchdowns. His five rushing touchdowns tied a K-State record for a single game with former quarterbacks Collin Klein and Jonathan Beasley.

The quarterback run game was always going to be a big part of the plan for the Wildcats this week. Part of that stems back to last season when K-State signal caller Adrian Martinez ran for 171 yards on 12 carries and had three touchdowns against the Red Raiders.

With the quarterback run game, head coach Chris Klieman knew both Will Howard and Johnson were going to play. What Klieman did not know was how it would be distributed. Kansas State kept getting the looks they needed to make that scheme a success.

Kansas State quarterback situation moving forward

After that kind of game from Johnson, it is easy to wonder what the quarterback situation will look like for K-State moving forward. Klieman was very non-committal in his answer, which was expected. He said the quarterback situation is something the Wildcat coaches will discuss and look at on a weekly basis.

Klieman also raved about both of his quarterback’s mentalities. He pointed out how Howard was supportive of Johnson the entire time on the sideline. Howard won Kansas State a Big 12 Championship last season, but he plays for Kansas State University and does not play for Will Howard University.

Johnson is not like a normal true freshman. He has a confidence and maturity about him that drew Klieman to him as a recruit.

Turnovers played key factor

The Wildcats forced three turnovers and all of them came in the second half. All three turnovers actually came when Behren Morton left the game due to injury and true freshman Jake Strong stepped in for the Red Raiders.

They also came at critical times for K-State as well. VJ Payne grabbed the first interception of his career after a Johnson touchdown run to make it 24-21 in the third quarter. After the interception, Johnson ran in another touchdown to make it 31-21.

Both of the interceptions from Kansas State senior safety Kobe Savage occurred while Texas Tech was moving the ball and driving. In fact, he caught his second one in the end zone.

K-State had only forced four turnovers total on the season. Getting three was huge because it is hard to keep the Red Raiders offense quiet. Texas Tech has too good of personnel to not score. The Wildcats kept bending but rarely broke while only allowing 21 points.