Kansas State University Athletics
2021 Football
Yeast, Russ
Jersey Number 2
Russ Yeast
- Position:
- Defensive Back
- Height:
- 5-10
- Weight:
- 195
- Class:
- Senior
- Hometown:
- Danville, Ky.
- High School:
- Center Grove [Ind.]
- Prev School:
- Univ. of Louisville
Bio
CAREER HONORS
• 2021 First Team All-Big 12 (Coaches)
• 2021 Second Team All-Big 12 (Associated Press)
• 2021 Honorable Mention Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year (Coaches)
• 2021 All-Portal Team (The Athletic)
CAREER: A transfer from Louisville who spent his final collegiate season in Manhattan... Played in 58 career games with 42 career starts in his five-year playing career.
2021: Started all 13 games at safety and came away with 48 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, four interceptions and 14 total passes defended en route to First Team All-Big 12 honors from the league’s coaches... Also earned votes for the Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the year, while he was a Second Team All-Big 12 honoree by the Associated Press... Named to the All-Portal Team by The Athletic... Led the Big 12 in total passes defended, carding at least one in 10 of his 13 games played... Finished 14th in the nation and second in the Big 12 in interceptions... Had four passes defended against West Virginia, which was the most by a Big 12 player during the year and tied for the 11th most nationally... Also broke up two passes against TCU... Ranked sixth on the team in tackles... Had a season-best eight tackles against Oklahoma and came away with six against Baylor... Carded his first full tackle for loss of the year in the regular-season finale at Texas.
2020: Started all 11 games, primarily at safety... Came away with a season-high seven tackles at Pitt and against Virginia Tech, the latter in which he tallied a half tackle for loss... Broke up passes against Notre Dame, Florida State and Syracuse... Forced and recovered a fumble in the season opener against Western Kentucky, while he had another recovery at Boston College.
2019: Started the first 11 games of the season before an injury forced him to miss the final two games... Came away with a career-high 11 tackles against Boston College a week prior to setting a career high with two pass breakups at Wake Forest... Recorded his first-career interception against Clemson... Had a tackle for loss and a pass breakup against Eastern Kentucky... Came away with eight tackles at Florida State and seven stops in the season opener against Notre Dame... Forced a pair of fumbles at NC State.
2018: Saw action in 11 games at cornerback and also returned kickoff in a pair of games... Set career highs with 1.5 tackles for loss and a half sack against Kentucky... Returned two kickoffs for 45 yards against NC State.
2017: Played in 12 games with seven starts as a true freshman... Registered a season-high five tackles at NC State and at Wake Forest... Totaled three tackles and a pass breakup as a starter in the TaxSlayer Bowl against Mississippi State... Also broke up a pass against Boston College... Returned punts in five different games, including the Murray State contest in which he totaled 24 yards.
HIGH SCHOOL: Played at Center Grove in Indiana under head coach Eric Moore... Rated the third-best player in the state of Indiana for the Class of 2017 by ESPN, Rivals and 247Sports... Viewed as one of the top 250 prospects nationally in the Class of 2017 by Rivals, while the organization rated him the 21st best athlete in the class... Played in and selected as a captain for the 2017 Under Armour Game, a contest in which he totaled two tackles... Named the IndyScout Player of the Year... Earned first team all-state accolades and was the Indiana Player of the Year by USA TODAY Sports... Also named the Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year... An all-state performer according to the Indiana Associated Press... A runner up for Indiana’s Mr. Football... Rushed for 1,525 yards and 19 touchdowns in addition to hauling in 32 catches for 602 yards and eight scores as a senior... Also tallied 251 kickoff-return yards and 175 punt-return yards... Led the Trojans to a 12-2 mark and a trip to the state championship... Played his sophomore and junior seasons for his father, Craig, at Fremont Ross High School (Ohio), while he played at Columbian High School (Ohio) as a freshman.
PERSONAL: Craig Yeast II was born May 8, 1999... Son of Craig and Tori Yeast... Has one sibling, Kiyah... Father, Craig, is the head football coach at Kentucky Wesleyan... Craig played collegiately at Kentucky, leaving with an SEC record 208 receptions with 2,899 yards and 28 touchdowns... Craig was a fourth-round pick in the 1999 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals and played nine seasons in the NFL (Bengals, Jets), Canadian Football League (Hamilton, Saskatchewan) and AF2 (arena league)... Mother, Tori (Tillman) was a basketball player at UK.
