So, K-State notched the first win of the season with a win over University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Louisiana was billed as a good team (maybe not as good as North Dakota State) that should give the Cats another run for the money. However, the Wildcats played a much better game and ended up winning 48-27.

Jake Waters passed with the accuracy and efficiency of a star quarterback, but still lacked the ability to establish a run game. Daniel Sams electrified the stadium with his runs. They are developing into a great duo-quarterback team. I wonder how it’ll continue to play out over the season.

There was much better improvement all around – especially compared to the pitiful play of last weeks game. However, there were still some costly mistakes – including a couple interceptions. Most fun was the kickoff return by Thompson for a touchdown to start the second half. He then followed it up with a punt return to the 1 yard line (thanks to a facemask tackle).

This was a fun game and I’m glad all 4 of us were able to be there. It was 2 weeks in a row with game temperatures over 100 degrees. Looking forward to cooler days.

Next week – University of Massachusetts. This one is supposed to be an easy win. Go Cats!

Kansas State got beat at their own style of football Friday night. It was a taste of our own medicine, watching North Dakota State University Bison methodically march down the field in the final quarter and taking the final 8 minutes off the clock. They were down by 4 points – and when they had reached our 20-yard line, I turned to Linda and said “They’re gonna win this game”. We were outplayed and, I hate to admit it, outcoached. Bill Snyder even admitted as much.

The thing to remember is that NDSU wasn’t just any cupcake team that often gets scheduled for our home opener. This is a team that beat Minnesota last year and is the Division 1 FCS Champions for the past 2 years. This is a very good football team.

The goal of our team is to get better each day. We had signs of being good, but we obviously showed we have room to improve. Given Snyder’s history, I firmly believe we will come out even better next week against Louisiana.

Go Cats.

You’ll notice my last blog post was exclaiming the news that K-State was number 1 in the BCS polls. That lasted a whole week – because we got BEAT by Baylor the following Saturday and fell from our lofty pedestal all the way down to number 6.

I knew the right thing to do was to post about the loss, especially since I’d been posting every win all season long. However, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I kept meaning to – but it never happened. Seems that if I didn’t write about it, I wouldn’t have to really think about it.

Then, I got very busy. I had a lot of rehearsals and performances at that time for the Kansas City Symphony Chorus. The night of the Baylor game found me at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts singing Carmina Burana by Carl Orff. Linda and the girls were there, too. Fortunately, we did not witness the destruction of our beloved Wildcats because we were immersed in voices and percussion. Check out the video clip of our dress rehearsal:

Finally, the good news is that K-State won their last game of the season at home against Texas and are now the Big XII Champions. Last time we did that was 2003 at Arrowhead Stadium against Oklahoma (a game that Linda and I attended). Now, we will be playing against Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl on January 3. Watch party at my house?

By the way, there were some piano recitals and other musical events for the girls in the past 2 weeks. I plan to post those here in the next few days.

Despite being ranked number 2 in the Associated Press and Coaches polls, Kansas State is ranked number 1 in the BCS.

Now – we just need to play well at Baylor this coming Saturday. We get a week to rest and then host Texas at home for Senior Night. Looks to be a good close to the season.

Go Cats! EMAW!

This past Saturday, Kansas State won another statement game in beating #14 ranked Texas Tech. The Red Raiders had hopes of an upset and played well during the first half. However, the Cats exploded from their halftime lead of 13-10 and ended up winning 55-24. This is the first team all year to get over 21 points on the Cats, but it was also the 4th time we’ve scored more than 50 points.

We have moved to #3 in both polls and all the way to #2 in the BCS. Just keep getting better every day.

Additionally, Collin Klein is the front runner for the Heisman trophy for the second week.

Lets go, Cats. EMAW!

Linda and I had several friends over to watch the game. We were kinda celebrating my birthday and hoping for a solid showing from the football squad. Linda grilled burgers and brats and we had lots of chips & dip and veggies & dip. We settled in for what most of us were hoping wouldn’t be an embarrassing loss.

Collin Klein and thee rest of the offense came out humming. Arthur Brown and the rest of the defense came out pounding. Just 2 weeks ago, WVU had jumped us in the polls and were touting the likely Heisman award winner. That team was not on the field last night. K-State dominated throughout the whole game. Finally, I think K-State is getting the national respect they’ve deserved for so long. Thanks, Coach Snyder!

We whooped and hollered all evening long. I’m amazed I have a voice this morning. During halftime, we celebrated the birthday with an ice cream cake.

The Wildcats went into Ames, Iowa and fought for a victory. The last 4 years have been close games and this one was expected to be the same.

The final score was 27-21 – and it did come down to the last drives. There were a lot of penalties on both sides; it really was an ugly game.

Now we head to Morgantown, West Virginia next week to play the #5 ranked team. This should be a good game.