Joe on K-State Sports

Here is a recap of my top 15 football games in K-State history: 1)  K-State 35 Oklahoma 7, December 6, 2003 2)  K-State 40 Nebraska 30, November 14, 1998 3)  K-State 35 Syracuse 18, December 31, 1997 4)  K-State 52 Wyoming 17, December 29, 1993 5)  K-State 42 Texas 24, December 1, 2012 6)  K-State 38 Nebraska 9, November 15, 2003 7)  K-State 27 USC 20, September 21, 2002 8)  K-State 16 Kansas 12, October 12, 1991 9)  K-State 37 Oklahoma 20, October 29, 1994 10) K-State 29 Nebraska 28, November, 2000 11)  K-State 35 Tennessee 21, January 1, 2001 12)  K-State 36 Baylor 35, October 1, 2011 13)  K-State 21 Kansas 13, October 6, 1994 14)  K-State 38 Iowa State 35, November 21, 2015 15)  K-State 53 Texas A&M 50, November 12, 2011

I tried to pick one photo that would accurately reflect this game and I chose the photo above showing Darren Sproles outrunning the Oklahoma defense, who appeared just a blur in the background. This has to go down as the biggest game in K-State history and my proudest moment as a K-State football fan.  My Dad had Chiefs season tickets at the time and season ticket holders got first dibs on the tickets before the season even started.  We thought K-State had a decent chance to play in the championship game, so we bought tickets as soon as they went on sale.  As a result, we had excellent tickets in the lower bowl for this one. I'll never forget this game for many reasons.  One reason that from the time we got to our seats there was an obnoxious Oklahoma fan sitting right in front of us.  I've encountered a lot of obnoxious fans in my life, but this guy would have to rank number one on the list.  I was 30 at the time this game was played and this guy was in his late 40'

My number two great K-State football game is the 1998 K-State/Nebraska game.  Kansas State hadn't beaten Nebraska in football since 1968.  30 years!  K-State entered the game ranked number two in the AP poll and Nebraska number 11. This game was very much in doubt until the very end.  K-State scored a touchdown with 5:25 to play to go ahead 34-30.  Jeff Kelly returned an Eric Crouch fumble 24 yards for a touchdown with three seconds left for the final margin of victory. This was the ABC game of the week and the network's top announcers Bob Griese and Keith Jackson were there to call the game.  K-State football and Manhattan had arrived on the national scene! I found the entire broadcast of the game on YouTube and there are a lot of shorter highlight clip videos as well. Here's a clip of a touchdown from Michael Bishop to Darnell McDonald to put K-State up 21-17 in the 3rd quarter: This clip makes me not only miss Bishop and McDonald, but Keith Jackson as

I really liked this article about Denzel Goolsby so I thought I'd share it.  He's been through a lot in his life. https://kstatesports.exposure.co/in-his-own-words-stronger-from-pain?fbclid=IwAR3-lyoZ_1xhdDaa_mxfv-nV5RAxu2WL9vfxMxKT2KrhNRilSR1-HTm6lik

The number three K-State great game is the 1997 Fiesta Bowl.  K-State was led by Michael Bishop at quarterback and Syracuse was led by Donovan McNabb.  This was a "Bowl Alliance" game, which was the precursor to the BCS and eventually the college football playoff.  K-State entered the game ranked number 10 in the AP poll and Syracuse entered the game ranked number 14 in the same poll. I found a highlight video of the game on YouTube: Michael Bishop threw for 317 yards and four touchdowns in the game and Darnell McDonald had 206 yards receiving and three touchdowns. This was the first "big time" national game for K-State under Bill Snyder.  The Fiesta Bowl was one of the major bowl games at the time and it was a nationally televised game.  Add to that the fact that K-State won convincingly with a great showing and this served as a springboard for K-State's run for the national championship in 1998.

K-State's first bowl victory was a big one.  K-State finished the 1993 regular season with a 9-2-1 record, 4-2-1 in conference, which was good enough for third place in the Big 8.  They were ranked number 20 in the AP poll. K-State dominated this game and had quite a few impressive individual performances.  JJ Smith rushed for 133 yards.  Chad May passed for 275 yards and two touchdowns.  Andre Coleman caught eight passes for 144 yards and also returned a punt for a touchdown. The 1993 season included a couple of milestones for the program.  K-State started 5-0 for the first time since 1931.  The 9-2-1 overall record was the best for the program since 1910 and K-State was undefeated at home.  Bill Snyder also won Big 8 coach of the year honors. Capping off a program changing regular season was the impressive performance in the Copper Bowl. I found a video of the complete 1993 Copper Bowl online: I also have videos of a lot of the individual highlights.  Here's t

