Kansas State turns inept Kansas inside out 59-7
By KELLIS ROBINETT
The Kansas City Star
LAWRENCE | As coach LHC Bill Snyder emerged from the inside of Memorial Stadium late Thursday night, he was greeted with applause.
A once-crowded Memorial Stadium was empty everywhere other than the visitors section, and the Kansas State fans who stayed long after their Wildcats’ 59-7 victory over Kansas was complete were in a euphoric mood.
They cheered for their coach, they waved to the K-State players who headed back to Manhattan with smiles on their faces, and they reminisced about the good old days, when this scene happened regularly on their rival’s home field.
Not since the glory days of Snyder’s first run with the Wildcats — when they won five in a row in Lawrence and 11 straight overall in the series during 1993-2003 — did K-State last look as dominant as it did while thumping the Jayhawks in front of 47,561 fans.
When asked whether the moment had taken him back a few years, Snyder smiled and said no. He doesn’t ponder such things. But he didn’t hold back his thoughts on the gutsy play of his team.
“I’m proud of them,” he said.
There was a lot to be proud of. K-State, which improved to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the Big 12, easily maintained possession of the Governor’s Cup and put an end to an eight-game road losing streak in the process. It also turned the frustrations of last week’s disheartening loss to Nebraska into nothing more than a bad memory.
How much better did this feel than that?
“One hundred times better,” tight end Travis Tannahill said.
With six games remaining, the Wildcats are one win shy of bowl eligibility and now have a memorable win to build off. Kansas fell to 2-4 and 0-2 in the Big 12.
It was easy all right, and nowhere was the joy of such success more evident than on the face of Carson Coffman.
Coffman, the Wildcats’ senior quarterback, has often been criticized by his own fans this season. After a brutal performance against the Cornhuskers last time out, Snyder said he was considering replacing Coffman in the starting lineup.
But Snyder stuck with Coffman, who responded.
By night’s end, he had completed 15 of 16 passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns. He also added 42 yards and three TDs rushing.
His teammates were unanimous in describing it as the best game of his college career. Exactly what Coffman was hoping for.
“I just felt like I showed the guys on the team and the coaches that I can do it,” Coffman said. “I can step up and be the guy for them.”
The Jayhawks’ defense could do nothing to slow Coffman, and that opened up huge holes for running back Daniel Thomas, who, after two subpar games, rushed for 91 yards and a touchdown.
Then again, everyone on the K-State sideline played well. Tight ends Andre McDonald and Tannahill both caught touchdown passes, and Tramaine Thompson made the Jayhawks stretch their defense by showing off some elusiveness on his way to 58 yards on five catches. Even a designed run by backup quarterback Collin Klein in the final moments, designed only to kill clock, ended up being a 51-yard touchdown.
K-State’s defense also kept the Jayhawks off the scoreboard until the fourth quarter. Stephen Harrison led the way in that area by grabbing an interception in the end zone and returning a fumble 85 yards for a touchdown.
During the memorable run to paydirt, he remembered thinking, “Wow, is this really happening?”
It was. For the second year in a row, K-State responded well after a devastating loss. Last season it lost 66-14 at Texas Tech and defeated Texas A&M the following week 62-14 — a 100-point swing. This season it went from losing 48-13 to Nebraska to defeating Kansas by 52 — an 87-point improvement.
The results may be unexplainable, but they are impressive.
“Sometimes you click on all aspects,” receiver Chris Harper said. “That’s what happened tonight.”
Just like the good old days.
