MANHATTAN — If you listen closely to what those within Kansas State football have said this week, it sounds like the Wildcats are trying to get a message across to Avery Johnson , the team's star dual-threat quarterback.
Run the ball.
"I love it when he runs the ball," offensive coordinator Matt Wells said. "Everybody else does too."
It's not lost on Kansas State's coaches that Johnson has been reluctant to tuck the ball and run on scrambles, where he was so successful a season ago.
Throughout the first four games, amid a 1-3 start, it has looked at times like Johnson has tried to keep a play alive with the hope of picking up a chunk through the air , rather than doing what makes him special and using his legs.
Johnson has 62 yards and two touchdowns on 25 attempts. The majority of his success has come from three recorded scrambles for 48 yards.
At this point last year, he had 261 yards, including his breakout 110-yard performance against Arizona. This year against Arizona, he had a career-worst negative-16 yards.
It's clear that when he takes off, he has success.
"Everybody likes big completions, and there's a fine line between balancing just cutting it loose and running every time versus being out of the pocket on a controlled scramble with eyes up," Wells said. "I think his legs are a weapon, and he needs to use those legs and be aggressive in using them."
Wells' statements on Thursday, Sept. 25, followed head coach Chris Klieman's comments earlier in the week, noting there have been times when he has noticed a play breaking down, where his quarterback had an opportunity to run and opted not to.
Klieman said Sept. 22 that he wants to see a few more easy calls for Johnson go through easier reads, while also calling out receivers for too many drops and linemen for missing blocks, attempting to take some blame off his signal caller as the offense struggles as a whole.
"We all have to take some ownership of this," Klieman said. "It's easy to come in here and point at a position that's not playing the best, but it's collectively."
When UCF comes to Manhattan for an 11 a.m. kickoff on Saturday, Sept. 27, the Knights will feature a defense that's limited opposing quarterbacks to 22 rushing yards, with two of the three starters losing yards.
Kansas State hopes that its week off will lead to better play than it's had through the first third of the regular season.
It also sounds like the Wildcats are hoping for their quarterback to run the ball quite a bit more, too.
"I don't want him overthinking anything or being a statue in the pocket," Wells said. "The kid's a dual-threat. You want to see him play within a progression and within his timeline in his head, but keeping his eyes up on a scramble and keeping throws alive, but knowing when you're close to that line of scrimmage and putting pressure on linebackers and overhang safeties that are trying to contain him in there, too."
Wyatt D. Wheeler covers Kansas State athletics for the USA TODAY Network and Topeka Capital-Journal. You can follow him on X at @WyattWheeler_ , contact him at 417-371-6987 or email him at wwheeler@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State football QB Avery Johnson needs to run ball more
