Kansas State’s quarterback room has turned into a weekly shuffle, and now the Wildcats are preparing for another change.
Junior Blake Barnett is expected to start Saturday against Oklahoma State at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, making him the fourth quarterback Kansas State has used in the last four games. For a team that had leaned on Avery Johnson as its steady presence for three years, this stretch has been anything but stable.
First-year coach Collin Klein is the one tasked with steering through it, and he said the biggest thing is making sure the quarterback handles the moment 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."
Kansas State isn’t asking for sympathy. Injuries happen, and the Wildcats know that. The problem is that all of theirs hit at once, right after what should have been a momentum-building win over rival Kansas in the Sunflower Showdown.
Johnson was injured during or after that game and missed the next week against Arizona State. Senior Jacob Knuth stepped in and gave Kansas State a steady hand in a 28-17 loss.
He didn’t carry the Wildcats to a win, but he also didn’t sink them. Then came another blow: Knuth went down with an ankle injury.
That forced another reset, this time on the road against Colorado. Sophomore Dillon Duff got the first crack at it, making his college debut, but he lasted less than a quarter before Klein turned to Barnett. The junior settled things down from there, throwing three touchdowns and nearly pulling out a win before Kansas State fell 27-24 in overtime.
Now Barnett gets the next shot, and the Wildcats are still searching for the one thing they haven’t had in weeks: continuity under center.
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