Kansas State University Athletics
2024 Football Roster
Johnson, Avery
Jersey Number 2
Avery Johnson
- Position:
- Quarterback
- Height:
- 6-2
- Weight:
- 192
- Class:
- Sophomore
- Hometown:
- Wichita, Kan.
- High School:
- Maize
Bio
CAREER HONORS
• 2025 Maxwell Award watch list
• 2025 Davey O'Brien Award watch list
• 2024 Davey O’Brien Award Great 8 List (Arizona, Oklahoma State)
• 2024 Manning Award Star of the Week (Oklahoma State)
• 2024 Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week (Oklahoma State)
• 2024 Maxwell Award watch list
• 2024 Davey O’Brien Award watch list
• 2024 Academic All-District (College Sports Communicators)
• 2024 Academic All-Big 12
• 2023 Pop-Tarts Bowl MVP
• 2023 Honorable Mention Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year
• 2023 National True Freshman of the Week (Texas Tech – 247Sports, On3)
• 2023 Big 12 Newcomer of the Week (Texas Tech)
CAREER: Enters his junior campaign ranked sixth in school history in career passing efficiency (137.2), ninth in passing yards per game (152.0), tied for ninth in passing touchdowns (30) and tied for 10th in touchdown responsibility (44)… Sits 186 yards shy of entering the school’s top-10 list for career rushing yards by a quarterback… Is 115 completions, 190 pass attempts and 1,451 passing yards away from K-State’s top-10 lists for those career categories, while he needs 1,027 total offensive yards to crack the top 10… Has 10 career victories as a starting quarterback, tied for 10th among K-State signal callers since 1990, while his 71.4% winning clip ranks seventh (minimum 10 starts).
2024: Started every game, throwing for 2,712 yards and a school-record 25 touchdowns on 217-of-372 (58.3%) aim while adding in 605 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on 113 carries… Finished fourth in school history in pass attempts, fifth in completions and passing yards, sixth in total offensive yards (3,317) and sixth in touchdown responsibility (32)… Also ranked second in school history in passing yards by a sophomore… Led the Wildcats to a school-record 6.57 yards per play, while they set a new school record with 6.08 rushing yards per carry, over 0.80 yards per carry better than the previous record (5.27 in 2016)… Guided an offense that also ranked fourth in school history in offensive yards per game (426.8), fifth in total offensive yards (5,549), sixth in total rushing yards (2,801), seventh in completions (222) and 10th in passing yards (2,748)... Tied the school record by engineering four comeback victories when trailing in the fourth quarter in games against Tulane, Colorado, Kansas and Rutgers, the latter being in the Rate Bowl… Led K-State to a 17-point comeback win over the Scarlet Knights, the largest bowl deficit overcome for a victory in school history… Threw for three touchdowns in the Rate Bowl, tied for the third-most touchdown passes in school bowl history… Ranked 17th nationally and third in the Big 12 in points responsible for (196), 20th in the country and fifth in the Big 12 in touchdown passes, 43rd nationally and 10th in the Big 12 in total offense per game (225.2), while he was 44th nationally and seventh in the Big 12 in passing yards per completion… Also ranked seventh in the Big 12 in pass attempts, eighth in completions, ninth in both passing efficiency (136.37) and passing yards per attempt (7.29) and 10th in total passing yards… One of only five players in the nation – and one of three from a Power 4 school (along Alabama’s Jalen Milroe and Arkansas’ Taylen Green) – to record 2,700 passing yards and 600 rushing yards… Teamed with Dylan Edwards (7.4-yard average) and DJ Giddens (6.6-yard average) to make K-State the only Power 4 team in the country to have three players average at least 5.4 yards per rush (minimum 70 carries)… One of nine quarterbacks in the nation with at least 25 passing touchdowns and seven rushing touchdowns, including one of five Power 4 signal callers… Tallied six completions of at least 50 yards to tie for 10th nationally and second in the Big 12… Had at least one completion of 50 or more yards in three-straight games against Oklahoma State, Colorado and West Virginia, the first Wildcat with a three-game streak since Skylar Thompson in 2021 (Stanford, Southern Illinois, Oklahoma) and the first to do so in Big 12 play since at least 1999… Threw for