K-State Wildcats Q&A: Avery Johnson, Dylan Edwards, basketball predictions and more
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- K-State will play an exhibition at Missouri Friday and a showdown Saturday.
- Kansas allows 188.3 rushing yards per game; K-State plans to target that gap.
- Avery Johnson’s mobility and Dylan Edwards’ absence push K-State toward runs.
The next 24 hours should be exciting for the Wildcats.
At 9 p.m. on Friday, Jerome Tang and the men’s basketball team will play an exhibition game at Missouri that can be watched on SEC Network. Then, at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Chris Klieman will guide the football team into the most anticipated Sunflower Showdown game I can remember in Lawrence.
Let’s get ready for all of it by diving into your questions. Thanks, as always, for providing them.
Will Avery Johnson’s running ability play a major role in the Sunflower Showdown? -@Snyder_cat via X.
It should.
Kansas has the worst run defense in the Big 12, as the Jayhawks are surrendering 188.3 rushing yards per game.
The best way for K-State to exploit that weakness is with quarterback Avery Johnson, particularly with the absence of starting running back Dylan Edwards.
Now, I’m not saying that Johnson needs to transform himself into a battering ram. He doesn’t need to run the ball 20 times in this game for K-State to win. But if he can amass something like 75 rushing yards on 13 carries that would be a big help for Joe Jackson and the offensive line.
I think he will find success on the ground. Johnson rushed for 75 yards against UCF and 72 yards and a touchdown against Baylor. Both of those teams also have subpar run defenses. He also had some good runs, if not good numbers, against TCU.
No one can complain about what Johnson has done on the ground since K-State’s first bye week.
There’s no reason why Johnson shouldn’t hurt the Jayhawks on the ground.
His odds of rushing for a touchdown are practically even. That seems like a decent bet.
My only hesitation would be that K-State is fully healthy at wide receiver. Jayce Brown, Jerand Bradley and Jeron Tibbs should all be out there for Johnson to target in the passing game. He might think pass before throw on certain plays.
I am holding out hope that Dylan Edwards will play again this season. But it’s getting harder and harder. What is your read on the situation? - Jeff M. via e-mail.
Edwards missing the Sunflower Showdown is not a good sign.
The longer he remains on the sideline with just four games under his belt for the season, the longer fans are going to speculate that he is planning to redshirt and potentially transfer at the end of the year.
At this point, I wouldn’t blame anyone for expecting Edwards to be done for the season.
Maybe that changes if K-State continues its winning streak over KU and things like bowl eligibility or maybe even a Big 12 championship become realistic goals. It’s possible that Edwards may want to get back on the field if he’s healthy and the Wildcats have something to play for.
But if K-State loses the next two games and Edwards is still on the sideline, there might not be much motivation on either side to get him back on the field.
Are there any rumblings of Dylan Edwards transferring or updates on his injury? -@_drewzy via X.
Edwards and his health have given us enough material to fill a mystery novel this season.
I have no idea when we will have clarity on his injury, his redshirt status or his plans for the future.
One thing I do feel confident about is that he will remain on the roster through the end of the season. Edwards is one of K-State’s biggest NIL earners, and it wouldn’t make much business sense for him to walk away from that.
What he decides to do after is anyone’s guess.
Given how the season has unfolded, it might be time for K-State fans to simply embrace Joe Jackson as the starting running back. He has been running hard the past few weeks. If Edwards does return to the rotation, look at it as a bonus.
Is there any hope the NCAA will change their mind about Kennedy Taylor? How is it that she played 109 games over 4 seasons and can’t get a 5th while Nigel Pack has played 122 games over 5 seasons and was granted a 6th? -@kstatefanfirst via X.
Once the NCAA denies a student-athlete college eligibility, there usually isn’t much hope for a reversal.
Tyreek Smith won’t be playing for the K-State men’s basketball team this season. Kenney Taylor won’t be playing for the K-State women’s basketball team this season. Tyon Grant-Foster won’t be playing for Gonzaga this year.
Those players are, regrettably, out of luck.
Why couldn’t they get eligibility waivers when Diego Pavia is still playing college football at age 24, Nijel Pack is getting is suiting up for Oklahoma and basketball players from the G League are lining up to play college hoops?
I don’t know.
Nothing about the modern age of college sports makes sense anymore.
If K-State has the best point guard, shooter and athlete in the country. Why am I not taking a mortgage out to bet on the cats to win the national championship? -@bfullingt1 via X.
This isn’t the first time that Jerome Tang has hyped up some of his players at Big 12 Media Day.
He called Tylor Perry the best shooter in America two seasons ago. Then he called Brendan Hausen the best shooter in the country last year. Neither of those players could help the Wildcats reach the NCAA Tournament.
Now Abdi Bashir has assumed the same title. Can K-State win more with him in the lineup?
Perry made 93 shots from beyond the arc in a K-State uniform. He was good, but not the best in his class. Hausen made 90 shots from downtown while he was in Manhattan. Once again, pretty good. But not exactly elite.
Bashir drained 127 3-pointers while playing in just 33 games for Monmouth last season. If he can duplicate those numbers at K-State then Tang may finally be right about his preseason proclamation. But it’s a huge change from Monmouth to the Big 12. We shall see if he can make a seamless transition.
The difference between this season and the past few is that Tang is also very bullish on PJ Haggerty at point guard. He averaged more than 20 points per game at Memphis last year. So he’s got skills. He could be an All-American for the Wildcats. But it’s also worth pointing out that K-State (59) finished with a better rating at Bart Torvik than Memphis (63) did last year.
If Haggerty is so good, how come his old team wasn’t better than a K-State squad that won just 16 games?
Maybe that doesn’t matter and he will thrive at K-State. But it’s still interesting.
Tang’s comment about Mobi Ikegwuruka being the best athlete in the country doesn’t mean all that much. Bruce Weber loved to brag about how strong Makol Mawien was in the weight room. That never helped him get buckets, outside of one dream game at the Big 12 Tournament.
Tang’s comments are worth mentioning, because they show how much confidence he has in this group. He clearly thinks the Wildcats are capable of big things this season.
On paper, he should be right. It won’t surprise me if this his best team since the Markquis Nowell, Keyontae Johnson days.
But I would recommend waiting to see it before you bet any money on the Cats.
You can get K-State at 150-to-1 odds to win the national championship and 75-to-1 odds to win the Big 12. For now, bet with pocket change instead of your mortgage.
My weekly recommendations
Streaming: Chad Powers on Hulu. If you are able to look past the absurd plot and accept that a disgraced quarterback could change his identity and start over as a new college football player, this is a funny and entertaining series.
Food: Burger Stand in Lawrence. This is for any K-State fan looking for a meal on the road this weekend. The Kobe Beef burger, the Barnyard Bash and the Catfish Po Boy never disappoint.
This story was originally published October 24, 2025 at 10:30 AM with the headline "K-State Wildcats Q&A: Avery Johnson, Dylan Edwards, basketball predictions and more."