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Kansas State Wildcats Searching For Stability At Quarterback
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- Kansas State Wildcats Searching For Stability At Quarterback
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
This weekend, the Kansas State Wildcats are set to use their fourth quarterback in the last four games.
Junior Blake Barnett will be under center when the Wildcats face the Oklahoma State Cowboys Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. This has been one of the most difficult stretches at signal-caller for Kansas State in quite some time.
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The key is how well first-year coach Collin Klein handles the situation. It's something he has yet to experience during his time in the coaching profession. What Klein did say is he hopes whoever is under center will approach it the right way.
"I think it's important," Klein said. "I think different guys do it (in) different ways. They got to be themselves and genuine in what that is."
The Wildcats aren't looking for sympathy. They know injuries are a part of football. Things like this happen all the time. Their issues just happened all at once.
Here's a recap of what happened:
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-The Wildcats were on the verge of building momentum after a huge victory against the rival Kansas Jayhawks in the Sunflower Showdown. At some point during the game or afterward, starting quarterback Avery Johnson sustained an undisclosed injury that kept him out of the following week's game against the Arizona State Sun Devils.
-Senior Jacob Knuth started in place of Johnson against the Sun Devils. Even though the Wildcats lost 28-17, Knuth was solid in defeat. He didn't necessarily put the Wildcats in position to win but he didn't lose the game, either. If they were going to be without Johnson again, Knuth was certainly a worthy replacement. Then things took a turn for the worse when Knuth sustained an ankle injury.
-Without Knuth, the Wildcats had to make yet another quarterback change. This time, Klein had to use sophomore Dillon Duff on the road against the Colorado Buffaloes. It was the first time Duff had played at the college level. He lasted less than a quarter before Klein made a change. Junior Blake Barnett entered the game late in the first quarter. He did everything right the remaining three quarters. He threw three touchdowns but came up just short in a 27-24 loss in overtime.
-Barnett is the closest thing the Wildcats have experienced at quarterback since the Johnson injury. He was named the starter earlier this week. Regardless, all of this is new for the Wildcats, who had the luxury of Johnson being the consistent starter the last three seasons.