One of my top five K-State games is a victory that clinched a share of Bill Snyder's second Big 12 championship.  I consider it an outright championship, however,  because while K-State tied with Oklahoma, the Wildcats beat Oklahoma in Norman earlier in the season 24-19. The Big 12 did not have a championship game in 2012, so the Texas game was the de facto championship game for K-State.  Win the game and they clinched a share of the title.  There was a lot on the line in this one.  K-State was ranked number six going in and Texas was ranked number 18. K-State trailed at halftime 10-7, but dominated the second half for a 42-24 victory .  Collin Klein passed for 184 yards and rushed for 103.  It also marked the fifth straight victory for K-State against the Longhorns. I found the entire broadcast of the game on YouTube : I also found a highlight video here: The victory and tiebreaker over Oklahoma meant K-State headed to the Fiesta Bowl, where they lost to Oregon 35-

This will always be one of my favorite K-State games.  Nebraska was ranked number 18 in the country at the time and the game was in Lincoln.  K-State had not won in Lincoln in 45 years.  45 years!  Ell Roberson racked up 403 yards of total offense.  This one was on national television on ABC and the winner was going to wrap up the Big 12 north and head to the Big 12 championship game.  It's also remembered for Bo Pelini shouting at Bill Snyder after the game for running up the score and for Frank Solich getting fired after the season because it just wasn't acceptable for Nebraska to lose to Kansas State at home! This game also gave us this famous picture of Darren Sproles dragging a Nebraska defender into the end zone. The game was tied 7-7 at halftime but K-State turned it on in the 2nd half with 24 unanswered points and then tacked on a touchdown at the end for the final 38-9 margin. Reading the ESPN write-up of the game brought back some good memories. I told

This was a huge K-State game that I had to miss.  My youngest brother's bachelor party was that night.  Luckily we rented out a local bar and grill and the game was on all the TVs.  I don't remember much of the party since I was glued to the television the whole time. K-State, ranked number 25, hosted USC, ranked number 11, in Manhattan.  USC was led by Carson Palmer at quarterback and was coached by Pete Carroll.  Marc Dunn was named the starter at quarterback for K-State prior to this game when the entire fan base knew that Ell Roberson was the better option at quarterback.  No pun intended. I found a grainy highlight video of the game here: It's still worth watching to see Terence Newman and Darren Sproles highlights.  Those USC defenders were picking up their jocks off the field! Early in this game it was obvious that Marc Dunn was overwhelmed by USC's team speed on defense, led by Troy Polamalu, and couldn't do much of anything.  He was pulled for El

I found very little online about this game other than a date and score.  I'll have to go from memory and you all may have to help me fill in some of the blanks. This game was my freshman year at K-State and I had to work that day and got to the game late.  This was before cell phones and I tried to meet up with my group of friends at the game but I didn't know where they were sitting so I walked up and down the student section a couple times looking for them but never did find them.  I ended up sitting near the top of the east side bleachers and I remember it being a pretty warm and uncomfortable day.  To be honest, the game was pretty boring up until the 4th quarter.  I believe we were down 12-3 and the game was so bad up until this point that I decided to leave and walk back to the dorm. When I walked into my hallway at the dorm, everyone on the floor was huddled around the radio listening to the game.  I asked what was going on and they said that we scored a touchdown

This was the first victory Kansas State had at Oklahoma since 1970 and was game two of a five game winning streak against the Sooners.  I found some highlights of the game on YouTube. I was at this game in person.  A couple of buddies of mine and I took a charter bus ride to and from the game.  It was a great party on the bus the whole way down and back.  I remember being quite impressed with Oklahoma's game day atmosphere.  The whole campus was one big party.  This was before K-State had much of a tailgating scene, so it was quite impressive to witness. I remember sitting in the stands in the 4th quarter and most of the OU fans had left the stadium but not one K-State fan had left.  One of the food vendors was walking around selling "K-State sodas" and lamented "This is sad!  We used to do beat you guys like this!" This game was big because it was another stepping stone showing that K-State had passed Oklahoma in the Big 8 pecking order and only had Co

This game was pretty important in the upward trajectory of K-State football.  K-State beat Nebraska for the first time in 30 years 199, but inn 1999 Nebraska beat the Wildcats 41-15 in Lincoln and everyone was wondering if the 1998 victory was an anomaly and if Nebraska was still going to be the dominant football program in the Big 12 North. Nebraska was ranked number four in the country going into the game and K-State was ranked number 16.  The game went back and forth and will be remembered for the snowfall that started with just a couple minutes left in the game that covered the field in snow. I found a recording of the entire game on YouTube: And a shorter highlight video here: There was lots of drama in this one as Jonathan Beasley threw a touchdown pass to Quincy Morgan with 2:52 left in the game for the winning score and the defense held Nebraska on downs on their ensuing drive to seal the win. This one also put K-State into their second Big 12 Championship

