Chris Klieman shares Kansas State’s QB plan for Texas as Skylar Thompson battles injury
It remains unclear if Skylar Thompson will be healthy enough to start at quarterback when the Kansas State Wildcats head to Texas for their final game of the regular season on Friday.
But K-State football coach Chris Klieman has a backup plan ready to go if Thompson remains on the sideline with an injury to his left ankle.
“There’s an outside shot, actually, of Skylar (playing),” Klieman said on Monday. “That’s the positive side. I don’t think he’ll do anything today and Tuesday would be iffy. But the kid wants to play and we’re going to see where he’s at. I don’t think that will be determined until later in the week. If he can’t go, both (Will Howard and Jaren Lewis) will be ready and Will would be the guy that would start.”
It seems unlikely that Thompson will be ready to able to play six days after he was spotted moving around the K-State football complex on crutches with a walking boot wrapped around his left foot. But Klieman isn’t ruling out a speedy recovery.
The Wildcats would prefer to keep Thompson in command of the offense, because he is a veteran passer who has started 39 games during his K-State career. He was also playing the best football of his life until he went against Baylor’s stingy defense last week.
Furthermore, playing Thompson would allow both Howard and Lewis to redshirt this season, as they have each played in exactly four games.
But Howard seems like the obvious replacement choice if Thompson is unable to play this week.
The sophomore quarterback has started nine games for the Wildcats and has thrown for 267 yards and touchdown this season. He was also in command of the offense when K-State won arguably its most impressive game of the season against Nevada in September.
From K-State’s perspective, there isn’t much reason to protect Howard’s redshirt status because he still has four years of eligibility remaining.
It sounds as if Howard is itching for a chance to help the Wildcats finish the regular season with eight victories. Klieman said he responded in “very positive” way when he told Howard he might play against the Longhorns.
“He knows this is a great opportunity for him to play and solidify himself,” Klieman said. “He’s played a lot of football. I’ve seen enough situations in my time of coaching, where you’re healthy and you have an opportunity to play. Typically, kids want to play because you just can’t forecast what happens in the future. Based on the conversation that we had yesterday, he’s excited to play.”
A good performance could be valuable for Howard. Leading K-State to a victory over Texas would make him the prohibitive favorite to replace Thompson as the team’s starter next season.
Lewis has split time with Howard in some games this season. He will also prepare is if he will be needed to play against Texas.
There is some quarterback mystery on both sides of this game. Texas quarterbacks Casey Thompson and Hudson Card before suffered injuries over the weekend against West Virginia, and Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian said they are both considered day-to-day on Monday.
If the game was going to be played tomorrow, he said Thompson would start.