at least 250 yards in each of the Oklahoma State, Colorado, West Virginia and Kansas contests, the longest streak by a Wildcat against conference foes since Jake Waters over the final four Big 12 games in 2014… Set a career high with 320 offensive yards against Kansas, which came on the heels of a career high 298 passing yards at West Virginia… Posted a career best passing efficiency rating of 186.0 at West Virginia, which was the highest by a Wildcat (minimum 25 attempts) since Skylar Thompson against LSU in the 2021 Texas Bowl (188.1) and highest by a Wildcat in a road game since Thompson at Oklahoma in 2020 (197.4)... Threw the game-winning 50-yard touchdown pass at Colorado with 2:14 left in the game… Had three passing touchdowns and two rushing scores against Oklahoma State, becoming the first Wildcat to hit those marks against a conference opponent since Collin Klein at West Virginia in 2012… It was only the 30th time since 1996 a player had at least three passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns against a team ranked in the AP Top 25 as he went on to earn Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week, Manning Award Star of the Week and Davey O’Brien Award Great 8 List honors… Also named to the Davey O’Brien Award Great 8 List after rushing for a career-high 110 yards against Arizona, the most rushing yards by a K-State quarterback since Will Howard had 125 yards against Oklahoma State in 2020… Set a career high for completions (24) and attempts (40) against Arizona State and threw a career-long pass of 65 yards at Iowa State… Named to the preseason watch lists for the Maxwell and Davey O’Brien awards… Earned Academic All-District honors from College Sports Communicators in addition to being an Academic All-Big 12 performer… Voted a team captain.
2023: Saw time in eight games with two starts – against TCU as one of two quarterbacks on the field to begin the game and his first-career true start at quarterback in the Pop-Tarts Bowl against NC State, a game in which he was named the MVP... Threw for 479 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions on 37-of-66 aim, while he rushed for 296 yards and seven touchdowns on 52 carries as he earned votes for the Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year award from the league’s coaches... His seven rushing touchdowns were the second most by a freshman in school history and tied for the most by a true freshman with Deuce Vaughn (2020)... Tied for second in rushing touchdowns among all true freshmen in the nation, while he had the most among true freshman quarterbacks... Just the fifth true freshman starting quarterback in school history, joining James Mack (1975), Duane Howard (1976), Josh Freeman (2006) and Will Howard (2020), while he was the second to start a bowl game (Freeman, 2006 Texas Bowl)... Led K-State to a victory in the Pop-Tarts Bowl, the first true freshman starting quarterback in school history to earn a bowl victory... One of three true freshman quarterbacks to start and win a bowl game in 2023 (Duke’s Grayson Loftis and Tennessee’s Nico Iamaleava)... Threw for 178 yards and two touchdowns on 14-of-31 aim, while he added 71 rushing yards and a touchdown on seven carries in the bowl victory... His two passing touchdowns tied for sixth in school bowl history... Led K-State to a 38-21 victory at Texas Tech as he came off the bench to record five rushing touchdowns, tied for the most in school history for a single game with Collin Klein (2011 vs. Texas A&M) and Jonathan Beasley (2000 vs. North Texas)... It was the most rushing touchdowns by any true freshman since Oklahoma’s Samaje Perine also had five against Kansas in 2014, while it was the most by a true freshman quarterback since at least 1995 and the most ever by a Big 12 true freshman quarterback... Was one of only three players in the nation during the 2023 season with at least five rushing touchdowns in a game... His 30 points scored and five touchdowns scored at Texas Tech also tied a school records in those respective categories... Rushed for 90 yards against Texas Tech, one of three games in which he had 70 or more rushing yards (73 vs. TCU, 71 vs. NC State)... Also threw for 77 yards on 8-of-9 aim against the Red Raiders... Rushed for a touchdown against SEMO and threw touchdown passes against TCU, Houston and Baylor.
