PROVO, Utah—BYU football is gearing up for its toughest test as it tries to slow down Kansas State quarterback Avery Johnson.

Johnson leads No. 13 Kansas State into Provo on Saturday night as one of the nation’s top dual-threat quarterbacks.

The sophomore signal-caller, whose talent led former All-Big 12 QB Will Howard to transfer to Ohio State, has passed for 490 yards and rushed for 187 in K-State’s first three games of 2024.

BYU’s defensive coaches have a lot of respect for Johnson and the challenges he poses.

Avery Johnson: Next Lamar Jackson?

During Coordinators’ Corner, BYU defensive ends coach and special teams coordinator Kelly Poppinga compared Johnson to the current NFL MVP.

“He’s a special athlete,” Poppinga said on Avery Johnson. “I was at the University of Virginia and played against Lamar Jackson two different times, and I feel like this guy’s as special of an athlete as that guy is.”

#BYU DEs coach Kelly Poppinga during Coordinators’ Corner on K-State QB Avery Johnson:

“He’s a special athlete. I was at the University of Virginia and played against Lamar Jackson two different times. I feel this guy is as special of an athlete as that guy is.”#BYUFootball

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) September 16, 2024

That’s high praise for Johnson as Lamar Jackson was a Heisman Trophy winner at Louisville in 2016. Poppinga was an assistant coach at Virginia, trying to put together schemes to try and stop Jackson.

“It will be a major challenge for our defense and our team to stop this guy, especially him running. He knows how to extend plays and he knows how to do zone-read. He throws the ball well enough to be able to make some plays down the field … it’s a great challenge for our guys.”

BYU football is looking to improve on stopping the QB run game

Despite jumping out to a 3-0 start, with strong showings on defense, BYU has given up rushing yards to opposing quarterbacks. Southern Illinois’ DJ Williams ran for 121 yards and two touchdowns.

Wyoming’s Evan Svoboda had two scores on the ground as well.

Avery Johnson enters the matchup against BYU, averaging 6.7 yards per carry when he takes off and runs.

“Avery is a dynamic runner. They have the ability to call QB runs, and then he can take a small little gap and turn it into a big-time play,” said BYU head coach Kalani Sitake. “He’s super athletic. … And then he’s always a threat to scramble and hurt you that way. He’s a complete player when it comes to quarterbacks.”

BYU’s defense ranks 14th nationally in total defense, with 236.3 yards allowed per game. The rush defense is 40th nationally, with 105.7 yards allowed per game.

“They’re really talented, they’re big guys. They are really disciplined and sound. Those guys play hard,” said Avery Johnson on BYU’s defense. “It’s going to be a different environment for us; elevation will be up and that stadium can get pretty loud. So we definitely have to come ready to compete and ready to play.”

BYU vs. No. 13 Kansas State

Date: Saturday, September 21

Kickoff: 8:30 p.m. (MT)

TV: ESPN

Radio: KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM)

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.

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