When Kansas State needs a touchdown it turns to Charles Jones

If Kansas State is approaching the end zone, there’s a good chance Charles Jones is about to take a shotgun snap out of the wildcat formation.

And if Jones is taking a shotgun snap out of the wildcat formation, there’s an even better chance he is about to score.

Jones, a redshirt sophomore running back from Mandeville, La., has played in four games for Kansas State, but he is already making a name for himself as a touchdown threat. He leads the Big 12 with eight rushing touchdowns and is coming off a career-best performance that featured 76 yards and three scores on 12 carries. You could build a fantasy football team around him.

Not bad for a guy that spent two years toiling behind the scenes with the scout team.

“I am really excited and everything, but mostly I am excited for my team,” Jones said. “I want to celebrate with them, because to have seven points on the board is really exciting. My first touchdown, I was really elated. I had a lot of emotions on the field. I feel like every time I cross the goal line, the same emotions come out. I am really happy when I score a touchdown.”

K-State coach Bill Snyder wants the happy days to continue. He has clearly identified Jones as the Wildcats’ top red-zone closer.

Rarely do they make a trip near the goal line without Jones touching the ball. Though he is listed behind starter DeMarcus Robinson on the depth chart, his mixture of size (5-foot-10, 197 pounds), speed and agility have made him the primary ballcarrier within the 20. He scored two touchdowns against Stephen F. Austin and Iowa State, a single touchdown against Auburn and came oh-so close to four against Texas-El Paso. A replay review wiped out one of his scoring runs.

Jones has also shown his skills taking handoffs as a traditional running back, averaging 5.2 yards per rush, but he has been at his best running the wildcat. Nearly half his 44 carries have come in the red zone.

“I’m really comfortable anywhere on the field, whether it is at wildcat or running back,” Jones said. “I’m pretty glad that they show confidence in me running the wildcat, and I have a lot of confidence in that package.”

K-State quarterback Jake Waters doesn’t mind briefly moving to receiver for Jones.

“Every time he gets the ball, we all think he can make a play because he’s shown it,” Waters said. “Especially down on the goal line, he just has a knack to get in there and that’s what we need. We were struggling with that for a couple of weeks. He got a bunch of red-zone opportunties and he finished them.”

Running back was a gigantic question mark in the preseason, as K-State searched for a replacement for three-year starter John Hubert. But Jones and Robinson have done an adequate job filling in. Together, they have kept opposing defenses off balance.

Robinson catches passes and takes handoffs between the 20s. Jones takes shotgun snaps out of the wildcat formation and fights his way across the goal line. The rotation keeps both players fresh and ready to perform.

Jones was also a touchdown threat in high school. As a senior, he remembers running for 23 touchdowns. Improbably, he is on pace top that number this season.

“Charles is a great running back,” offensive lineman Boston Stiverson said. “He is young and he has done a great job for us. We have all the confidence in the world in Charles. Whenever they put him in the wildcat, we want to score the first carry he gets.”

This story was originally published October 3, 2014 at 11:33 AM with the headline "When Kansas State needs a touchdown it turns to Charles Jones."