Kansas State University Athletics
2021 Football
Thompson, Skylar
Jersey Number 7
Skylar Thompson
- Position:
- Quarterback
- Height:
- 6-2
- Weight:
- 220
- Class:
- Senior
- Hometown:
- Independence, Mo.
- High School:
- Fort Osage
Bio
CAREER HONORS
• 2021 TaxAct Texas Bowl MVP
• 2021 Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Semifinalist
• 2021 Maxwell Award watch list
• 2021 Manning Award watch list
• 2021 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award watch list
• 2021 Senior Bowl watch list
• 2021 Wuerffel Trophy watch list
• 2021 First Team Academic All-Big 12
• 2020 Davey O’Brien Award Great 8 List (Oklahoma)
• 2020 Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week (Oklahoma)
• 2020 Maxwell Award watch list
• 2020 Manning Award watch list
• 2020 Wuerffel Trophy watch list
• 2020 First Team Academic All-Big 12
• 2019 Honorable Mention All-Big 12 (Coaches)
• 2019 Maxwell Award Player of the Week (Oklahoma)
• 2019 Davey O’Brien Award Great 8 List (Oklahoma)
• 2019 Manning Award Star of the Week (Oklahoma)
• 2019 Liberty Bowl Team Offensive MVP
• 2019 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award watch list
• 2017 Honorable Mention Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year (Coaches)
• 2017 Big 12 Newcomer of the Week (Oklahoma State, Iowa State)
• 2017 Manning Award Star of the Week (Oklahoma State)
CAREER SNAPSHOT: Played in 45 career games with 40 starts over parts of five seasons... His 40 starts and 24 career wins as a starting quarterback are the most among all K-State signal callers since at least 1990... The only player in school history with 6,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards in a career... Engineered six career touchdown drives in the fourth quarter to either tie or take the lead, tied for the most by a K-State quarterback since 1990.
K-STATE CAREER RECORD BOOK AT TIME OF DEPARTURE: School record for lowest interception percentage (1.81)... Second in passing touchdowns, passing yards and completions... Second in total offensive yards (8,221)... Third in touchdowns responsible for (68)... Third in completion percentage and passing attempts... Fourth in passing efficiency and passing yards per attempt (8.06)... Fifth in passing yards per completion (12.92)... Seventh in passing yards per game (158.5)... Tied for third in rushing touchdowns by a quarterback... Fifth in rushing yards and rushing attempts by a quarterback... 28th overall in rushing yards.
BIG 12 HISTORY RANKINGS AT TIME OF DEPARTURE: Seventh in interception percentage (1.81)... 15th in passing touchdown-to-interception ratio (2.65)... 17th in passing yards per attempt (8.06)... 24th in passing efficiency and passing yards per completion (12.92).
K-STATE CAREER BOWL RECORD BOOK AT TIME OF DEPARTURE: School record for completion percentage (75.5)... Tied for second in completions (34)... Tied for third in passing touchdowns (3).
2021: Started 10 games on the year as he battled injuries both early and late in the season but returned to lead the Wildcats to a win in the Texas Bowl in which he was named the MVP... Finished the year with a school record in completion percentage (69.53), while he ranked second in school history in passing efficiency, third in passing yards per attempt (9.07) and eighth in passing yards per game (211.3)... Ranked eighth nationally and tops in the Big 12 in passing yards per attempt, while he was eighth in the nation and second in the league in completion percentage... Ranked 12th nationally and second in the Big 12 in passing efficiency... Ranked 38th in the nation and third in the Big 12 in passing yards per completion (13.04)... Finished fourth in the Big 12 in passing yards per game... Saved one of his best games for last as he went 21-of-28 for 259 yards and a career-high tying three touchdowns with no interceptions in the Texas Bowl... Tied for second in K-State bowl history in completions and completion percentage (75.0), tied for third in touchdown passes, ranked sixth in passing yards and tied for eighth in passing attempts... His game against the Tigers came after missing the regular-season finale due to injury... Threw for over 200 yards over a five-game stretch against Oklahoma, Iowa State, Texas Tech, TCU and Kansas, the longest streak by a K-State quarterback since Jake Waters did so in 14-straight games over the 2013 and 2014 seasons... Completed 80% of his passes at Texas Tech, a new career high... His total in that game included a 14-of-15 mark in the second half, the best completion percentage in a half by a K-State quarterback since 2006... Also completed 79.2% of his passes (19-of-24) at Kansas, the second-highest mark of his career... Set career highs in completions (29) and attempts (41) against Oklahoma, while he tied his career high in touchdown passes (3) and had the second-most yards of his career (320)... His 29 completions against OU tied for the seventh most in a game in school history... His game against the Sooners came after missing the previous two contests due to injury... Completed his third season-opening victory as the starting quarterback when the Wildcats topped Stanford, the first time a K-State signal caller had three season-opening.
