8 DAYS TO 2016 KICKOFF: Joe Hubener

Goal No. 8: ENTHUSIASM.

Joseph Kyle "Bazooka Joe" Hubener (b. May 21, 1993) is a former walk-on quarterback who was thrust into the starting quarterback spot early last season and led K-State to a bowl game in 2015. A tough, physical runner with a strong arm who was the primary backup in 2014, he will compete for starting duties again as a senior in 2016.

Hubener also competed for starting duties under center as a junior, but finished behind Jesse Ertz, 2014's third-string quarterback. Nevertheless, Hubener was voted a player representative for the 2015 season.

Ertz's knee injury opened the door for Hubener to step into the starting role, but he spent the entire season sharing time with Kody Cook and Alex Delton . By the end of the year, Cook was proving the more effective signal-caller.

After starting the 2016 AutoZone Liberty Bowl against Arkansas on the bench, Hubener finds himself in the exact same spot as this time last season: Trailing a rehabilitating Ertz in the competition to be the starting quarterback.

Hubener redshirted in 2012 and appeared in the Iowa State game in 2013, rushing twice for 5 yards.

He played in seven games in 2014, completing 9 of 17 passes for 235 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for 142 yards and three scores, and did not lose yardage on any of his 27 rushing attempts.

Hubener threw a 15-yard touchdown against Stephen F. Austin; completed a career-best three passes for 54 yards against UTEP; and had 85 passing yards at TCU, including a 74-yarder tied for the 14th longest in school history.

He also tossed a 64-yard pass against Oklahoma State; set a then-career high with 46 rushing yards against Texas, including a then-career-best 20-yard rush; and tallied touchdown rushes against UTEP, O-State and TCU.

Hubener played in all 13 games, with 11 starts under center, throwing for 1,837 yards and nine touchdowns on 131-of-275 aim (47.6 percent) while rushing for 613 yards and 13 touchdowns on 180 attempts.

He finished in the top 30 nationally in passing yards per completion (17th; 14.02) and rushing touchdowns (27th; 13), and also tied for third nationally in rushing touchdowns among quarterbacks.

Hubener also finished sixth in the Big 12 in total offense per game (188.5 yards), and became the 28th player in school history to throw for 1,500 yards in a season and the 21st with 2,000 career passing yards.

He set a new career high with 289 passing yards at Texas Tech, a game in which he also set career highs in completions (19) and attempts (40), and threw three touchdowns in KSU’s triple-overtime win over Louisiana Tech.

Hubener rushed for at least two touchdowns in four games, including a four-touchdown performance against TCU to tie for third in school history. He set career highs for rushing yards (153) and rushing attempts (29) against Baylor, both marks that ranked fifth in a game by a quarterback in school history.

Hubener earned first-team Academic All-Big 12 honors in 2015 and graduated in May with a bachelor's degree in secondary education.