1998 Kansas State Wildcats football team

The 1998 Kansas State Wildcats football team represented Kansas State University in the 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team's head football coach was Bill Snyder. The Wildcats played their home games in KSU Stadium. 1998 saw the Wildcats finish with a record of 11–2, and an 8–0 record in Big 12 Conference play.

1998 Kansas State Wildcats football
Big 12 North champion
Alamo Bowl, L 34–37 vs. Purdue
ConferenceBig 12 Conference
DivisionNorth
Ranking
CoachesNo. 9
APNo. 10
1998 record11–2 (8–0 Big 12)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorRon Hudson (2nd season)
Defensive coordinatorMike Stoops (3rd season)
Home stadiumKSU Stadium
(Capacity: 43,000)
1998 Big 12 Conference football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
Northern Division
No. 10 Kansas State x  8 –0   11 –2  
No. 19 Nebraska  5 –3   9 –4  
No. 21 Missouri  5 –3   8 –4  
Colorado  4 –4   8 –4  
Kansas  1 –7   4 –7  
Iowa State  1 –7   3 –8  
Southern Division
No. 11 Texas A&M x$  7 –1   11 –3  
No. 15 Texas  6 –2   9 –3  
Texas Tech  4 –4   7 –5  
Oklahoma State  3 –5   5 –6  
Oklahoma  3 –5   5 –6  
Baylor  1 –7   2 –9  
Championship: Texas A&M 36, Kansas State 33 
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The Wildcats finished the regular season undefeated (11–0) and were ranked second in the nation ahead of their match-up with tenth-ranked Texas A&M in the 1998 Big 12 Championship Game. Kansas State lost in overtime, losing their chance at a national championship.[1]

After the Big 12 Championship Game, Kansas State did not receive a spot in the inaugural Bowl Championship Series despite being ranked in its top four as well as the highest ranked non-champion from any conference. They also were not invited to the Cotton Bowl Classic in Dallas, as the conference runner-up typically would be, or the Holiday Bowl in San Diego, which at the time was contracted to invite the third place team in the conference; those bowls chose Texas and Nebraska instead. Instead, Kansas State was invited to the Alamo Bowl,[2] where it lost to the unranked Purdue Boilermakers, who drove 80 yards for a touchdown in the final minute to defeat Kansas State 37–34.[3]

Following the end of the season, a new rule was created. Nicknamed the "Kansas State Rule", the #3 ranked team would always have an automatic bid to a BCS bowl game.

The Wildcats finished the season as the top scoring team in NCAA Division I-A (at 48 points per game), and set a school record for points scored with 610.[4]

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 56:10 p.m.Indiana State*No. 6
W 66–041,728
September 1211:30 a.m.Northern Illinois*No. 5
  • KSU Stadium
  • Manhattan, KS
FSNW 73–741,967
September 192:30 p.m.TexasNo. 5
  • KSU Stadium
  • Manhattan, KS
ABCW 48–743,714
September 261:10 p.m.NE Louisiana*No. 5
  • KSU Stadium
  • Manhattan, KS
W 62–742,029
October 106:00 p.m.at No. 14 ColoradoNo. 5
FXW 16–951,581
October 172:30 p.m.Oklahoma StateNo. 4
  • KSU Stadium
  • Manhattan, KS
ABCW 52–2043,694
October 241:10 p.m.Iowa StateNo. 4
W 52–743,203
October 3111:30 a.m.at KansasNo. 4
FSNW 54–643,000
November 71:00 p.m.at BaylorNo. 4
W 49–638,217
November 142:30 p.m.No. 11 NebraskaNo. 2
ABCW 40–3044,298
November 212:30 p.m.at No. 19 MissouriNo. 2
ABCW 31–2568,174
December 52:30 p.m.vs. No. 10 Texas A&MNo. 2
ABCL 33–36 2OT60,798
December 297:00 p.m.vs. Purdue*No. 4
ESPNL 34–3760,780
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time

[5]

Roster
1998 Kansas State Wildcats football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
RB 32 David Allen Jr
RB 3 Frank Murphy Jr
QB 7 Michael Bishop Sr
QB 18 Jonathan Beasley So
WR 22 Aaron Lockett Fr
WR 80 Darnell McDonald Sr
RB 24 Eric Hickson Sr
FB 30 Brian Goolsby Sr
TE 86 Justin Swift Sr
RG 78 Jeremy Martin Sr
RT 76 Ryan Young Sr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
DL 44 Monty Beisel So
CB 23 Jerametrius Butler So
CB 35 Dyshod Carter So
DB 1 Lamar Chapman Jr
S 40 Jarrod Cooper So
DL 49 Darren Howard Jr
S 38 Jon McGraw Fr
LB 8 Jeff Kelly Jr
LB 52 Ben Leber Fr
LB 50 Travis Ochs Sr
LB 42 Mark Simoneau Jr
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
K 10 Martín Gramática Sr
P 16 James Garcia Sr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

Game summaries

Indiana State

Northern Illinois
See also: 1998 Northern Illinois Huskies football team

Texas
See also: 1998 Texas Longhorns football team
Texas at #5 Kansas State
1 234Total
Longhorns 0 007 7
• Wildcats 7 28013 48

Kansas State welcomed Texas for their first Big 12 Conference matchup, and first meeting since 1942, and Texas' first trip to Manhattan since 1926. 1998 Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams was held to just 43 yards on 25 carries for an average of just 1.7 yards per carry. He did not score in the game. Williams averaged 202 rushing yards per game in 1998 and was held to a season low 43 years, his next lowest yardage output was 90 yards against Oklahoma State. K-State racked up 223 yards on the ground on 51 carries and the Wildcats won handily, 48–7.

