They used to be KU football fans. Now they own Sunflower Showdown as K-State players
Long before he became an integral member of Kansas State’s backfield, Harry Trotter dreamed about playing football for the Kansas Jayhawks.
They were his favorite team growing up in nearby Atchison, and his goal as a high school running back was to show off his talents consistently enough to earn a scholarship offer from their coaching staff.
It never happened.
Trotter, now a senior with the Wildcats, still hasn’t forgotten.
“I grew up a KU fan and would have loved to play there,” Trotter said Tuesday. “But that just isn’t how the cards came out. I am super thankful to be here, and every time I get a chance to play them I just want to show them what they missed out on. I’m sure all the Kansas kids (on our team) want to do the same.”
For most college football fans, the Sunflower Showdown is one of the sport’s dullest rivalries. K-State has beaten KU 11 straight times, and it doesn’t look like the Wildcats’ winning streak over the Jayhawks is going to end anytime soon. K-State, which has won three in a row and is currently ranked 20th nationally, enters this weekend’s rivalry game as a 19 1/2-point favorite over KU, which is still searching for its first victory of the season.
There’s understandably not much interest in this rivalry outside of Lawrence and Manhattan.
But, because of recruiting stories like the one Trotter and his teammates shared this week, it’s always a gigantic game for the Wildcats. Perhaps that explains why KU hasn’t won a game in this series since the Big 12 was still home to 12 teams back in 2008.
Four K-State football players spoke with media on Monday. All four grew up in the Sunflower State or the Kansas City area. All four said they wanted a scholarship offer from KU and never received one.
“It’s not a grudge, but you kind of think about it,” senior safety Jahron McPherson said, “because I grew up 15 minutes away from Lawrence and they didn’t even give me a look. It kid of hits home a little bit.”
“It does fire me up a little bit,” added junior defensive end Wyatt Hubert, “because they are only 30 minutes down the road and the interest was very little.
“There is definitely motivation in that,” senior tight end Briley Moore said, “feeling like I might have been overlooked.”
One of the four players took things a step further and provided KU football coaches with some bulletin-board material, at least for themselves, while going out of his way to compliment the roster they have assembled in Lawrence.
Maybe he still remembers KU football coach Les Miles loudly asking “Who is K-State?” before the Wildcats defeated the Jayhawks 38-10 last year.
“They have a lot of great talent individually,” McPherson said. “They are very talented individually. That is what people don’t realize about them. Individually, they are a great team.”
To be fair, K-State didn’t initially recruit any of those players, other than Hubert. Trotter went to junior college and then played at Louisville before transferring to Manhattan. McPherson also started out in junior college and Moore played for four years at Northern Iowa.
Still, this game means much to them. Trotter said the Wildcats always move the Governor’s Cup inside their locker room to remind them about the “bragging rights” that are at stake this week.
Losing this game, it seems, is not an option.
“All of the Kansas players that we have, a lot of us take it personal that we weren’t a part of their recruiting,” McPherson said. “Some of us grew up KU fans. That kind of hits home when your own in-state team doesn’t recruit you.”
It is wild to hear from a new batch of K-State players that once felt overlooked by KU seemingly every year when this game arrives. One would think it would be the other way around, given the recent successes of the Wildcats and the ongoing failures of the Jayhawks.
Until that dynamic changes, the Wildcats will remain motivated for their yearly game with the Jayhawks. And their domination of the Sunflower Showdown will likely continue.
This story was originally published October 20, 2020 at 3:45 PM with the headline "They used to be KU football fans. Now they own Sunflower Showdown as K-State players."