HIGH SCHOOL: Played at Maize under head coach Gary Guzman... Rated the 77th-best player overall in the Class of 2023 by ESPN, while Rivals ranked him as the top dual-threat quarterback in the class... Also rated No. 85 overall and No. 9 among quarterbacks by 247Sports... The top player in the state of Kansas for the Class of 2023 by 247Sports, ESPN and On3... Competed in the Elite 11 Finals in the summer of 2022, K-State’s first Elite 11 quarterback since Josh Freeman in 2005... Selected to play in the U.S. Army Bowl in Frisco, Texas, in addition to the Under Armour All-America Game in Orlando, Florida... Named the Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year and the MaxPreps Kansas Player of the Year in 2022... Selected as the 2022 Wichita Eagle Offensive Player of the Year in the state of Kansas, while the publication named him to its Top 11 team and a first team all-state performer... Also named a Top 11 player and first team all-state performer in 2022 by Sports in Kansas and KHSHAA Covered... Threw for 2,768 yards and 29 touchdowns with just three interceptions on 153-of-228 aim as a senior in addition to running for 817 yards and 15 scores on 98 carries, leading the Eagles to a 12-1 record and a sub-state championship... Named the league’s offensive MVP as a senior... A first team all-state performer as a junior from Sports in Kansas and the Wichita Eagle, the latter naming him one of the top 11 players in the state in 2021... Prepped at the same high school as current Wildcat wide receiver Justin Stephens... Also competed in basketball and baseball.
PERSONAL: Avery Johnson was born November 2, 2004, in Wichita, Kansas... Son of Mark Johnson and Hope Dent... Has two siblings, Lauren and Anthony... Majoring in business administration.
• 2025 Maxwell Award watch list
• 2025 Davey O'Brien Award watch list
• 2024 Davey O’Brien Award Great 8 List (Arizona, Oklahoma State)
• 2024 Manning Award Star of the Week (Oklahoma State)
• 2024 Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week (Oklahoma State)
• 2024 Maxwell Award watch list
• 2024 Davey O’Brien Award watch list
• 2024 Academic All-District (College Sports Communicators)
• 2024 Academic All-Big 12
• 2023 Pop-Tarts Bowl MVP
• 2023 Honorable Mention Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year
• 2023 National True Freshman of the Week (Texas Tech – 247Sports, On3)
• 2023 Big 12 Newcomer of the Week (Texas Tech)
CAREER: Enters his junior campaign ranked sixth in school history in career passing efficiency (137.2), ninth in passing yards per game (152.0), tied for ninth in passing touchdowns (30) and tied for 10th in touchdown responsibility (44)… Sits 186 yards shy of entering the school’s top-10 list for career rushing yards by a quarterback… Is 115 completions, 190 pass attempts and 1,451 passing yards away from K-State’s top-10 lists for those career categories, while he needs 1,027 total offensive yards to crack the top 10… Has 10 career victories as a starting quarterback, tied for 10th among K-State signal callers since 1990, while his 71.4% winning clip ranks seventh (minimum 10 starts).