2020: Started each of the first three games before an injury ended his season… Threw for 626 yards and four touchdowns and no interceptions on 40-of-64 (62.5%) aim, while he rushed 19 times for 38 yards and three scores… Led K-State to a 21-point comeback victory – tied for the largest in school history – at No. 3 Oklahoma, the Wildcats’ first ever road win over a team ranked in the top five of the Associated Press Top 25 poll… Became the first starting quarterback to win consecutive starts against Oklahoma since Baylor’s Bryce Petty in 2013 and 2014, while he is the first to do so against top-five Sooner teams since Oklahoma State’s Josh Fields in 2001 and 2002… Set a career high with 344 passing yards against the Sooners, while his 13.36 yards per attempt set the school’s single-game record (minimum 25 attempts)… His 18.56 yards per completion at Oklahoma ranked second in school history among quarterbacks to complete 18 to 21 passes in a game… Tossed a 78-yard pass in the contest, the 15th-longest pass in school history and the longest by a Wildcat since 2017… His 334 passing yards were the most by a Wildcat since the 2015 Alamo Bowl (after the 2014 season) and the most in a Big 12 game since 2014 at West Virginia (Jake Waters – 400 yards)...… Named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week and a Davey O’Brien Award Great 8 Quarterback after his performance against the Sooners… Picked up First Team Academic All-Big 12 honors… Voted a team captain.
2019: Started all 13 games, throwing for 2,315 yards and 12 touchdowns on 177-of-297 (59.6%) aim with just five interceptions, while he rushed for 405 yards and 11 touchdowns on 114 carries... Picked up Honorable Mention All-Big 12 accolades from the league’s coaches, the first K-State signal caller to earn an all-conference honor from the coaches since Jake Waters in 2014... Finished 10th in K-State history in single-season completions, while he tied for 10th in touchdowns responsible for (23)... Had the fifth-most passing yards among juniors in school history and finished 12th overall in single-season passing yards... Finished sixth in the Big 12 in scoring among non-kickers (5.1 points per game)... Tied for eighth nationally and second in the Big 12 among quarterbacks with 11 rushing touchdowns... Had seven rushing scores over a two-game stretch against No. 5 Oklahoma and Kansas, the most by a K-State quarterback over a two-game span since Collin Klein in 2012... Had four rushing scores against the Sooners, tied for the third most in a game in school history and the fourth most among all players in the nation in 2019... Also threw for 213 yards on 18-of-28 aim against the Sooners as he earned Maxwell Award Player of the Week, Davey O’Brien Award Great 8 List and Manning Award Star of the Week accolades... Rushed for 127 yards at Kansas, the first K-State signal caller with a 100-yard rushing game since Alex Delton in the 2017 Cactus Bowl, while he was the first player with at least 100 rushing yards and 100 passing yards in the same game since Delton against Oklahoma in 2017... Set a career high for passing yards (299) and total offense (318) against West Virginia, the latter being the most by a Wildcat since Jesse Ertz against Central Arkansas in 2017 (368) and the most in a Big 12 game since Ertz at TCU in 2016 (329)... Also set career highs for completions (24) and attempts (39) against WVU... Tossed a 70-yard touchdown pass against Texas... Accounted for 91 yards on a 95-yard, game-winning touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter against TCU, which included a career-long rush of 61 yards... Named K-State’s Offensive MVP for the Liberty Bowl... Voted a team captain.
