MANHATTAN, Kan. -- The people sitting in Section 14 never needed a game program.

Because little Curry Sexton always knew all the Kansas State players. Knew their jersey numbers. Knew their stats.

"He knew everything about the game," said his father, Ted Sexton, who began taking his son to K-State games as a child. "Always soaked it all in."

Curry Sexton wears No. 14 to commemorate the section from which he cheered on K-State as a kid. AP Photo/Orlin Wagner

Once the smartest kid in Section 14, Curry Sexton is now the smartest player on the Bill Snyder Family Stadium field. At 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds, the senior isn't the biggest. And with a time of 4.7 seconds in the 40-yard dash, he certainly isn't the fastest. But driven by his intelligence and knack for getting open at opportune moments, Sexton has filled a major role at slot receiver for the Wildcats, who remain in the thick of the Big 12 title and College Football Playoff races.

"His best asset is his knowledge," said Tyler Lockett, Sexton's cohort at receiver. "He knows how to get open, and every time we call on him to make a big play, he makes it."

With 40 receptions and 450 receiving yards, Sexton has surfaced as a much-needed secondary receiving target alongside Lockett for quarterback Jake Waters, who is Sexton's roommate. Thanks in part to Sexton's emergence, K-State ranks 23rd nationally in scoring, despite playing at a slower pace than most Big 12 offenses.

"I'm not flashy. I'm not big. Nothing about me really sticks out," Sexton said. "But I pride myself on being reliable and being in the right place."

Sexton has been in the right place all season. But before that, he had to decide if K-State was the right place for him.

Sexton grew up on a wheat, soybean and alfalfa farm in Abilene, Kansas, a 45-minute drive from Manhattan. His capacity for football knowledge at an early age wowed everyone, including John Dorsey, his uncle who is the general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs. When Sexton was 10, Dorsey was at the Sexton farm helping with the annual harvest and casually mentioned a Florida State player he was considering drafting.

"Curry immediately rattled off all his statistics, and John was like, 'My gosh, Curry knows more about this kid than I do, and this is my job,'" Ted Sexton recalled.

That acumen didn't stop with football. Curry excelled in the classroom as well. His grades, combined with his savvy on the field, drew the interest of the Ivy League.

The boy from Abilene was accepted into Harvard, Columbia and Princeton, which all offered the chance to play football, too.

"We were kind of sold on Harvard," Ted said. "They were telling him, 'Curry, come here, get your degree from here and you can go anywhere in the world -- and you won't have to ask how much they're paying, you'll tell them what you're going to make.'"

But a Harvard education wasn't really what Sexton coveted. He wanted to be a coach, or possibly even follow in his uncle's footsteps with scouting or football personnel.

On New Year's Eve of his senior year, his dream school finally called. Bill Snyder offered Sexton a scholarship, with the caveat he'd have to grayshirt, meaning he'd have to wait a year before he could enroll and join the K-State football team.

"I felt like coming to K-State would be a better learning experience if I wanted to go into coaching," Sexton said. "I didn't feel like Harvard would have benefited me as much as learning from this staff."

Harvard's education might be world-renowned, but the Crimson couldn't offer a professor like Snyder.

"He wanted to coach," Ted said. "Who better to learn from than Bill Snyder?"

The decision to spurn the Ivy League and grayshirt didn't come without angst. While away that first year, Sexton passed the time taking community college classes and helping his father at the farm. He worked out at a local rec center and at his former high school with younger brother Collin (who went on to play for K-State, too) and cousin Cody Whitehair, now the Wildcats' starting left tackle.

"It was tough," Sexton said. "When you're not part of the team, you wonder, do they really want you there?"

But Snyder had a track record of turning grayshirts into starters, giving Sexton the fortitude he needed. And that perseverance has paid off five years later in Sexton's senior season.

Wearing No. 14 in honor of the section he sat in all those years, he has become K-State's secret weapon.

He recorded 11 receptions against Auburn, and he snagged an acrobatic one-handed touchdown in the Wildcats' rout of Texas Tech.

Two weeks ago, he delivered a critical third-down catch to help K-State run out the clock and beat Oklahoma. Then, last weekend, his 24-yard grab on third-and-long propelled K-State to its first touchdown in a win over Texas.

"Curry is a very astute player," Snyder said. "He is very knowledgeable. He runs excellent routes; he's really good about deciphering defenses.

"Kind of like a quarterback out there."

When this season ends, Sexton wants to begin his football career off the field. He double-majored in business and marketing and has a minor in leadership studies, the degree Snyder championed into existence at K-State.

Until then, Sexton wants to help the team he cheered from Section 14 win another championship.

"Never once have I said I wish I was at Harvard, and I don't think I ever will," Sexton said. "This is where I always wanted to be."