Northeast Louisiana
See also: 1998 Northeast Louisiana Indians football team

at #14 Colorado
See also: 1998 Colorado Buffaloes football team
#5 Kansas State at #16 Colorado
1 234Total
• Wildcats 3 733 16
Buffaloes 0 009 9

Kansas State beat Colorado for the second consecutive year (only their second win against the Buffaloes since 1984) and won their first game in Boulder since 1973. K-State came to Boulder with a 2-24 all-time record in games played in Boulder. K-State came to Colorado beating the opposition by an average of 57 points a game, and had a defense which had allowed a total of 21 points in its first 4 games. Colorado was a 17-point underdog and had only lost once in the last 13 seasons to the Wildcats. Colorado held K-State, which was averaging 470 yards and 62 points coming into the game, to 332 yards and just 16 points. Colorado had just 225 yards of total offense, including 37 yards rushing on 31 attempts.

Oklahoma State
See also: 1998 Oklahoma State Cowboys football team

Iowa State
See also: 1998 Iowa State Cyclones football team

at Kansas
See also: 1998 Kansas Jayhawks football team

at Baylor
See also: 1998 Baylor Bears football team

Nebraska
#11 Nebraska at #2 Kansas State
1 234Total
Cornhuskers 7 1076 30
• Wildcats 7 71016 40
See also: 1998 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

Michael Bishop threw for 306 yards and 2 touchdowns, and ran for 140 yards and two more scores as the Wildcats finally broke through against the Huskers.[6] Kansas State beat Nebraska for the first time since 1968 and the first time in Manhattan since 1959.

at #19 Missouri
See also: 1998 Missouri Tigers football team
#2 Kansas State at #19 Missouri
1 234Total
• Wildcats 7 3147 31
Tigers 0 1339 25

Kansas State visited Columbia with their national title hopes very much alive and were able to squeak out a 31–25 victory. Second team All-American kicker Martin Gramatica uncharacteristically missed two field goals and punt returner David Allen nearly returned his seventh career punt return for a touchdown. School rushing career record Eric Hickson missed the game with a high ankle sprain and was replaced by David Allen and Frank Murphy in the backfield. The Wildcats won their sixth consecutive game over the Tigers (they would eventually extend the streak to 13 games.

Texas A&M (Big 12 Championship)
#2 Kansas State vs. #10 Texas A&M
1 234OT2OTTotal
Wildcats 10 710033 33
• Aggies 0 661536 36
        
Main article: 1998 Big 12 Championship Game
See also: 1998 Texas A&M Aggies football team

K-State lost in devastating fashion in double overtime and lost their chance at playing in the National Championship. [7]

Purdue (Alamo Bowl)
#4 Kansas State vs. #24 Purdue
1 234Total
Wildcats 0 7621 34
• Boilermakers 0 171010 37
         
Main article: 1998 Alamo Bowl
See also: 1998 Purdue Boilermakers football team

Kansas State had 125 yards in penalties, 7 turnovers, and allowed the Boilermakers to drive 80 yards in only 54 seconds for the game-winning touchdown.[8]

Rankings
Further information: 1998 NCAA Division I-A football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
( ) = First place votes.
Week
PollPre1234567891011121314Final
AP6 (2)5 (2)5 (2)5 (2)5 (2)5 (2)4 (2)4 (2)4 (2)4 (3)2 (19)2 (29)2 (24)2 (24)410
Coaches6 (1)5 (1)4 (1)3 (1)3 (1)4 (1)3 (2)3 (3)3 (5)2 (5)1 (30)1 (361⁄2)1 (311⁄2)1 (301⁄2)49
BCSNot released4433333Not released

[9]

Postseason Awards
See also: 1998 College Football All-America Team and 1998 All-Big 12 Conference football team

Players in the 1999 NFL Draft
See also: 1999 NFL Draft
PlayerPositionRoundPickNFL ClubRef
Martín GramáticaK380Tampa Bay Buccaneers[10]
Jeff KellyLB6198Atlanta Falcons[10]
Ryan YoungOT7223New York Jets[10]
Michael BishopQB7227New England Patriots[10]
Justin SwiftTE7238Denver Broncos[10]
Darnell McDonaldWR7240Tampa Bay Buccaneers[10]

References
  1. Barr, Josh (December 7, 1998). "Vols, Seminoles Head to Fiesta Bowl, Wildcats to Frustration". The Washington Post. p. D01. ProQuest 408429398.
  2. King, David (December 29, 1998). "K-State Out to Prove It Belongs -- Elsewhere: A National Title May Be Out of Reach, But Not Out of Mind at the Alamo Bowl". The Washington Post. p. D07. ProQuest 408408043.
  3. King, David (December 30, 1998). "Alamo Bowl: Wildcats Are Upset By Purdue: Purdue 37, Kansas State 34". The Washington Post. p. C08. ProQuest 408407357.
  4. Points scored fact Archived July 25, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  5. DeLassus, David. "Kansas State University coaching records by game (1998)". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
  6. "Unbeaten Kansas St. Finally Has Nebraska's Number". The New York Times. November 15, 1998. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  7. "Perfection Eludes Kansas St. and U.C.L.A." The New York Times. December 6, 1998. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  8. "Purdue Pulls Off Surprise At Alamo". The New York Times. December 30, 1998. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  9. "Kansas State 1998 AP Football Rankings". collegepollarchive.com. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  10. "1999 NFL Draft". pro-football-reference.com.
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