UConn transfer Ta’Quan Roberson proving his value as a backup quarterback for K-State

What does Kansas State’s offense look like without Avery Johnson?

Most K-State football fans had little interest in discovering the answer to that question given how much Johnson means to the Wildcats as their starting quarterback. He is one of the brightest young passers in all of college football.

So much so, that it was scary to think about the drop-off from him to a backup.

At least it seemed that way until Ta’Quan Roberson was thrust into action against Colorado on Saturday at Folsom Field while Johnson was evaluated for an injury during the opening drive of the third quarter.

Turns out, Roberson is more than capable of leading the offense. He stepped in for nine plays and good things happened. The Connecticut transfer helped the Wildcats gain 35 yards while he was on the field and guided them all the way to the Colorado 3 before Johnson returned and threw a short touchdown pass to Jayce Brown.

Roberson completed 2 of 3 passes for 14 yards and didn’t flinch in an important situation.

“That really didn’t come as a surprise to me,” Johnson said. “I see the work he puts in every day at practice and what he does inside this facility. I was just seeing all his hard work kind of come to fruition. It might have surprised some people, but everybody in this facility knows what he’s capable of, and we had full confidence in him. I’m just really grateful to have a guy like that who pushes me every week.”

Roberson has only been with the K-State football roster for a short time, but he is already making an impact.

K-State coaches recruited Roberson last spring when they decided they needed extra veteran help at quarterback. They liked what he could bring to the locker room after he began his college career at Penn State and then started 11 games at UConn. In a perfect world, Roberson would be a starting quarterback, but he was willing to accept a backup role with the Wildcats.

He is already proving his value.

“No one on the offense flinched and no one had a question mark with him coming in,” K-State offensive lineman Hadley Panzer said. “That’s just a testament to the belief that we have in all of us. It doesn’t matter who’s in there, we trust each other to go out and get the job done.”

Roberson has thrown for 2,174 yards and 13 touchdowns throughout his college career. He looked like an experienced quarterback when he filled in against Colorado. His passes were strong and he took command of the offense. Perhaps best of all, he wasn’t intimidated by a rowdy crowd of 53,972. The moment wasn’t too big for him.

For that reason, he won a Player of the Game award.

“He was able to handle the noise,” coach Chris Klieman said. “I think we made one mistake, but he handled the noise and didn’t have any problem with the cadence. Then I thought he threw a strike to Jayce. You can tell he’s played a lot of football. I think that was the thing that that we were excited to see. His experience showed up.”

Roberson had been deadlocked with Jacob Knuth in a competition for backup quarterback duties, but Klieman said Knuth has been dealing with minor injuries, which gave Roberson extra work in practice last week.

Then he was thrust into action against Colorado and rewarded the K-State coaches for believing in him.

Fans won’t feel so nervous the next time he enters a game.