So the Kansas State Wildcats started out ranked preseason nationally at number 3 and picked to win the Big XII. There’s been stumbling and bumbling and now they are out of the polls and 10th in the Big XII. Ouch.
We’ve never been huge basketball fans, but the improvement under Frank Martin over the past few years interested us and we’ve been hooked.
Jacob Pullen and Curtis Kelley had some off-court issues with some impermissible benefits at a Manhattan Dillards. In fact, their first suspended game was the game we attended here in Kansas City – a game we lost. We’ve lost several more since then. Unfortunately, there were many that doubted we deserved such high preseason rankings – seems like they may have been right.
Here’s hoping we can get better and start winning more games.
Despite having their defense shredded in the first quarter to a tune of 20-7, the Cats came back and held off North Texas to win 49-41.
This gives them a 7-win season and a probable bowl game. Now we wait to see where that will be. The latest rumors are the Pinstripe Bowl – played in the new Yankee Stadium.
Interesting stats: Daniel Thomas finished the game with 36 carries for 269 yards (7.5 yard average). There were back-to-back kickoff returns for touchdowns. This was the last game to be played in the North Texas Fouts Field; 59 years of history completed tonight. The first person to score a touchdown on the field 59 years ago walked across the goal-line again tonight with a ball – very cool.
After losing last week to Missouri, the KSU Wildcats suffer another heartbreaking loss to Colorado – a team so broken they fired their coach 2 weeks ago.
Defense woes, defense woes, defense woes….
We’ve got one game left – at North Texas – another team that has fired their coach. Maybe we can get that 7th win and make our bowl bid a bit better.
I can’t believe I’m saying it, but I’m ready for football season to be over so I can concentrate on the No. 3 ranked basketball team.
The last home game of the 2010 season wrapped up nicely with a 39-14 win over the Texas Longhorns. Despite their #4 ranking at the beginning of the season, Texas has spiraled out of control into a losing season. So, we weren’t the only team to beat them this year, but we have beat them in each of our last 3 meetings. Very few team can say that when talking about Texas.
Instead of our standard Manhattan meal at Hillside Cafe, we chose to tailgate. Brats, sauerkraut, chips & dip, and chocolate cookies hit the spot. It was a bit windy and almost cold, but it was excellent in the stadium. Perfect football weather. Looking forward to next year.
The Cowboys came into Manhattan and took advantage of turnovers and penalties. Playing a game that we were supposed to lose, the Cats actually looked pretty good during the first half. We actually were tied 7-7 going into the locker room. The second half, however, found a heartbreaking stretch of 3 straight drives that ended with interceptions (one for a touchdown return). Final score was 24-14.
Well, one more home game (against another team in orange) to get us win number 6 for a bowl appearance.
This past Thursday was awesome if you’re a K-State fan – a 59-7 trouncing of the KU Jayhawks. This game went a long way to help overcome the bad feelings about the previous week against Nebraska.
Carson Coffman did so much better in this game – accounting for 5 touchdowns. We just looked better all around – on both sides of the ball.
Of course, there’s usually the “wait until basketball season starts” comments. However, this year, KSU is picked preseason as the #1 team in the Big 12. Hee-hee.
I’ve been really busy with work the last few days, but it’s taken those few days to get over the horrible loss that the Wildcats suffered against Nebraska on national television.
The wonderful part of the experience was hearing the roar of the crowd at the beginning of the game. The KSU fans brought their A-game. It was so loud I couldn’t hear the announcer over the big speakers.
Nebraska was just too much for us to handle – either on offense or defense.
Half-time brought us entertainment from the NU Marching Band (which wasn’t well-received by a grumpy crowd) and the KSU Marching Band (which was very well received by a crowd that loved anything that wasn’t NU).
The girls stayed behind on this trip because it was such a late game on a school night. So, our very good friends Trey and Jennifer came with us. We had a wonderful tailgate with grilled burgers made from ground prime rib. Sides included beans and cheesy corn from Jack Stack BBQ. Complemented with good beer – the tailgate meal was awesome. Too bad we lose every game that we invite them to!
Well – here’s hoping that we can win against KU this next Thursday. We’ll be playing in Lawrence, so we won’t be going to the game. However, we WILL be watching as it’s on TV. K-S-U WILDCATS!
