Oct 27, 2026 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Imagine the plight. A 32-game starter and the all-time leader in total offense is out, two promising backups are injured, and the guy under center is a gutty fifth-year senior who has attempted two passes in his career at Kansas State.
That's what K-State head coach Collin Klein and his offensive staff faced last Saturday. But playing in his grass-stained jersey and on an iffy ankle that was tweaked in the second quarter and again in the third, Jacob Knuth reached folk-hero status in valiantly guiding the Wildcats albeit in a 28-17 loss at Arizona State.
Knuth, a 6-foot-4, 225-pound backup signal-caller who transferred from Minnesota to K-State in 2023, completed 26-of-41 passes for 194 yards and one touchdown, and he added nine carries for 19 yards and one score in his first-career start — a performance that Klein, one of the finest signal-callers and the 2012 Heisman Trophy finalist, can respect and appreciate.
"I'm extremely proud of Jacob and his effort out there and how he attacked it while not even being fully healthy from the jump and his competitive nature and leadership he executed through the ballgame," Klein said in his weekly news conference. "You could tell even as the game went along, he tweaked his ankle once in the second quarter and once in the third, but he battled through it. I respect the heck out of the effort he gave our program and his teammates."
K-State, 4-3 overall and 1-3 in the Big 12 Conference, now prepares to visit Colorado, 2-5 and 0-4, in Saturday's 1:00 p.m. (CT) kickoff at Folsom Field.
But for a second straight game, quarterback apparently remains a question mark this week heading toward the matchup in Boulder, Colorado.
Johnson, the only player in K-State history to throw for at least 6,500 yards and rush for 1,500 in a career, missed the first game in his four years as a Wildcat, standing in street clothes and seen talking with teammates on the sideline during the game at Mountain America Stadium last Saturday in Tempe, Arizona.
But the status of Johnson, one of the finest dual-threat quarterbacks in the FBS, remains in flux as Klein and the Wildcats push forward into the meat of the league season without their top leader, whose availability is is day-to-day.
"It's crazy," Klein said. "I'll be honest with you, Avery is day-to-day. A lot of it is going to depend on how fast this recovery process goes, and because of that, he's day-to-day. He's working hard at it and doing everything he can and some of that is going to be out of his control with this deal. We're just seeing how that progresses. We're monitoring it, obviously, very closely, and our doctors and trainers have done a nice job protecting him and detailing this thing so we do the right and best thing for him for sure."
Klein applauded Johnson's ongoing support on the sideline in last Saturday's game.
"He's able to take mental reps, he was tremendous on the sideline and coaching and encouraging those guys through the course of things, and he's able to be mobile and he's able to throw it and run around a little bit," Klein said. "Just trying to get him well."
What might need to happen for Johnson to see the field?
"I can't get into that too much without talking about his personal privacy and all that kind of stuff," Klein said, "but they're doing a great job on top of it, and it's just a matter of how fast he kind of comes back through this deal."
Klein has junior quarterback Blake Barnett, sophomore quarterback Dillon Duff and Knuth on his 2026 roster.
Barnett and Duff have both been sidelined due to injury so far this fall.
Barnett played in four games as a running quarterback last season after not seeing the field in 2024. Duff has yet to see action in a game. Knuth opened eyes last Saturday — his eighth game on the field as a Wildcat.
"Obviously, Jacob is still battling, tweaked his ankle a little bit, so we'll see how that progresses through the week," Klein said. "(Barnett and Duff) are making good progress, and we'll know a little bit more on Wednesday one of them, but good outlooks on (Barnett and Duff)."
This isn't the first time Klein has dealt with a unique quarterback situation in a season. As an offensive graduate assistant who assisted with K-State quarterbacks, Klein saw head coach Bill Snyder use four different signal-callers during the 2015 season — sophomore Jesse Ertz, junior Joe Hubener, freshman Alex Delton and senior Kody Cook, a wide receiver who served as emergency quarterback.
Another chain of quarterback injuries plagued the 2017 season in Klein's first year as K-State quarterbacks coach, as Ertz, Delton and redshirt freshman Skylar Thompson all started games that fall.
"The 2017 season was a tough year that had a string of injuries there," Klein said. "It's the next-man-up mentality, and we have to build everything around the situation as best you can. I think 2015 was even a crazier year to be honest, as we had a lot of dominoes just fall very un-fortuitously.
"That's football, it's the game, and it's truly about how we respond and deal with it."
