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No. 22 Kansas State senior quarterback Skylar Thompson is out for the season after undergoing surgery for an upper-body injury, coach Chris Klieman announced Monday on the Big 12 coaches teleconference. Thompson suffered the injury in the first half of the Wildcats' 31-21 win over Texas Tech on Oct. 3. He was seen holding his arm on the way to the locker room and emerged in the second half wearing a sling.

"Skylar's done for the year," Klieman said. "He had surgery last week on an upper-body injury. Unfortunately, his season is over with. But we're going to rally around Will Howard and Nick Ast."

Howard stepped in for Thompson against the Red Raiders and threw for 173 yards and a touchdown. He started last weekend, threw for 117 yards, rushed for 86 yards and scored one rushing touchdown in the 21-14 win over TCU. Ast, junior from Cimarron, Kansas, played in five games in 2019 as one of Thompson's backups. 

There's no question that Thompson's injury is a big loss for the 3-1 (3-0 Big 12) Wildcats. He threw for 626 yards and four touchdowns, and rushed for 38 yards and three touchdowns over the first two-plus games of the season. He was instrumental in the Wildcats' 38-35 win over Oklahoma when he threw for 334 yards and a touchdown. 

A redshirt senior from Fort Worth, Texas, Thompson has started parts of four seasons for the Wildcats. He had 5,021 passing yards, 30 passing touchdowns, 1,083 rushing yards and 22 rushing touchdowns during his career.

Kansas State is off this week and will host rival Kansas on Oct. 24.