Avery Johnson wows the home crowd as the Wildcats extend their winning streak

MANHATTAN, Kan. – The true sophomore is the best quarterback in the Big 12, and after leading Kansas State to a win over Kansas, it appears the best is yet to come.

Avery Johnson behaves like a seasoned veteran on the gridiron and is in full control of Conor Riley's offense. His teammates trust him, the fans love him and his coaches believe he can achieve great things. After all, Johnson led the Wildcats to their 16th straight win at the Sunflower Showdown, and now they appear to be the hottest team in the conference.

Kansas State (7-1) is on a four-game winning streak in the Big 12, and Johnson continues to learn on the fly. Although the Wildcats went scoreless in the first quarter on Saturday, Johnson later led the offense with five goals. The first was a stunning 13-play, 95-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter that ended with him connecting with tight end Will Anticlaux to end the game.

It turned out to be another impressive day with Johnson hitting the tight ends in the air raid. Garrett Oakley also hauled in a touchdown pass from Johnson, and the gunslinger is glad they got the spotlight.

“They do the dirty work and get rewarded for it, so we thank our coaches for giving us the good stuff,” Johnson said. “How they train and what details we want to draw their attention to during training is shown again and again when we step onto the field.”

Johnson also used his dual-threat skills to pick up first downs and extend plays. His heroics are a reason the Wildcats led the Jayhawks in offense, plays, yards per game and time of possession. After the smoke cleared, Johnson completed 19 of his 34 passes for 253 yards and two touchdowns. The former four-star prospect also had 67 yards on the ground and a rushing score.

There were some tough moments, though, like when Johnson lost a fumble. Not to mention, it got close late in the fourth quarter when Johnson took a hit while throwing the football and a Jayhawk defender nearly intercepted it.

Ultimately, though, Johnson is proud of his team's response to adversity, and it helped that the sellout home crowd created a house of nails for the opponent. He's happy to give fans something to brag about for the next 365 days, but isn't complacent after the win.

“It was really fun, I had to get all the nerves out of my system, but there is still room for improvement,” he said. “It was a really fun occasion and the stadium was jumping tonight.”

The No. 16 Wildcats are still in second place in the Big 12 standings and are controlling their own destiny. So Johnson understands what's at stake, how small his team's margin of error is and that there's still a lot of work to do. A win against Kansas should only help Kansas State down the home stretch in Avery's eyes, and the Big 12 is a meat grinder.

Even after the exciting victory, all the Wildcats' goals are still open. Johnson doesn't want to downplay the success he had against Kansas or what it means to Kansas State, but needs to turn the page and focus on an upcoming road trip to Houston in Week 10. At this point, there is no denying that this will be a November to remember.

“I would say it's big just because it's a conference game, and we have to keep winning our conference games if we want to play for a Big 12 championship at the end of the year, but it's not bigger than any win, and . “It’s no bigger than the win we had last week.”