‘I can’t say I’m surprised’: Avery Johnson talks big Colorado debut for Dylan Edwards
At this time last year, Avery Johnson and Dylan Edwards were lighting up scoreboards as high school football players in the Wichita area.
Not much has changed now that they are both in college.
Johnson, a freshman quarterback at Kansas State, dazzled in front of a sellout crowd at Bill Snyder Family Stadium when he got a chance to play against Southeast Missouri State over the weekend. The highly touted recruit from Maize guided the Wildcats on a pair of impressive drives as the team’s backup quarterback, finishing with 55 yards as a passer to go along with 32 yards and a touchdown as a runner.
K-State fans were buzzing about his potential after the Wildcats put the finishing touches on their 45-0 victory.
“We call Avery the golden boy of Kansas now,” K-State receiver R.J. Garcia said. “Just to hear the crowd chant his name was awesome. He got to run around and get in the end zone. I was definitely excited for him.”
Johnson was motivated to play well in his college debut after watching Edwards, a childhood friend and high school rival, put up even bigger numbers during his first game with the Buffaloes.
The Derby product erupted for 159 total yards (six rushes for 24 yards and five catches for 135 yards) and a whopping four touchdowns as Colorado pulled off a stunning 45-42 upset at TCU.
Edwards, who was briefly committed to both K-State and Notre Dame before opting to play for Deion Sanders, scored so often that it was hard for Johnson to keep track of his touchdowns as he prepared for his season opener against SEMO.
“I was kind of watching it on my phone,” Johnson said. “I missed his first touchdown and then he takes a screen pass for a touchdown. Then we are eating and I hear he has another touchdown and then after walkthrough I hear he has a game-winning touchdown.”
Johnson was happy for his friend.
“That’s a guy I grew up with,” Johnson said. “My family saw it on social media and they were all posting about it. And they’re excited for him.”
But Johnson wasn’t shocked about his stat line.
“I didn’t know he was going to go out and score four touchdowns against TCU in his debut, but give that guy the ball in open space (and good things happen),” Johnson said. “I played against him for four years; I know what he can do. He’s dangerous, so I can’t say I’m surprised by what he did.”
This story was originally published September 5, 2023 at 11:43 AM with the headline "‘I can’t say I’m surprised’: Avery Johnson talks big Colorado debut for Dylan Edwards."