Kansas State’s Sunflower Showdown win came with a brief scare that had Bill Snyder Family Stadium holding its breath.
Avery Johnson went down awkwardly after a 59-yard run early in Saturday’s game against Kansas, stayed on the turf for several minutes and sparked real fear in the crowd of 51,961. The K-State quarterback had just broken free on a keeper and looked headed for an easy touchdown before losing his balance and falling short of the end zone without being touched.
For a moment, it looked serious. A teammate checked on Johnson right away, and Johnson pointed to his right shoulder as trainers rushed out. But the explanation was simple once he got back up.
“I just got the wind knocked out of me,” Johnson said.
Johnson also admitted the delay had another layer to it: embarrassment.
“I was smiling so much because I was mad,” Johnson said. “I literally just tripped and fell.
So I didn’t even want to go to the sideline and hear what anybody else had to say about it. That’s why my emotions were like that.
But it was definitely a scary moment.”
Back on his feet, he turned in a big afternoon anyway. Johnson finished 14 of 24 passing for 209 yards and a touchdown, while also running for 132 yards on 12 carries. He directed seven scoring drives as Kansas State beat Kansas 35-24 for its 18th straight win in the rivalry.
The Wildcats piled up 568 yards and held KU to 319, only punting once. They also left points on the field, turning it over on downs twice in the red zone and losing a fumble, but the offense was still too much for the Jayhawks.
Johnson missed one play after the injury scare, sitting out a 4-yard touchdown run by Rodney Fields, but otherwise stayed central to everything K-State did.
His coach came away impressed with more than just the numbers.
“His stability, his focus, his leadership and his play making ability,” Collin Klein said. “That throw on our second touchdown with a guy in his face to get to the backside on a shallow cross was big time.
I love competing with this team. I love competing with these guys, and I absolutely love competing with Avery.”
Senior running back Joe Jackson, who rushed for 159 yards and a touchdown in the win, said Johnson’s fall had him rattled too.
“I almost teared up,” Jackson said. “It scared the mess out of me.”
Jackson was joking later, saying of Johnson, “I wanted to go punch him,” because the quarterback had him feeling sick.
Still, the night ended with relief for Kansas State. The Wildcats improved to 4-2 overall and 1-2 in Big 12 play after back-to-back losses to Cincinnati and Houston. A third straight defeat would have put their bowl hopes in a tough spot, but instead they walked away with momentum and a healthier quarterback.
“We’re closer than people might think,” Johnson said. “We played six bad quarters of football this year.
We had the Cincinnati game, then a bye week and the Houston game. So it felt like we hadn’t played good football in such a long time, over a month.
But we did some really good things today.
“And there is no better feeling than being able to win a game and the Jayhawks be on the other end of it.”
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