#7 Adryan Lara and #21 Jacob Knuth — This is the perfect “circle of life” photo: Fourth-string quarterback Adryan Lara (7) transferred after this disaster of a game, along with two others; super reserve quarterback Jacob Knuth (21), who was sitting out the season, finds himself a primary backup for the bowl game; and now Knuth has taken over Lara’s old jersey number. | Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

In which BracketCat counts down the seventh day until the 2024 kickoff with a profile of Kansas State quarterback Jacob Knuth.

Goal No. 7: GREAT EFFORT.

#7 Jacob Knuth

Redshirt Sophomore | 6-3 | 213 lbs. | Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Position: Quarterback
Previous College: University of Minnesota
Projection: Co-Second-String
Status: Preferred Walk-On

Jacob Knuth (b. Dec. 17, 2003) is a transfer quarterback from Minnesota who has three years left to play and walked on to bring depth despite being on scholarship in Minneapolis.

He did not see any game action during the 2023 season but enters 2024 in a heated battle with Ta’Quan Roberson to see who will primarily back up Avery Johnson at quarterback.

Knuth, who is majoring in business administration, redshirted in 2022 as a Golden Gopher.

He prepped under head coach Brandon White at Harrisburg (S.D.) High School, where he was rated as the 27th-best pocket passer in the Class of 2022 by ESPN, while he also was regarded as the top prep player in the state of South Dakota by 247Sports, On3 and ESPN.

Knuth was named the Gatorade Player of the Year for South Dakota and the Argus Leader’s South Dakota Offensive Football Player of the Year, and also was named to the 11AAA All-State team and was an 11AAA All-American.

He was honored as the 11AAA MidcoSports Player of the Year and was the Argus Leader Elite 45 captain, which is bestowed upon the state’s player of the year, and he also earned all-conference, all-metro, and academic all-state accolades.

Knuth led the Tigers to an undefeated 12-0 record and the school’s first-ever state championship as a senior in 2021 when he threw for 2,413 yards and 26 touchdowns on 164-of-251 aim, in addition to rushing for 527 yards and 14 touchdowns.

He threw for 2,403 yards and 28 touchdowns while rushing for 463 yards and four scores as a junior. As a sophomore, Knuth passed for 1,112 and 10 touchdowns, and rushed for 110 yards and one score. He also competed in baseball in high school.

Prior to his transfer, Knuth committed to Minnesota over offers from Air Force, Army, Iowa, South Dakota, South Dakota State and, of course, Kansas State (for whom his lead recruiter was his former offensive coordinator and position coach, Collin Klein).

He also drew recruiting interest from Iowa State and North Dakota State.

Knuth’s father, Mike, was a collegiate kicker at Temple University.