Kansas State Wildcats Quarterback Avery Johnson Reflects On First Regular Season As A Starter

Kansas State quarterback Avery Johnson shares things he learned as a sophomore quarterback.
Kansas State Wildcats quarterback Avery Johnson (2) passes the ball against Iowa State during the first quarter in the NCAA football at Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, in Ames, Iowa.
Kansas State Wildcats quarterback Avery Johnson (2) passes the ball against Iowa State during the first quarter in the NCAA football at Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, in Ames, Iowa. / Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Even with the Kansas State Wildcats season officially ending Saturday, there's much for the program to look at positively.

One bright spot was the quarterback play from Avery Johnson in his first entire season as the starting signal caller. Johnson ended his sophomore campaign with 2,517 passing yards, 22 touchdowns, nine interceptions, 548 rushing yards, and six rushing touchdowns. He only had three multi-interception performances, in which Kansas State went 0-3. Johnson's dual-threat play style is something he can certainly build off going into his junior year at Kansas State.

Johnson reflected on what he learned in his full experience at the position.

"So much, just continuing to try and grow each and every week," Johnson said in the postgame interview. "Feel like the biggest thing from a leadership standpoint, just never pointing the finger and pointing the blame. Just figuring out how I can become a leader. How can I be a better quarterback? Obviously, just got a lot of work and a lot of things that I need to improve on, so I'm just excited to get back in the lab and fix some of those things."

Avery Johnson on self-inflicted wounds at the end of the season:

"It kinda just sums up losing three of the last four games this season: self-inflicted wounds," Johnson said. "I feel like we beat ourselves tonight, and in all three of those games, I felt like we did things that are uncharacteristic of us and our culture. When you play against disciplined teams like Iowa State and teams that don't make those mistakes, they'll make you pay."


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Jayden Armant
JAYDEN ARMANT

Jayden is a journalism school graduate of Howard University. He was the 2024 recipient of the Terez Paylor scholarship award. He previously worked at the Orlando Sentinel.