MANHATTAN, Kan. – Following its 38-21 victory at Texas Tech, Kansas State collected a pair of Big 12 Player of the Week accolades as senior safety Kobe Savage earned the defensive honor and freshman quarterback Avery Johnson was named the newcomer of the week, the conference office announced Monday.
It is the second and third weekly conference honors this year for the Wildcats as running back DJ Giddens was named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week after his performance against UCF.
Savage registered his second-career Big 12 weekly honor as he was the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week after last season’s game at Oklahoma. This past weekend at Texas Tech, Savage registered seven tackles and picked off a pair of passes, including one that led to the final K-State touchdown of the night. Savage became the first Wildcat with multiple interceptions in a game since Kevion McGee had two at Iowa State in the 2018 finale, while he is the first K-State safety to do so since Travis Green against Texas Tech in 2014.
A native of Paris, Texas, Savage has one of seven games in the Big 12 this season with two interceptions, which is tied for the fourth most nationally in a game this year. He now ranks third nationally among active players in career interceptions per game (0.31), while he ranks seventh in career solo tackles per game (4.25).
Johnson is the 11th Wildcat to be named Big 12 Newcomer of the Year since the award began in 2016, while it is the second-straight year the Wildcats earned the honor after playing the Red Raiders. Johnson scored five rushing touchdowns on the night to tie the school record with former quarterback and current K-State offensive coordinator Collin Klein (2011 vs. Texas A&M) as well as quarterback Jonathan Beasley (2000 vs. North Texas). It is the most rushing touchdowns in a game this year, while it is the most by any true freshman nationally since Oklahoma’s Samaje Perine had five against Kansas in 2014.
Johnson, a product of Wichita, Kansas, set the Big 12 record for rushing touchdowns by a true freshman quarterback, while it is the most nationally by a true freshman quarterback since at least 1995. It was also the first time any Big 12 player had at least five rushing touchdowns in a game since 2016.
Kansas State returns home for the first time in nearly a month as the Wildcats host TCU on Saturday inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium, in a 6 p.m., game that will be televised by ESPN2.
The game is sold out, but K-State fans looking to purchase tickets through the secondary market are encouraged to do so through SeatGeek, K-State’s official secondary ticket partner. Fraudulent tickets are often seen on gamedays, and K-State Athletics can only verify secondary market tickets and assist fans with issues on gamedays with tickets that are purchased directly from SeatGeek.
