Kansas State coach Bill Snyder had been poring over the game film frame by frame. He knew linebacker Mark Simoneau must have made a mistake at some point in the fifth-ranked Wildcats’ 20-14 victory over Colorado on Saturday.
But even Snyder, a notorious perfectionist, could not find fault with his star senior.
“And believe me, I tried,” Snyder told a K-State staffer.
Simoneau chuckled Tuesday when a reporter recounted the story.
“For him to say that, it still kind of surprises me,” Simoneau said from Manhattan, Kan. “I don’t think I played a perfect game. I can always improve.”
This might be a good week for it. Simoneau, a senior from Smith Center, Kan., will lead the Wildcats into Lincoln, Neb., for a showdown with No. 7 Nebraska. All that’s at stake is the Big 12 North title and a shot at the Sugar Bowl.
Having lost 14 starters from last year’s 11-2 team, Kansas State was supposed to fall off the college football map this autumn. But the Wildcats are 9-0 despite an inexperienced offense and a tendency to stumble. After rarely trailing last year, Kansas State has had to overcome big deficits against Iowa State and Oklahoma State.
The defense is the main reason K-State is harboring Sugar Bowl ambitions. Ranked second nationally behind fellow unbeaten Mississippi State, the Wildcats have allowed an average of only 191 yards per games and forced 14 turnovers in the last four games.
“A year ago, (the offense) seemed like it would put up 50 points every game and maybe in the back of our minds we relaxed a little,” Simoneau said. “This year, we know what we have to do. We’re just looking to put together a complete game on offense and defense. We haven’t done that yet.”
History suggests the Wildcats will be in trouble in Lincoln, where they haven’t won since 1968. In 1997, Kansas State lost only one game–by 30 points at Nebraska. In 1995, one of K-State’s two losses was a 24-point whipping in Lincoln.
But Kansas State has been rewriting history in recent years. The longtime laughingstock of college football has established its place among the elite, though some in the program continue to be sensitive about criticism from outsiders.
“I still hear negative things about the program,” Simoneau said. “People are always talking about our schedule and how we don’t play anybody and this and that. I think we still have things to prove.”
A conference title would help and a victory Saturday would clinch a spot in the Big 12 title game. But K-State’s weak schedule–it met Temple, UTEP and Utah State in non-conference play–could lock it out of the Sugar Bowl. The Wildcats are fifth in this week’s Bowl Championship Series standings, behind two schools with losses.
Simoneau said he and his teammates have faith the system will reward them with a trip to New Orleans if they keep winning.
“If we were one of two undefeated teams, obviously we should go,” he said. “I think the next few weeks will help sort things out.”
For whom the (Monon) Bell tolls: When DePauw and Wabash collide Saturday in DePauw’s Blackstock Stadium in Greencastle, Ind., look for the sort of hard-fought game that always has been a trademark of the Monon Bell series, which is tied 48-48-9.
But officials at the Division III schools hope the only hitting takes place on the field. Fights have broken out among fans after two of the last three meetings, and only a five-inch snowfall is credited with preventing a similar incident in the third game.
A year ago in Crawfordsville, Ind., police with pepper spray waded among fans, most of them students, who brawled and threw debris at each other after DePauw’s 42-7 victory, the Tigers’ third straight triumph over the Little Giants.
The hostilities weren’t limited to the grandstand. After the game, Wabash coaches charged that DePauw coaches had stolen signs from the sideline and had violated a gentlemen’s agreement not to scout the opposition. The dispute made its way to the ethics committee of the American Football Coaches Association. The committee, chaired by former Illinois and Texas coach John Mackovic, ruled DePauw had violated no written rules.
Hard feelings persist. There’s no way to prevent them in a rivalry between schools 30 miles apart. But officials say they hope the emotions won’t spill over into violence in the stands again.
DePauw Athletic Director Page Cotton said 50 security personnel and 20 local police officers would patrol a crowd that could approach a school-record 7,300.
“It’s a great game between two great schools,” Cotton said. “It’s a wonderful game to watch. Unfortunately, the hype around the game has escalated between the students and the alumni. There are some pretty intense emotions.”
If the hooligans don’t cool it, they might ruin one of college football’s most traditional rivalries. The schools have considered suspending the series if more violence erupts this weekend.
“There has been some discussion of that,” Cotton said. “Clearly, we want to be able to provide a safe environment.”
Stay tuned: Penn State’s loss to Minnesota killed the Sugar Bowl matchup ABC had to have wanted the most: Florida State vs. Penn State. Think of the storylines: Free Shoes U against St. Joe’s School for Boys. Bobby Bowden vs. Joe Paterno in a battle of living legends.
With Penn State apparently out of the picture and Florida State still having to win at Florida, ABC could be looking at its nightmare scenario: Kansas State vs. Virginia Tech. Or how about Mississippi State vs. anyone?
There’s a chance Florida or Tennessee, or perhaps both, will prevent it from happening–and prevent executives who shelled out millions for Sugar Bowl rights from leaping out of office towers in Manhattan (and we don’t mean Manhattan, Kan.)
Please wait until the “beep”: A caller from Evanston took exception to the lack of ink devoted to Miami of Ohio tailback Travis Prentice in Sunday’s Tribune. The caller noted Prentice had run for 376 yards against Akron on Saturday, the fifth-highest single-game total in major-college history. She noted Prentice scored three touchdowns to reach 76 for his career, breaking Ricky Williams’ year-old record. And she noted that, with 1,427 yards and 19 touchdowns, Prentice ranks third in Division I-A rushing and second in scoring.
“Get on the stick,” she said.
We’re on it, ma’am.
More voice mail: Though there was no mention of sticks, several angry Wisconsin fans called to express concern about the mental capacity of the Tribune’s AP voter, who had Michigan ninth and Wisconsin 10th on this week’s ballot.
Poll logic is always dicey, but here’s an explanation: both teams have lost twice, and once in gruesome fashion (Wisconsin to Cincinnati and Michigan to Illinois). Michigan beat Wisconsin. Thus, Michigan ahead of Wisconsin.
Fourth and inches: The Virginia Tech media guide features question-and-answer sessions with selected Hokies. Guard Daniel Nihipali was asked to compare Las Vegas, his hometown, to Blacksburg, Va. “There really isn’t any comparison,” he said. “Both places are beautiful in their own ways.” . . .
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr doesn’t buy talk that Penn State is out of the national title hunt after losing to Minnesota last weekend. “In my own opinion, Penn State is in a position that if they win the rest of their games, they should be in the BCS championship game,” Carr said. “Something’s wrong with the computer if it doesn’t” put Penn State in New Orleans. Carr based his argument on Penn State’s schedule, which featured games against Arizona, Miami, Ohio State, Purdue, Michigan and Michigan State. “I think that anybody who plays a difficult schedule, in the system that we’re in, that should be the major issue,” he said.