Imagine the plight. A 32-game starter and the all-time leader in total offense is out, two promising backups are injured, and the guy under center is a gutty fifth-year senior who has attempted two passes in his career at Kansas State.
That's what K-State head coach Collin Klein and his offensive staff faced last Saturday. But playing in his grass-stained jersey and on an iffy ankle that was tweaked in the second quarter and again in the third, Jacob Knuth reached folk-hero status in valiantly guiding the Wildcats albeit in a 28-17 loss at Arizona State.
Knuth, a 6-foot-4, 225-pound backup signal-caller who transferred from Minnesota to K-State in 2023, completed 26-of-41 passes for 194 yards and one touchdown, and he added nine carries for 19 yards and one score in his first-career start — a performance that Klein, one of the finest signal-callers and the 2012 Heisman Trophy finalist, can respect and appreciate.
"I'm extremely proud of Jacob and his effort out there and how he attacked it while not even being fully healthy from the jump and his competitive nature and leadership he executed through the ballgame," Klein said in his weekly news conference. "You could tell even as the game went along, he tweaked his ankle once in the second quarter and once in the third, but he battled through it. I respect the heck out of the effort he gave our program and his teammates."
K-State, 4-3 overall and 1-3 in the Big 12 Conference, now prepares to visit Colorado, 2-5 and 0-4, in Saturday's 1:00 p.m. (CT) kickoff at Folsom Field.
But for a second straight game, quarterback apparently remains a question mark this week heading toward the matchup in Boulder, Colorado.
Johnson, the only player in K-State history to throw for at least 6,500 yards and rush for 1,500 in a career, missed the first game in his four years as a Wildcat, standing in street clothes and seen talking with teammates on the sideline during the game at Mountain America Stadium last Saturday in Tempe, Arizona.
But the status of Johnson, one of the finest dual-threat quarterbacks in the FBS, remains in flux as Klein and the Wildcats push forward into the meat of the league season without their top leader, whose availability is is day-to-day.
"It's crazy," Klein said. "I'll be honest with you, Avery is day-to-day. A lot of it is going to depend on how fast this recovery process goes, and because of that, he's day-to-day. He's working hard at it and doing everything he can and some of that is going to be out of his control with this deal. We're just seeing how that progresses. We're monitoring it, obviously, very closely, and our doctors and trainers have done a nice job protecting him and detailing this thing so we do the right and best thing for him for sure."
Klein applauded Johnson's ongoing support on the sideline in last Saturday's game.
"He's able to take mental reps, he was tremendous on the sideline and coaching and encouraging those guys through the course of things, and he's able to be mobile and he's able to throw it and run around a little bit," Klein said. "Just trying to get him well."
What might need to happen for Johnson to see the field?
"I can't get into that too much without talking about his personal privacy and all that kind of stuff," Klein said, "but they're doing a great job on top of it, and it's just a matter of how fast he kind of comes back through this deal."
Klein has junior quarterback Blake Barnett, sophomore quarterback Dillon Duff and Knuth on his 2026 roster.
Barnett and Duff have both been sidelined due to injury so far this fall.
Barnett played in four games as a running quarterback last season after not seeing the field in 2024. Duff has yet to see action in a game. Knuth opened eyes last Saturday — his eighth game on the field as a Wildcat.
"Obviously, Jacob is still battling, tweaked his ankle a little bit, so we'll see how that progresses through the week," Klein said. "(Barnett and Duff) are making good progress, and we'll know a little bit more on Wednesday one of them, but good outlooks on (Barnett and Duff)."
This isn't the first time Klein has dealt with a unique quarterback situation in a season. As an offensive graduate assistant who assisted with K-State quarterbacks, Klein saw head coach Bill Snyder use four different signal-callers during the 2015 season — sophomore Jesse Ertz, junior Joe Hubener, freshman Alex Delton and senior Kody Cook, a wide receiver who served as emergency quarterback.
Another chain of quarterback injuries plagued the 2017 season in Klein's first year as K-State quarterbacks coach, as Ertz, Delton and redshirt freshman Skylar Thompson all started games that fall.
"The 2017 season was a tough year that had a string of injuries there," Klein said. "It's the next-man-up mentality, and we have to build everything around the situation as best you can. I think 2015 was even a crazier year to be honest, as we had a lot of dominoes just fall very un-fortuitously.
"That's football, it's the game, and it's truly about how we respond and deal with it."
Players Mentioned
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