2024: Started every game, throwing for 2,712 yards and a school-record 25 touchdowns on 217-of-372 (58.3%) aim while adding in 605 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on 113 carries… Finished fourth in school history in pass attempts, fifth in completions and passing yards, sixth in total offensive yards (3,317) and sixth in touchdown responsibility (32)… Also ranked second in school history in passing yards by a sophomore… Led the Wildcats to a school-record 6.57 yards per play, while they set a new school record with 6.08 rushing yards per carry, over 0.80 yards per carry better than the previous record (5.27 in 2016)… Guided an offense that also ranked fourth in school history in offensive yards per game (426.8), fifth in total offensive yards (5,549), sixth in total rushing yards (2,801), seventh in completions (222) and 10th in passing yards (2,748)... Tied the school record by engineering four comeback victories when trailing in the fourth quarter in games against Tulane, Colorado, Kansas and Rutgers, the latter being in the Rate Bowl… Led K-State to a 17-point comeback win over the Scarlet Knights, the largest bowl deficit overcome for a victory in school history… Threw for three touchdowns in the Rate Bowl, tied for the third-most touchdown passes in school bowl history… Ranked 17th nationally and third in the Big 12 in points responsible for (196), 20th in the country and fifth in the Big 12 in touchdown passes, 43rd nationally and 10th in the Big 12 in total offense per game (225.2), while he was 44th nationally and seventh in the Big 12 in passing yards per completion… Also ranked seventh in the Big 12 in pass attempts, eighth in completions, ninth in both passing efficiency (136.37) and passing yards per attempt (7.29) and 10th in total passing yards… One of only five players in the nation – and one of three from a Power 4 school (along Alabama’s Jalen Milroe and Arkansas’ Taylen Green) – to record 2,700 passing yards and 600 rushing yards… Teamed with Dylan Edwards (7.4-yard average) and DJ Giddens (6.6-yard average) to make K-State the only Power 4 team in the country to have three players average at least 5.4 yards per rush (minimum 70 carries)… One of nine quarterbacks in the nation with at least 25 passing touchdowns and seven rushing touchdowns, including one of five Power 4 signal callers… Tallied six completions of at least 50 yards to tie for 10th nationally and second in the Big 12… Had at least one completion of 50 or more yards in three-straight games against Oklahoma State, Colorado and West Virginia, the first Wildcat with a three-game streak since Skylar Thompson in 2021 (Stanford, Southern Illinois, Oklahoma) and the first to do so in Big 12 play since at least 1999… Threw for at least 250 yards in each of the Oklahoma State, Colorado, West Virginia and Kansas contests, the longest streak by a Wildcat against conference foes since Jake Waters over the final four Big 12 games in 2014… Set a career high with 320 offensive yards against Kansas, which came on the heels of a career high 298 passing yards at West Virginia… Posted a career best passing efficiency rating of 186.0 at West Virginia, which was the highest by a Wildcat (minimum 25 attempts) since Skylar Thompson against LSU in the 2021 Texas Bowl (188.1) and highest by a Wildcat in a road game since Thompson at Oklahoma in 2020 (197.4)... Threw the game-winning 50-yard touchdown pass at Colorado with 2:14 left in the game… Had three passing touchdowns and two rushing scores against Oklahoma State, becoming the first Wildcat to hit those marks against a conference opponent since Collin Klein at West Virginia in 2012… It was only the 30th time since 1996 a player had at least three passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns against a team ranked in the AP Top 25 as he went on to earn Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week, Manning Award Star of the Week and Davey O’Brien Award Great 8 List honors… Also named to the Davey O’Brien Award Great 8 List after rushing for a career-high 110 yards against Arizona, the most rushing yards by a K-State quarterback since Will Howard had 125 yards against Oklahoma State in 2020… Set a career high for completions (24) and attempts (40) against Arizona State and threw a career-long pass of 65 yards at Iowa State… Named to the preseason watch lists for the Maxwell and Davey O’Brien awards… Earned Academic All-District honors from College Sports Communicators in addition to being an Academic All-Big 12 performer… Voted a team captain.