• 2021 First Team All-Big 12 (Coaches)
• 2021 Second Team All-Big 12 (Associated Press)
• 2021 Honorable Mention Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year (Coaches)
• 2021 All-Portal Team (The Athletic)
CAREER: A transfer from Louisville who spent his final collegiate season in Manhattan... Played in 58 career games with 42 career starts in his five-year playing career.
2021: Started all 13 games at safety and came away with 48 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, four interceptions and 14 total passes defended en route to First Team All-Big 12 honors from the league’s coaches... Also earned votes for the Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the year, while he was a Second Team All-Big 12 honoree by the Associated Press... Named to the All-Portal Team by The Athletic... Led the Big 12 in total passes defended, carding at least one in 10 of his 13 games played... Finished 14th in the nation and second in the Big 12 in interceptions... Had four passes defended against West Virginia, which was the most by a Big 12 player during the year and tied for the 11th most nationally... Also broke up two passes against TCU... Ranked sixth on the team in tackles... Had a season-best eight tackles against Oklahoma and came away with six against Baylor... Carded his first full tackle for loss of the year in the regular-season finale at Texas.
2020: Started all 11 games, primarily at safety... Came away with a season-high seven tackles at Pitt and against Virginia Tech, the latter in which he tallied a half tackle for loss... Broke up passes against Notre Dame, Florida State and Syracuse... Forced and recovered a fumble in the season opener against Western Kentucky, while he had another recovery at Boston College.
2019: Started the first 11 games of the season before an injury forced him to miss the final two games... Came away with a career-high 11 tackles against Boston College a week prior to setting a career high with two pass breakups at Wake Forest... Recorded his first-career interception against Clemson... Had a tackle for loss and a pass breakup against Eastern Kentucky... Came away with eight tackles at Florida State and seven stops in the season opener against Notre Dame... Forced a pair of fumbles at NC State.
2018: Saw action in 11 games at cornerback and also returned kickoff in a pair of games... Set career highs with 1.5 tackles for loss and a half sack against Kentucky... Returned two kickoffs for 45 yards against NC State.
2017: Played in 12 games with seven starts as a true freshman... Registered a season-high five tackles at NC State and at Wake Forest... Totaled three tackles and a pass breakup as a starter in the TaxSlayer Bowl against Mississippi State... Also broke up a pass against Boston College... Returned punts in five different games, including the Murray State contest in which he totaled 24 yards.
HIGH SCHOOL: Played at Center Grove in Indiana under head coach Eric Moore... Rated the third-best player in the state of Indiana for the Class of 2017 by ESPN, Rivals and 247Sports... Viewed as one of the top 250 prospects nationally in the Class of 2017 by Rivals, while the organization rated him the 21st best athlete in the class... Played in and selected as a captain for the 2017 Under Armour Game, a contest in which he totaled two tackles... Named the IndyScout Player of the Year... Earned first team all-state accolades and was the Indiana Player of the Year by USA TODAY Sports... Also named the Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year... An all-state performer according to the Indiana Associated Press... A runner up for Indiana’s Mr. Football... Rushed for 1,525 yards and 19 touchdowns in addition to hauling in 32 catches for 602 yards and eight scores as a senior... Also tallied 251 kickoff-return yards and 175 punt-return yards... Led the Trojans to a 12-2 mark and a trip to the state championship... Played his sophomore and junior seasons for his father, Craig, at Fremont Ross High School (Ohio), while he played at Columbian High School (Ohio) as a freshman.
PERSONAL: Craig Yeast II was born May 8, 1999... Son of Craig and Tori Yeast... Has one sibling, Kiyah... Father, Craig, is the head football coach at Kentucky Wesleyan... Craig played collegiately at Kentucky, leaving with an SEC record 208 receptions with 2,899 yards and 28 touchdowns... Craig was a fourth-round pick in the 1999 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals and played nine seasons in the NFL (Bengals, Jets), Canadian Football League (Hamilton, Saskatchewan) and AF2 (arena league)... Mother, Tori (Tillman) was a basketball player at UK.
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