The pieces are in place for Kansas State to be one of the best rushing teams in all of college football next season.
So it came as a surprise when Chris Klieman spent much of his time at Big 12 Media Days inside Allegiant Stadium talking about how good the Wildcats might be at throwing the ball when Avery Johnson takes over as the team’s full-time starting quarterback in the fall.
“Now it’s time for us to spin the ball a little bit more,” Klieman said. “People tell me all the time that I coach a running team ... but we need to be more efficient and effective throwing the ball. We are still going to have our core principles of running the football, but we are going to do some different things in the passing game.”
What would an evolved passing attack look like for the Wildcats next season?
Well, they completed 60.6% of their passes for 3,135 yards and 30 touchdowns a year ago with Will Howard starting every game in the regular season and then Johnson taking over for him at the Pop-Tarts Bowl .
That kind of production served as a nice complement to K-State’s rushing attack, which totaled 2,653 yards and 32 touchdowns on 533 attempts.
One might assume that the Wildcats would want to lean even harder into the run in 2024 with the impressive triumvirate they now have in the backfield. DJ Giddens (1,226 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns as a sophomore), Colorado transfer Dylan Edwards (321 yards and one touchdown as a freshman) and Johnson (296 yards and seven touchdowns as a freshman) are all very difficult to tackle.
The fact that Johnson is one of the fastest players on the entire K-State roster gives the Wildcats the ability to scramble for first downs even when they don’t call designed running plays.
Still, Klieman is envisioning a more balanced offense moving forward. So is Johnson.
“I am super excited to show off my arm this season,” Johnson said. “I’ve always been a pass-first quarterback. If you watch my tape you’ll see even (when) I do break out of the pocket my eyes are always scanning down the field because I’m looking to make a play. My biggest thing this year is just showing people I can stand in the pocket and get the ball to playmakers and let them go.”
Klieman has confidence in Johnson.
Even though he is only a sophomore, Johnson has already proven his talents by leading the Wildcats to a victory over North Carolina State at the Pop-Tarts Bowl. Johnson was named MVP of the game after he threw for 178 yards and two touchdowns.
“He doesn’t need to put all the pressure in the world on himself,” Klieman said. “He needs to play within the system. Trust me, he is going to make plays on his own because of his God-given ability, but I saw a great improvement from the bowl game to now. I have seen him growing in confidence and his knowledge of not only our system but what defenses are trying to do. This kid is a true sophomore and his best football is still ahead of him. He is just now starting to come into his prime.”
K-State also has a strong group of wide receivers that Klieman thinks weren’t properly utilized last season.
Bringing in Matt Wells as co-offensive coordinator should help them reach a higher level.
“We have got to play more guys,” Klieman said. “Everyone knows about Keagan (Johnson) and everyone knows about Jayce (Brown). Dante Cephas needs to be a great player for us. Tre Spivey needs to be a great player for us. Sterling Lockett, too, and I’m probably forgetting some names. We need to play more guys there so we don’t have wear and tear. Somebody might get hot and have an eight-or-nine catch game. Other games, we may spread it around to eight or nine guys.”
Johnson can’t predict exactly how much the Wildcats will break things up in the run/pass department next season.
He thinks they are talented enough to throw the ball “way more” than they run it. But he also says it would be a “disservice” to his running backs if the Wildcats went pass heavy. At the end of the day, Johnson is confident the K-State offense will succeed no matter what it chooses to do.
That sounds like a good scenario for a team that is seeking offensive balance.
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