2023: Saw time in eight games with two starts – against TCU as one of two quarterbacks on the field to begin the game and his first-career true start at quarterback in the Pop-Tarts Bowl against NC State, a game in which he was named the MVP... Threw for 479 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions on 37-of-66 aim, while he rushed for 296 yards and seven touchdowns on 52 carries as he earned votes for the Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year award from the league’s coaches... His seven rushing touchdowns were the second most by a freshman in school history and tied for the most by a true freshman with Deuce Vaughn (2020)... Tied for second in rushing touchdowns among all true freshmen in the nation, while he had the most among true freshman quarterbacks... Just the fifth true freshman starting quarterback in school history, joining James Mack (1975), Duane Howard (1976), Josh Freeman (2006) and Will Howard (2020), while he was the second to start a bowl game (Freeman, 2006 Texas Bowl)... Led K-State to a victory in the Pop-Tarts Bowl, the first true freshman starting quarterback in school history to earn a bowl victory... One of three true freshman quarterbacks to start and win a bowl game in 2023 (Duke’s Grayson Loftis and Tennessee’s Nico Iamaleava)... Threw for 178 yards and two touchdowns on 14-of-31 aim, while he added 71 rushing yards and a touchdown on seven carries in the bowl victory... His two passing touchdowns tied for sixth in school bowl history... Led K-State to a 38-21 victory at Texas Tech as he came off the bench to record five rushing touchdowns, tied for the most in school history for a single game with Collin Klein (2011 vs. Texas A&M) and Jonathan Beasley (2000 vs. North Texas)... It was the most rushing touchdowns by any true freshman since Oklahoma’s Samaje Perine also had five against Kansas in 2014, while it was the most by a true freshman quarterback since at least 1995 and the most ever by a Big 12 true freshman quarterback... Was one of only three players in the nation during the 2023 season with at least five rushing touchdowns in a game... His 30 points scored and five touchdowns scored at Texas Tech also tied a school records in those respective categories... Rushed for 90 yards against Texas Tech, one of three games in which he had 70 or more rushing yards (73 vs. TCU, 71 vs. NC State)... Also threw for 77 yards on 8-of-9 aim against the Red Raiders... Rushed for a touchdown against SEMO and threw touchdown passes against TCU, Houston and Baylor.
HIGH SCHOOL: Played at Maize under head coach Gary Guzman... Rated the 77th-best player overall in the Class of 2023 by ESPN, while Rivals ranked him as the top dual-threat quarterback in the class... Also rated No. 85 overall and No. 9 among quarterbacks by 247Sports... The top player in the state of Kansas for the Class of 2023 by 247Sports, ESPN and On3... Competed in the Elite 11 Finals in the summer of 2022, K-State’s first Elite 11 quarterback since Josh Freeman in 2005... Selected to play in the U.S. Army Bowl in Frisco, Texas, in addition to the Under Armour All-America Game in Orlando, Florida... Named the Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year and the MaxPreps Kansas Player of the Year in 2022... Selected as the 2022 Wichita Eagle Offensive Player of the Year in the state of Kansas, while the publication named him to its Top 11 team and a first team all-state performer... Also named a Top 11 player and first team all-state performer in 2022 by Sports in Kansas and KHSHAA Covered... Threw for 2,768 yards and 29 touchdowns with just three interceptions on 153-of-228 aim as a senior in addition to running for 817 yards and 15 scores on 98 carries, leading the Eagles to a 12-1 record and a sub-state championship... Named the league’s offensive MVP as a senior... A first team all-state performer as a junior from Sports in Kansas and the Wichita Eagle, the latter naming him one of the top 11 players in the state in 2021... Prepped at the same high school as current Wildcat wide receiver Justin Stephens... Also competed in basketball and baseball.
PERSONAL: Avery Johnson was born November 2, 2004, in Wichita, Kansas... Son of Mark Johnson and Hope Dent... Has two siblings, Lauren and Anthony... Majoring in business administration.
K-State FB | Game Highlights vs Army
Saturday, September 06
K-State FB | Postgame Press Conference vs Army
Saturday, September 06
K-State Gameday | FB vs Army
Saturday, September 06
K-State FB | Pregame Hype vs Army
Friday, September 05
