TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2002
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 3B
Kansas State blowout?
Snyder compares Baylor and Missouri to Arizona State
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The most hotly contested postseason bowl game may not be Kansas State-Arizona State — at least that's the implication left by Wildcats' coach Bill Synder.
Asked yesterday if his Holiday Bowl
opponent reminded him of any one in the Big 12, Snyder mentioned only Baylor and Missouri, two teams the Wildcats clobbered by a combined score of 82-10.
"Their offense has some similarities to Baylor," Snyder said. "Their defense has some similarity to the University of Missouri. And some things they do transcend probably every team in our conference. But they're more like those two in regard to offense and defense."
The Wildcats beat Baylor 44.
10 and closed out their regular
season with a 38-0 shutout of Missouri, leaving them 10-2, ranked No. 8 in the BCS standings and the highest-ranked team not picked to play in a BCS bowl.
Most signs point to a mismatch against unranked Arizona State, which lost three of its last four to finish 8-5.
Arizona State lost to Nebraska 48-10, but the Wildcats pounded the Huskers 49-13. K
In addition, K-State ended
the regular season on perhaps its hottest roll of the 15-year Snyder era, swamping its last five opponents by a combined score of 253-30.
Although he won't say this is his best Kansas State team. Snyder does not deny it's about the hottest.
"I try to answer it this way — I think this team probably has played in this stretch as close to its capabilities as any football team I've ever coached," Synder said.
One worry for the Wildcats may be the Sun Devils' passing game. Colorado hit several long passes in handing Kansas State one of its two losses, and Arizona State quarterback Andrew Walter has thrown for 3,584 yards, with 26 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
"They have the ability to throw the ball around and they do," Snyder said. "They have the 10th-ranked pass offense in the United States. They know what they're doing."
Another worry may be the long layoff between the final regular-season game against Missouri, played Nov. 23, and the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 27. Does Snyder fear the Wildcats could lose their fine edge?
"Not necessarily, no." Snyder said. "You just have to understand it's a period of time that you need to make the most of and a period of time when we needed just to rest, our players and to a degree our coaches. They needed some time off.
"They needed to ... get away from the constant intensity of preparation and become a little bit fresher in regard to their approach."
'Huskers accept invitation to 34th consecutive bowl
Independence Bowl to give Nebraska record for NCAA appearances
The Associated Press
LINCOLN, Neb. — For all of Nebraska's streaks that ended this season, the Cornhuskers were able to keep one alive.
Nebraska on Sunday accepted an invitation to play
La. The game will mark the NCAA-record 34th consecutive year the Huskers will go to a bowl.
"We feel good about being able to keep Nebraska's bowl string alive," said coach Frank Solich.
"Thirty-four straight bowls. . no one else in the country has been able to do that."
Nebraska will receive $1.2 million for playing in the game. After bowl expenses are paid, proceeds will be distributed among the Big 12 Conference members.
This will be Nebraska's first
appearance in the Independence Bowl and its first football game against Mississippi.
It's the lowest-level postseason game the Huskers have gone to since the 1980 team went to the Sun Bowl after a 9-2 regular season.
The Huskers will carry a 7-6 record into the Independence. Ole Miss, which lost five straight games after a 5-1 start, needed its 24-12 win over Mississippi State on Nov. 28 to achieve the required 6-6 record to become bowl eligible.
The Rebels' season highlight was their 17-14 victory over then-No. 6 Florida on Oct. 5. They lost 14-13 to then-No. 21 Louisiana State before beating archrival Mississippi State.
Ole Miss will be playing in the Independence Bowl for the fifth time since 1983. The Rebels are 3-1 in previous appearances.
"It's kind of like home for them there," Solich said.
The Rebels have a potent air attack led by Eli Manning, who has completed 58.1 percent of his passes for 3,088 yards and 20 touchdowns.
The game matches contrasting offenses. The Huskers are fourth in the nation in rushing, at 268.9 yards a game.
The teams will exchange film Monday. The Huskers will go through conditioning drills Monday and Tuesday, with bowl practices beginning in earnest
" Thirty-four straight bowls. . no one else in the country has been able to do that." Frank Solich Nebraska Coach
on Wednesday
Solich said his players were looking forward to the game after Nebraska's worst regular season in 41 years. The Huskers failed to win nine games for the first time since 1968; they fell out of the AP Top 25 for the first time in 348 weeks after losing to Iowa State in September, and they did not beat a ranked opponent for the first time since 1990.
"We want to have this group of seniors finish off with a good feeling about what they were able to do." Solich said. "They've done a great job of keeping the team together. We'd like to have a chance for them to go out right. I'm sure that's the same way Ole Miss is feeling."
More than the game is on Solich's mind, though.
He is still in the process of hiring offensive and defensive coordinators. Plus, the height of recruiting season is approaching.
Solich said he wanted to have new coordinators on board by the bowl game.
"There are a lot of things that take priority, and that's one of them," he said.
Oklahoma teams go to bowls
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Sooners are headed to the Bowel Bowl for the first time in school history, and Oklahoma State's football team is making plans to travel to Houston.
No. 8 Oklahoma, which locked up a Bowl Championship Series bowl berth by
"I think it's fantastic," coach Bob Stoops said. "We're all incredibly excited about it because it's just rare when this
The Associated Press
beating Colorado 29-7 for the Big 12 title Saturday night, was chosen Sunday to play Pac-10 champion Washington State on New Year's Day.
The seventh-ranked Cougars (10-2), led by quarterback Jason Gesser, beat UCLA 48-27 on Saturday to win their conference title. WSU has played in the Rose Bowl three times, most recently after the 1997 season.
opportunity comes around."
Stoops played in the 1982 Rose Bowl with Iowa and was a graduate assistant on the Iowa team that played in the 1986 Rose Bowl.
"It's special," he said. "The setting at the Rose Bowl, the stadium down there in the mountains and the pageantry of it. They do a fantastic job."
2) and fourth in a row under Stoops.
Southern Miss (7-5) is a member of Conference USA and is coached by Jeff Bower, who was Oklahoma State's offensive coordinator in 1990 under former coach Pat Jones.
Oklahoma State (7-5) plays Southern Mississippi in the Houston Bowl at Reliant Stadium on Dec. 27. It's the Cowboys' first bowl game since 1997 and just their second since 1988.
The teams met in the season opener last year, with Southern Miss winning 17-9 in Hattiesburg, Miss., spoiling Les Miles' debut of Oklahoma State's coach.
"It'll be a chance to reacquaint ourselves with Southern Miss," Miles said. "We're a better team now than we were then."
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