K-State QB Avery Johnson shows off ‘phenomenal’ arm in blowout win at West Virginia

Avery Johnson is never satisfied.

Even on a night when the sophomore quarterback led Kansas State to a 45-18 victory by completing 19 of 29 passes for a career-high 298 yards and three touchdowns against West Virginia, he felt like he should have done more on Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium.

After all, he needed only two more yards for 300.

“Thinking back at it, I’m probably going to beat myself into the ground because I missed (Will Swanson) on a touchdown pass,” Johnson said. “I lifted that ball up and we were at least at the 2-yard line. That hurts. I will probably think about that one for a long time.”

Johnson may not have played a perfect game against the Mountaineers, but this was far and away the best performance of his young college career.

It showed how much he has grown this since the start of the season, when many labeled him as a running quarterback and questioned his ability to throw the ball with every errant pass.

“Avery’s progress as a passer has been phenomenal,” coach Chris Klieman said. “Today he was so poised. Guys made plays for him and he threw a couple of strikes. It was fun to to see us have to throw the football to be successful and be able to do that.”

By no means did Johnson win this game with his legs.

In fact, the K-State quarterback didn’t attempt a single run against West Virginia. He didn’t even try to scramble for yards when the pocket was collapsing around him, though he did scramble out of one potential tackle to find wide receiver Ty Bowman for a nifty first down.

It looked like he was still slowed by some of the injuries he sustained during last week’s game against Colorado.

But that didn’t matter, Johnson took advantage of a good matchup against the Big 12’s worst pass defense.

“I really think the biggest thing is how well DJ (Giddens) rushed the ball last week,” Johnson said. “West Virginia had to respect that, and they loaded the box tonight and said DJ wasn’t going to beat them. Our receivers stepped up and made big plays for me tonight. But their game plan was to stop the run. So (offensive coordinator Conor Riley) was just drawing up a lot more passes and that’s the route we went.”

Asking a young quarterback to win a Big 12 road game with his arm is never easy. But Johnson handled the assignment like a veteran.

“I thought he just was calm,” Klieman said. “I thought he was really cool in the pocket. I thought we had a really good game plan to attack some things in the (passing) game, and that’s we did.”

This was far and away Johnson’s best game as a passer.

Some have questioned Johnson’s ability to throw the ball downfield, especially when he threw multiple interceptions during a lopsided loss at BYU. But he excelled in this game. The Maize product hit Jadon Jackson for a 60-yard touchdown strike in the first quarter and also connected with Giddens for 53 yards in the third quarter.

His strong connection with K-State tight ends continued when he found Garrett Oakley and Will Anciaux for scores.

It seemed like his confidence grew with every completion.

“He is a leader,” Anciaux said. “You see him each week being more confident, and he steps up. Not only is he talking to our offense, he is motivating our defense. ... He’s really grown this season. For me, it’s been fun to watch that. He’s been making big plays for us, and I think he’ll continue to develop.”

Johnson is at his best when he can hurt defenses with his dual-threat talents, but he has now proven that he can win a game with his arm.

That is the sign of a maturing quarterback.