File photo by Ari Selvey Martin Luther College quarterback Brady Turriff (18) prepares to deliver a pass during a home football game with Luther College on Sept. 13 at the MLC Bowl in New Ulm.

NEW ULM — Brady Turriff hasn’t had a lot of time to slow down or rest since taking his first snap at quarterback last season for the Martin Luther College Knights.

Being on the move and adjusting to new things isn’t something he’s unfamiliar with, however.

Much has been asked of Turriff during Year 2 with the Knights, but it has come with success as he’s continued making strides.

Turriff grew up in several areas around the United States with his dad in the military. Turriff was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and lived in West Bend, Wisconsin, for the first five years of his life. He also lived in Florida and lived and graduated high school in North Carolina at Sun Valley High School in 2024.

His family also recently moved to South Carolina, where Turriff now resides when he isn’t slinging passes for the Knights or studying to become a teacher on campus at MLC.

Despite attending public schools growing up, Turriff, whose uncle is a pastor, wanted to experience a faith-based education and play football, leading him back north to visit the cozy campus of MLC. After Knights head coach Paul Huebner scheduled a visit for the then-North Carolina resident, Turriff got to meet some of his future teammates and got to know what things would be like.

“I got along with [the players] really well and got to experience class here and kind of just shadow that and all and ultimately go to chapel, which was really cool to do,” Turriff said. “I just really liked that and ultimately being able to spread the word of Jesus and also just to play football, which was a big thing as well. Being able to go to a spot where I could play right away was big and the opportunity to come here, it just kind of seemed like a place where I wanted to be.”

The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Turriff took over as the starting QB for the Knights as a freshman last season and was quick to find success as he finished with 1,977 yards passing, 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions. That 1,977 yards also set an MLC single-season record, passing Max Nordlie’s 2023 mark of 1,888 yards.

Turriff was also named to the All-Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Football Second Team for his efforts as a freshman, which saw him finish second in the UMAC in passing yards and completions (145). The 145 completions was an MLC single-season record, too, passing Ben Kuerth’s previous 1999 season mark of 144 completions.

Turriff’s improvements have continued this season as he recently set a career high in passing yards during a 41-39 shootout win at home over Greenville University, finishing with 346 yards through the air. In that win, Turriff had four touchdown passes and just one interception as he completed 23 of 37 passes. Five different receivers caught passes from Turriff in the win, with Benjamin Vasold leading in receptions with six for 59 yards. Jude Pederson, Thomas Koelpin and freshman Noah Huebner each caught five passes for the Knights in the win also, while Arthur Robinson added two catches.

“If you can have games like that, that’s what makes football a lot of fun,” Turriff said. “That’s what makes you keep playing. Being able to spread the ball around like that is something really special, and it just shows how much talent we have on the field, whether it’s receivers or running backs or whatever it is, it just shows what we’ve got. We’ve got guys that can make plays, I’ve just got to get it to them and let them do their thing.”

Turriff said the biggest change from Year 1 to Year 2 with the Knights is how he’s now being more tactical with how he plays and approaches games, which has led to games like his career-high passing performance.

“Just communicating with the O Line and communicating with my running back, making sure we’re all on the same page,” he said. “We’ve had our ups and downs this year doing that, but last weekend it all clicked and that’s the reason I passed so well was because we protected. Our passing protection was so well down and that’s something we’ve stressed a lot this year, whether it’s in practice or film, making sure we’re all on the same page and that ultimately comes down to me.”

Not that Turriff is playing for records or personal achievements, but his last performance was perhaps a few completions shy of passing the MLC single-game record of 399 yards passing, set by Luke Rothe in 2013.

While Turriff is already sitting at 1,358 yards passing through six games — and with four left on the regular season schedule — he knows credit is owed to his coaches, offensive line and receivers.

“Coming here I was hoping and figured we’d be passing a lot more, and I think coach has been able to scheme up some different plays, especially for this year where our passing game has gotten a lot better from last year,” Turriff said. “We’re a lot more comfortable with where we are, whether it’s me, my playmakers or my O line, I think we’ve gotten better at each position, so that’s really been something special this year.

“Last weekend it all just clicked in all phases of the offense, whether it’s running the ball or passing the ball, protecting, everyone did their job and that’s what made it so easy for me. It was fun.”

Turriff’s career game against Greenville was a sight for MLC students and fans to behold, but it didn’t come without the knowledge that Turriff turned in arguably his worst game of the year a week prior against UMAC foe Crown College on Oct. 11, a 17-7 loss. Turriff faced heavy pressure during the game and the Knights struggled to generate a consistent offense as he finished the game completing just 14 of 33 passes for 178 yards and an interception. He was also sacked five times.

But that’s football.

“Having games like that are not fun, they’re not easy,” Turriff said. “But at the end of the day, it’s just part of football. That’s kind of the big thing that [coach Huebner and I] talked about. You’re not going to have 300 yards and four touchdowns every game.

“In a perfect world that would happen and it’s a lot of fun to do, but that’s just not how football works. You’re going to have those tough games, and at the end of the day, that was just a tough game for us and for me especially.

“Just could never really find that rhythm in that game … but it’s just football and you’ve gotta look forward to the next week. Sunday night [following that loss], me and coach sat down and just watched over every play. Fixing little things, we had stuff there, it was just things for me to improve on and we ended up improving on those, especially with that past game.”

While the Knights have had their offense working more often than not this season, bumps in the road like what they saw against Crown are bound to happen. Through games like that, however, Turriff and his teammates have stayed close, with the biggest difference between he and his teammates being that Turriff’s dad grew up in Chicago, making Turriff a Chicago Bears fan who now plays for a team that he estimates to be 80% Green Bay Packers fans.

The Knights are in Fulton, Missouri, to take on Westminster College at 12 p.m. Saturday in UMAC action.