Avery Johnson working to fix the ‘biggest thing’ missing from Kansas State’s offense
Last week, Avery Johnson was asked if there was anything specific he was working on to improve Kansas State’s offense before the Wildcats took the field for a road game against BYU.
His answer likely remains unchanged now that K-State is looking to bounce back from a 38-9 loss to the Cougars in which Johnson threw two interceptions and finished with just 130 passing yards.
“The biggest thing is just getting on the same page as those wide receivers,” Johnson said. “We have a lot of decision routes, option routes where those guys have the option to make a decision.
“So just being able to make sure that we’re all on the same page, or getting to our right depths on stuff so that I can go out there and trust that, hey, this guy’s going to get here and I just put the ball where I know it needs to be and where I was putting it all week at practice. I know a guy can go make a play on it.
“For me, it’s just cleaning up my footwork in the pocket and being able to make some of those throws that I made all week at practice. I want to be able to put that on film on Saturday.”
Johnson and the Wildcats certainly need to do something to unlock their passing attack.
So far the numbers have not been good. Johnson, a sophomore, has connected on 61.1% of his throws for 620 yards and six touchdowns. But he has also thrown three costly interceptions.
K-State receivers are understandably also off to a slow start. Jayce Brown leads the team with 13 catches for 199 yards. Keagan Johnson is next in line with 10 catches for 109 yards. No other wide out on the roster has eclipsed 50 yards. All of Johnson’s touchdown passes have gone to tight ends and running backs.
The Wildcats have struggled to move the ball through the air so much that they are actually averaging more yards per rush (6.5) than they are per pass (6.4). You don’t see that everyday. That is not the case for any other Big 12 team.
Not surprisingly, K-State ranks last in the conference in both passing yards per play and per game.
Fixing that issue is also a priority for head coach Chris Klieman. He thinks it will take a team effort to make it happen.
“It can’t just be Avery,” Klieman said. “We’ve got to be better around him, collectively. We have got to be better in complementary football. We have got to be better on the offensive side around him, but we have also got to be better on defense to help him.”