K-State Countdown: Ranking the top 10 wins in Wildcats football history
Editor’s note: In an effort to provide sports content while college athletics are on pause nationwide because of the coronavirus pandemic, beat writer Kellis Robinett will spend some time this summer ranking some of the best and worst games, moments, players and anything else that comes to mind in the history of Kansas State athletics. If you have a suggestion for a future K-State Countdown, let him know by sending an e-mail to krobinett@wichitaeagle.com
What is the best victory in Kansas State football history?
There are many options to choose from. Ever since Bill Snyder arrived in Manhattan in 1989 and turned the Wildcats into consistent winners on the gridiron, they have piled up wins that fans still remember today.
Let’s re-live some of them by ranking the top 10:
10. Kansas State 36, Baylor 35 (2011)
It seems like nearly all of K-State’s 10 victories during the 2011 season could have cracked this list. The Wildcats beat Miami 28-24 thanks to a goal-line stand on the road, outlasted Texas A&M 53-50 in four overtimes and survived at Texas 17-13.
But their home victory over Baylor was the blue-ribbon winner.
That game had a little bit of everything, including Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III throwing for 346 yards and five touchdowns. But Collin Klein countered with 259 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns. Then linebacker Arthur Brown won the game for the Wildcats by intercepting Griffin III in the final moments.
K-State won its first seven games that season and played in the Cotton Bowl.
9. Kansas State 27, Southern California 20 (2002)
This might be Snyder’s all-time favorite victory, given how many times how he has referenced it during pep rallies and fan events over the past 18 years.
Not only did the Wildcats beat the Trojans, ranked 11th at the time, in a rare nonconference home game against a football blue-blood, they did it in an electric atmosphere. Some K-State fans wonder if Terence Newman’s extra-point return was the loudest moment in stadium history.
Then USC coach Pete Carroll would probably say it was. Snyder loves few things more than referencing how Carroll called K-State the loudest road environment he encountered with the Trojans.
8. Kansas State 42, Texas 24 (2012)
Texas was the only thing that stood in the way of K-State winning its second Big 12 championship as the regular season came to an end in 2012, and the Wildcats bulldozed over that obstacle on the way to a 42-24 victory.
There’s something special about rushing the field to celebrate a league title. Everyone in attendance shared in that trophy presentation.
7. Kansas State 35, Tennessee 21 (2001)
In frigid conditions, Kansas State proved to be a tougher and better team than Tennessee at the 2001 Cotton Bowl.
Quincy Morgan caught seven passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns and Josh Scobey rushed for 147 yards and two scores, allowing K-State to pull ahead 35-14 in the third quarter.
As was the trend at the time, the Wildcats finished that season with 11 victories.
6. Kansas State 35, Syracuse 18 (1997)
This is the night Michael Bishop outdueled Donovan McNabb.
Bishop threw for 317 yards and four touchdowns to go along with 73 rushing yards. He had a special connection with Darnell McDonald, who caught seven of his passes for 206 yards and three touchdowns.
McNabb was decent for Syracuse, mustering 271 yards with his arm and 81 more with his legs, but it wasn’t enough to keep up with the well-rounded Wildcats, who capped an 11-1 season that night.
Syracuse was ranked 14th at the time. K-State has never defeated a higher-ranked team in a bowl game.
5. Kansas State 52, Wyoming 17 (1993)
You could say this was the game that put K-State football on the map.
After decades of trying, the Wildcats won their first bowl game in dominating fashion over the Cowboys on a December night in Tucson, Ariz.
K-State fans flocked to the game in record numbers to watch Chad May, Andre Coleman and J.J. Smith carve up Wyoming. That started an impressive bowl streak for the Wildcats, which grew all the way to 11 under Snyder.
4. Kansas State 41, Kansas 7 (1995)
For as long as the Wildcats and Jayhawks have been playing football, the Sunflower Showdown has only featured a pair of ranked teams one time. That happened in 1995 when KU came to Manhattan as the nation’s sixth-ranked team and K-State was 14th fresh off a loss to Nebraska.
It wasn’t an instant classic.
The Wildcats pummeled the Jayhawks 41-7 and closed out the season strong on their way to a victory in the Holiday Bowl.
3. Kansas State 20, North Texas State 17 (1989)
The Wildcats entered on a 30-game winless streak, so you can imagine the emotions involved when they finally tasted victory in September of 1989.
It was Snyder’s first win as coach and K-State’s only victory of the season. Everyone in purple celebrated like they had just won the Super Bowl.
For good reason. It ended in thrilling fashion. With North Texas clinging to a 17-14 lead in the final minute, quarterback Carl Straw drove the Wildcats nearly the length of the field to give them a chance at victory on the final play. In the red zone with 4 seconds left, Straw dropped back and launched a quick pass to his left. Frank Hernandez snagged it and ran through the end zone as time expired.
Pandemonium ensued. Then radio play-by-play man Mitch Holthus described the play as “one of the best moments in this school’s history.”
2. Kansas State 40, Nebraska 30 (1998)
For the longest time, beating Nebraska was the ultimate hurdle for K-State football and Bill Snyder. The Cornhuskers absolutely owned the Wildcats from 1969 through 1997, winning every year the former Big 12 rivals met, often by large margins.
But K-State pushed back in 1998. Arguably the best K-State team in school history defeated Nebraska 40-30 to improve to 10-0.
The score was tied at 24-24 at the end of the third quarter and Nebraska pulled ahead 30-27 with 8:28 remaining. But Michael Bishop found Darnell McDonald for the go-ahead touchdown and K-State’s defense clinched the victory, thanks in part to a generous no-call from the officials on a fourth-down face mask tackle by Travis Ochs.
In any case, K-State had finally slayed Nebraska. Bishop later said he had never seen Snyder happier.
1. Kansas State 35, Oklahoma 7 (2003)
To fully appreciate why this victory was so prodigiously impressive for the Wildcats you must first take some time to recall just how good Oklahoma was playing at the time.
The Sooners were ranked No. 1 heading into the 2003 Big 12 championship game, and some thought they might be the best college football team … ever. Their victories including some jaw-dropping scores. They beat Texas 65-13, Oklahoma State 52-9, UCLA 59-24 and Texas A&M 77-0.
Covering the spread against them seemed difficult.
But K-State was not intimidated. The Wildcats did everything right on a chilly night at Arrowhead Stadium and smashed the Sooners 35-7. The game’s signature play belonged to running back Darren Sproles caught a screen pass and rumbled 60 yards for a touchdown that game K-State a 21-7 advantage.
The Wildcats never let up and cruised to their first Big 12 championship. It’s hard to find a more dominant victory over a more dominant opponent.
This story was originally published June 23, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "K-State Countdown: Ranking the top 10 wins in Wildcats football history."