2018: Played in 11 games with 10 starts, throwing for 1,391 yards and nine touchdowns on 122-of-208 aim with just four interceptions... Also added 373 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 105 carries... Finished the year ranked seventh in the Big 12 in total offense (160.4 yards per game) and passing efficiency (125.3)... Threw for a career-best 213 yards on two occasions, against UTSA and Texas Tech... Set career highs in completions (18) and attempts (27) at Iowa State, while he also tied his career high in touchdowns passes (3)... Recorded a two-touchdown game against UTSA... Rushed for a season-high 80 yards against Oklahoma State, a week after tallying a career-long rush of 52 yards at Baylor.
2017: Played in eight games, including starts in each of the final four contests... Threw for 689 yards and five touchdowns on 51-of-83 aim while rushing for 237 yards and another three scores as he earned votes for the Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year award... Tied for third in school history in passing touchdowns among freshmen, while he had the fourth-most passing yards by a freshman in school history... Had his best game of the year to lead K-State to a win at No. 10 Oklahoma State when he threw for 204 yards and three touchdowns on 10-of-13 accuracy... Earned a passer efficiency rating of 284.9 against the Cowboys, the fourth-highest mark in school history and the highest ever by a freshman... Also rushed for 93 yards and another score at OSU as he was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week and a Manning Award Star of the Week... Also earned Big 12 Newcomer of the Week accolades by leading K-State to a win over Iowa State, throwing the game-winning touchdown pass on the final play of regulation... Had 124 of his 152 passing yards against the Cyclones in the fourth quarter as K-State trailed by 12 points with 13:46 left in the game... Accounted for two touchdowns and threw for a two-point conversion in second half and overtime at Texas Tech, leading the Wildcats to the largest fourth-quarter deficit overcome in a road game in school history.
2016: Redshirted... A co-winner of the team’s Red Raider Award as the top contributor on scout team.
HIGH SCHOOL: A three-year starter at Fort Osage under head coach Ryan Schartz... Regarded as one of the top 250 players in the Class of 2016 by Rivals, while the website also rated him the seventh-best dual-threat quarterback in the nation and the No. 2 prospect in the state of Missouri... Also ranked as the 32nd-best dual-threat quarterback by ESPN and the 65th-best quarterback overall by Scout... Named the 2015 Missouri Gatorade Player of the Year and Simone Award winner as the most outstanding football player in the Kansas City metro area... Was a finalist for the award in 2014, while he was a two-time member of the All-Simone team... Also a two-time first team all-state selection by the Missouri Football Coaches Association... Selected to the USA TODAY Sports/American Family Insurance All-USA Missouri team as a senior, while the organization selected him as the offensive player of the year... Led the Indians to a 13-1 record and the Missouri Class 5 state championship in 2015 as he threw for 2,112 yards and 25 touchdowns with just three interceptions on 138-of-204 passing (67.7 percent)... Also rushed for 1,092 yards and 19 touchdowns on 188 carries... Set a state championship game record in the Indians’ 63-28 win over Chaminade as he accounted for 455 yards of total offense, completing 13-of-15 passes for 253 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for 202 yards and three scores... Threw for 2,385 yards and 24 touchdowns to just six interceptions as a junior in 2014 while rushing for 461 yards and nine touchdowns... Also played basketball, earning second team all-state honors as a sophomore.
PERSONAL: Skylar John Thompson was born June 4, 1997, in Palmyra, Missouri... Son of Brad Thompson, the late Teresa Thompson and stepmother Kathy Thompson... Has two brothers, Anthony and Eric, and one sister, Ashley... Earned his bachelor’s degree in management in May 2019 and is currently working on his master’s degree in academic advising.
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