MANHATTAN — In addition to moving up in the national rankings, Kansas State football drew recognition on several other fronts Monday following its decisive victory over Arizona last week.
The No. 14-ranked Wildcats beat Arizona, 31-7, in front of a sellout crowd of 51,290 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium on Friday night to improve to 3-0. They travel to Provo, Utah, this week for a 9:30 p.m. central time kickoff against Brigham Young (3-0).
K-State coach Chris Klieman, quarterback Avery Johnson and Dylan Edwards all received weekly awards for their performance against Arizona.
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Kansas State football coach Chris Klieman honored
Klieman was named national Dodd Trophy coach of the week after his Wildcats knocked off No. 20 Arizona. It was the third time in his six seasons at K-State that he had been so honored.
The weekly Dodd honor, presented by the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year foundation, goes to a coach who led his team to a significant victory the previous week while also embodying the award’s three pillars of scholarship, leadership and integrity. Klieman also won the award following victories over Oklahoma in 2022 and ’23.
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Dylan Edwards claims Big 12 special teams award
Edwards, a sophomore transfer from Colorado, was named Big 12 special teams player of the week on the strength of his 71-yard punt return touchdown against Arizona. The second-quarter play broke a 7-7 tie and put the Wildcats in front for good.
Three games into his Wildcat career, Edwards already has four touchdowns — two rushing, one receiving and now one on a punt return.
Avery Johnson’s big game puts him on O’Brien Award list
Johnson, another sophomore, now is 4-0 as a starting quarterback at K-State, and on Monday he was recognized by the Davey O’Brien Award committee on its weekly Great 8 list.
That honor also put him on the O’Brien Award watch list.
Johnson completed 14 of 23 passes for 156 yards and two touchdowns in the Arizona game, plus rushed 17 times for a career-high 110 yards. He became the first Wildcat quarterback to eclipse 100 yards rushing since Will Howard had 125 against Oklahoma State in 2020.
Start time for Sept. 28 Oklahoma State game on hold
K-State fans will have to wait until Sunday to learn what time the Wildcats Big 12 home opener against Oklahoma State will kick off.
The Big 12 and its television partners exercised one of its four six-day selections to set kickoff times. No doubt the league will keep a close eye on how No. 15 Oklahoma State fares this week at home against No. 10 Utah, and whether the Wildcats can win at unbeaten BYU.
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State football reaps weekly rewards after beating Arizona
