Posted on Tue, Nov. 17, 2009 11:28 PM
Wildcats embrace all-or-nothing attitude
More News
MANHATTAN, Kan. | From here, the Kansas State football team can go in two directions.
Beat Nebraska on the road in their season-finale and the Wildcats will travel to Arlington, Texas, to play for the Big 12 championship, and then to some exotic locale to partake in a bowl game.
Lose to the Cornhuskers and their season is finished. There is no in between.
“It’s nuts,” senior quarterback Grant Gregory said. “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
It is a strange scenario. Normally, when two teams play for a championship of any kind, even at the divisional level, the loser leaves with a nice consolation prize. But in this case, only Nebraska is in position to fall back on a secondary reward.
With their 7-3 record, the Cornhuskers are assured of going to a bowl no matter happens Saturday in Lincoln, Neb. K-State is not. The Wildcats are one win shy of bowl eligibility at 6-5, because they can’t count both their wins over Division I-AA teams to reach the required number of six victories.
Stakes like that are hard to ignore, and for that reason, the Wildcats are facing more pressure than ever this week. Many players say it will take their best game of the season to knock off the Cornhuskers, both physically and mentally.
In order for his team to play well, K-State coach Bill Snyder is telling his players to embrace what’s out there.
“It’s not a matter of saying forget the fact that there are these rewards for being successful this coming Saturday,” he said. “A certain amount of that has to be there. I’m not so naive to believe that our players are not thinking about that and that I could convince them not to think about that. I don’t really want them to divorce themselves from that.
“It’s a matter of not letting that impact negatively how you prepare yourself.”
Offensive lineman Zach Kendall said he is using it as a positive.
When asked if it was scary to think about a loss ending the season, he said it wasn’t, “because I don’t think we’re going to lose.”
“It would be foolish to say you just forget about everything,” Kendall said. “It’s in the back of your head. Last week’s loss is still in the back of my head. But I think that fuels the fire. That’s what this team needs.”
This season, the Wildcats have responded better to adversity than they have prosperity. Their biggest wins, against Texas A&M and Kansas, came after tough losses. But their largest losses, at Texas Tech and against Missouri, followed wins.
Junior center Wade Weibert said he wasn’t sure what to expect out of his teammates in practices early this week, but he’s been impressed so far.
“We’re all very aware of what’s at stake right now,” he said. “We went out there and you wouldn’t know we’re in the situation that we’re in at all. I think everyone went out just ready to play football. We have that do-or-die mentality.”
Posted on Tue, Nov. 17, 2009 11:28 PM
@Nyx.CommentBody@