The 2001 Cotton Bowl was a great showing for Kansas State football.  It was a nationally televised game on January first against a Phil Fulmer coached Tennessee team that was ranked 21 in both the AP and Coaches polls.  This was the second highest ranked team that a Bill Snyder coached team ever beat in a bowl game. You can watch the entire broadcast of the game on YouTube here: I also found a six minute long highlight package of the game: Jonathan Beasley to Quincy Morgan was quite a weapon back then. A couple of notes about the game: At the time, K-State became just the second team to win 11 games in four consecutive seasons, joining Florida State. Josh Scobey set a Kansas State bowl record by rushing for 147 yards on 28 carries, breaking the mark of 133 yards set by J.J. Smith in the 1993 Copper Bowl. Beasley added 98 yards on 17 attempts while completing 13-of-27 passes for 210 yards. K-State started the 2000 season ranked number eight in the AP poll and finish

This game still ranks as one of the best games I've seen in person at Bill Snyder Family stadium.  Baylor was ranked number 14 in the nation and was led by Robert Griffin III at quarterback.  In a game that could have gone either way, I believe this victory helped propel the 2011 Wildcats to a 7-2 conference record and a second place finish with a trip to the Cotton Bowl.  It was the first conference game that season and a loss could have meant a totally different trajectory for K-State that year. In a game featuring a lot of NFL caliber talent on both teams, this one will be remembered by Arthur Brown dominating the 4th quarter.  He had an interception of Griffin with 5:26 left that led to an Anthony Cantele field goal that put K-State ahead by one.  Baylor had one last chance with the ball and on first down Griffin scrambled to his right and I'll never forget as I was watching from the south end zone Arthur Brown came into view like a blur and sacked him.  It's one of t

The 1994 K-State/KU football game is memorable for a couple of reasons.  It was a Thursday night ESPN game so it was on national television.  Not all the games were on national television back then, so it was kind of a big deal.  Bill Snyder was still getting things going at K-State and the last few KU games, with the exception of 1992, prior to this one were close games. This game, which was played at KU in Lawrence, ended up fairly close as well, with a 21-13 victory for K-State.  The game wasn't as close as the score indicated because K-State had a 21-0 lead and basically sat on the lead and got conservative as Snyder's teams did a lot back then.  I remember K-State pretty much dominated this game.  It will also be remembered as the game where K-State fans stormed the field and tore down KU's goalposts. This game was notable for another reason.  It was the second game in what became a long streak of victories against KU.  K-State won 11 straight against Kansa

This game is on the list because I remember it as one of the craziest finishes to a Kansas State football game maybe that I've ever seen.  And the unlikely comeback by Kansas State forced the Iowa State administration to fire head coach Paul Rhoads after the game! Here are some highlights I found, but the video doesn't tell the whole story: K-State trailed 35-14 at halftime and 35-21 going into the 4th quarter.  K-State got within a touchdown early in the 3rd quarter but had trouble moving the ball after that.  K-State turned the ball over on downs with one minute and 31 seconds left in the game down seven points.  All Iowa State really had to do was kneel on the ball three times and punt it back to K-State with very little time remaining.  Since the K-State offense was sputtering, it didn't seem likely that they were going to be able to get anything done with that little time left on the clock. So my Dad, my son and I decided to head for the exits and try to beat

Since we're 16 days away from the 2019 college football season starting and I'm looking to pass the time I thought I'd countdown the top 15 K-State football moments that I have experienced in person or watching on television.  Some might agree with this list and some might disagree with it but I've ranked them based on my experience and I'll post one a day from today up until the first game against Nicholls State. Number 15 - K-State 53 Texas A&M 50 in Four Overtimes, November 12th, 2011 2011 was an interesting season for K-State football.  They finished 10-3 overall and 7-2 in the conference finishing second to Oklahoma State, but it was not an easy road getting there.  They opened the season with a 10-7 victory against Eastern Kentucky, beat Miami on the road 28-24 on a last second defensive stop, beat Baylor by one point, Missouri by seven, Texas Tech by seven, Texas by four and Iowa State by seven.  They also got beat by OU 58-17 that season.  You could

  K-State plays the first game of the Chris Klieman era against Nicholls State at Bill Snyder Family Stadium on August 31st, 2019.  Here are 10 fun facts I found out about Nicholls State. 1)  Nicholls has two "Ls" in it.  I typed it twice with one "L" until I went to their website and saw I was spelling it incorrectly! 2)  They are located in Thibodaux, Louisiana. 3)  Their graduation rate is 41%.  I thought this was low, so I looked up K-State's graduation rate and it is 59% in comparison. 4)  They beat KU 26-23 in overtime in Lawrence on September 1, 2018. 5)  Their mascot is the Colonel Tillou.  And he's creepy.   6)  They won the Southland Conference (FCS) in 2018 with a 9-4 overall and 7-2 conference record. 7)  They lost in the second round of the FCS playoffs in 2018, losing 42-21 to Eastern Washington. 8)  They are the favorites to win the Southland Conference in 2019 and are ranked number 12 in the