So, this blog has quickly become an update on the sporting events I’ve attended in the past week – mostly because that’s what I’ve been able to arrange my free time around. Saturdays in September mean afternoons in Manhattan.
This past Saturday was an interesting one, indeed. When we left Kansas City around 8:00am, we had noted that there was a 40% chance for rain all day. We grabbed the new KSU ponchos we purchased several months ago – and hoped we wouldn’t need them. As we passed Topeka on the interstate, the skies began to look very ominous – yep, rain was definitely ahead of us. A quick look, however, on the radar app on my iPhone showed the activity was all north of Manhattan. Maybe we’d get out of this without getting wet.
The temperature was great – 55 degrees – perfect football weather. 6 plays (and just barely 3 minutes) into the game, it was suspended due to lightning in the area. The fans were instructed to leave the stands – we quickly headed up the stairs to a covered area at the top of our section.
The skies began to look very weird. The picture above was posted on Facebook by a friend – that’s really what it looked like. Here’s the picture I took from the area we were standing:
We finally scored a field goal halfway through the 3rd quarter. Finally something to cheer, but still losing. This was supposed to be the game that took us to 4-0 at the start of the season. Linda commented that it was our just reward for the announcers commenting continuously about going 4-and-oh!
The 4th quarter provided enough drama to make up for the lackluster first 3 quarters. A few long passes, a touchdown, field goal (and a missed field goal by UCF) got us back in the game. With only several minutes left, we were down by 3 – needing a field goal to tie. With some good ol’-fashioned nose-to-the-grindstone football playing, the Wildcats marched all the way down field and scored the winning touchdown with just over 20 seconds left.
The UCF quarterback was awesome – reminding me a lot of Michael Bishop and the other KSU quarterbacks of old that were able to pass and run. I’m glad we were able to finish with more points at the end of the game – our offense and defense didn’t match at all.
Here’s hoping we play a WHOLE LOT better on October 7 when we host Nebraska University for a Thursday night ESPN game – the last time we play Nebraska as a Big XII opponent.
Linda and I spent the day yesterday at Arrowhead Stadium (home of the Kansas City Chiefs) watching KSU host Iowa State University. The two teams met there last year – Farmegedden I. The stadium is segregated so the fans sit behind their team.
KSU barely won last year – winning by blocking an extra point kick with just a few seconds left in the game.
The outcome of this game looked to be similar – several lead changes and nail-biting moments. However, a 27-20 win for the Wildcats is a welcome score. K-State is now 3-0.
More importantly, we spent the day with very, very good friends – Dave and Kaela Culkin. We’ve known Dave and Kaela from our early days of marriage in Manhattan. They now live in Leavenworth, too close to not spend more time with them.
Tailgating before the game was a blast. Coffee cake, fresh fruit, bagels, and Irish Coffee made for some excellent pre-game festivities. The game was awesome (although hot and muggy). The free fans given out to the attendees came in very handy.
Post-game tailgating with cold malted beverages helped beat the heat also.
Up next week – KSU hosting University of Central Florida. Here’s hoping the Cats go to 4-0.
Last night the KSU football team hosted the Missouri State Bears (formerly Southwest Missouri State University). After winning last week over UCLA, this was had the making of a big blowout win. However, North Dakota State showed KU last week that blowouts are not a given (winning 6-3).
Missouri State is coached by Terry Allen, a former KU head coach that happened to get his first win as a Jayhawk against Bill Snyder in 1989. He did his best to prepare his team to take on the 2010 Wildcats.
The Wildcats showed a much better balanced attack on offense with running and passing plays – a good sign since relying solely upon the run will not be good enough in the Big 12. There were some great highlight plays and some 3-and-outs that were not so great. However, the final result of 48-24 was good enough for the crowd of 48,000+.
It was also Band Day. Many local high school bands joined the KSU Marching Band at halftime playing several songs. Upholding tradition, they finished off the halftime show with the 1812 Overture – complete with cannons.
The smoke that filled the stadium afterwards cast a really cool look.
Finally, after the game we were hosted to fireworks. Not quite the same as fireworks after a Royals game, but cool nonetheless.
