Who is Blake Barnett? What to know about Kansas State's latest QB

BOULDER, Co. — Blake Barnett, come on down.

Barnett came off the bench for Kansas State in the first quarter of its Oct. 31 game at Colorado , after sophomore Dillon Duff started at quarterback .

Duff's first three drives resulted in three-and-outs. The Wildcats gained 16 total yards, and Duff took a pair of sacks .

Barnett is the fourth quarterback to take meaningful snaps in the last three weeks. Avery Johnson and Jacob Knuth were ruled out ahead of the Big 12 matchup.

See our best photos from Kansas State football at Arizona State in Week 8

Blake Barnett missed a lot of time due to injury

It will be worth monitoring Barnett's health throughout the game. He's been on crutches for most of the season and only recently came off the injury report.

Barnett was the first quarterback off the bench in the Wildcats' Week 1 blowout against Nicholls, relieving Johnson after he built a comfortable lead. He completed 4 of 5 passes for 41 yards.

After that, Barnett was on crutches. He was a game-time decision heading into last week's game at Arizona State when Knuth got the start.

Blake Barnett was used as a power-runner last season

Barnett played in four games last season and was used in special packages as a running quarterback. A bigger 6-foot-1, 218-pound frame, Barnett was a change-of-pace power runner K-State could use when it had other healthy quarterbacks.

Barnett rushed 14 times for 40 yards last year and didn't throw a pass.

Blake Barnett played high school football in Colorado

Making his first career start against the Buffaloes is only fitting for a quarterback who shined at Erie High School in Colorado, which is about 16 miles down the road from Folsom Field.

Barnett was Colorado's top-ranked 2024 player, and Rivals rated him as the seventh-best dual-threat QB in the entire class.

Barnett led Erie to a 36-7 record during his career, including a state championship as a senior. He broke the Colorado state record for overall touchdowns with 159, which was previously owned by some guy named Christian McCaffrey.

He threw for 7,518 yards and 88 touchdowns and ran for 3,420 yards and 68 scores during his career.

Wyatt D. Wheeler covers Kansas State athletics for the USA TODAY Network and Topeka Capital-Journal. You can follow him on X at @WyattWheeler_ , contact him at 417-371-6987 or email him at wwheeler@usatodayco.com