Kansas St.
Surprises Everyone But Themselves In 35-7 Rout Of Sooners
by Mike Mitchell
12/7/03 3:20 am est
They were two touchdown
underdogs by the oddsmakers, and the Congrove Computer Rankings
listed them as 19-point losers. But Kansas State listened to
no one and claimed their first conference football championship
since 1934 with a 35-7 romp over mighty Oklahoma.
Not since the Big 12 was known as the Big 6 had Kansas State
won a football title. But on Saturday night in Kansas City, the
Wildcats spotted the Sooners a 7-0 lead and then reeled off 35
straight points to stun what had previously appeared to be an
unbeatable team.
On the same day, USC outscored Oregon State 52-28 and LSU rolled
to a 34-13 win over Georgia to claim the SEC title.
All of it leaves the nation to await the announcement on Sunday
from the BCS as to who will play in the Sugar Bowl, site of this
year's "national championship" game. The Congrove Computer Rankings still have Oklahoma
number one, followed by USC and LSU. The results of Saturday's
games tightened up the distance between the trio but did not
force any shuffling of their placement.
It was widely believed before the Big 12 title game that the
Sooners could lose without being forced out of the BCS championship.
But no one really expected Oklahoma to get beat, let alone to
be trashed by 28 points. It was an upset of epic proportions
and, without a doubt, the biggest win in KSU's history.
While the loss may not have knocked OU from the national title
picture, it may have shaken Jason White off of the Heisman pedestal.
And it may have given impetus to voters to consider Kansas State
RB Darren Sproles.
White was 27-of-50 passing for 298 yards with 0 touchdowns and
2 interceptions, including one that was returned 27 yards for
a touchdown in the fourth quarter. He had thrown just six interceptions
in his twelve previous games this year.
Meanwhile, Sproles racked up 235 yards rushing for the Wildcats
and 88 yards receiving. He hooked up with Ell Roberson for a
60-yard touchdown pass, one of Roberson's four touchdown tosses
of the night.
In the SEC title game, LSU beat Georgia for the second time this
season after handing them a 17-10 loss back on September 20.
The Bayou Bengal defense put choker collars on the Bulldogs all
night. The defense scored twice with a safety and an interception
return for a touchdown. On offense, RB Justin Vincent rambled
for 201 yards and two touchdowns.
In USC's win, the Trojans went over 40 points for the seventh
consecutive game as they finished the season with a PAC-10 record
506 points for the season. Their Heisman Trophy candidate, QB
Matt Leinart, threw two touchdown passes each to Mike Williams
and Reggie Bush, and another to Steve Smith.
The scary thing about USC is that Bush and Smith are just freshmen.
Leinart and Williams are sophomores.
Leinart finished 22-of-38 for 278 yards, 5 TDs and an uncharacteristic
2 interceptions. He finished the regular season 232-of-368 for
3,229 yards with 35 TDs and 9 INTs.
The first of three conference championship games went in the
books on Thursday when Miami administered a 49-27 thrashing to
Bowling Green to claim the MAC title.
Ben Roethlisberger threw 440 yards and four touchdowns as the
RedHawks won their first MAC title since 1986. They were the
first team other than Marshall to represent the east in the title
game since the conference split into two divisions upon the Thundering
Herd's entry to the conference in 1997.
The championship was a rematch of a regular season meeting that
Miami won 33-10.
The RedHawks led 21-17 at halftime but blew the game open by
converting three BGSU turnovers into touchdowns in the third
quarter.
Miami had already accepted an invitation to the GMAC Bowl in
Mobile where they will play Louisville. Bowling Green is expected
to head to the Motor City Bowl.
In other games on Saturday, Syracuse avoided a losing season
with a 38-12 crushing of Notre Dame in the Carrier Dome. The
defeat gave the Irish their third losing campaign in the last
five years with a 5-7 record for 2003. They were 5-6 in 2001
and 5-7 in 1999.
The Naval Academy claimed the Commander-In-Chiefs Trophy for
the first time since 1981 with a 34-6 demolition of Army. The
Trophy is claimed by the team that wins the seasonal round-robin
competition between the three military academies - Air Force,
Army and Navy. The Midshipmen beat Air Force earlier this season,
28-25.
Army still leads the series, 49-48-7, but the Black Knights have
now lost 15 straight and became the first major college football
team in history to finish a season with an 0-13 record.
For Navy, QB Craig Candeto and RB Kyle Eckel became the first
tandem of backs to both pass the 1,000-yard rushing mark in the
same season.
Late Saturday night, Boise State concluded its tour of the WAC
with a 45-28 win at Hawaii. The Broncos finished the regular
season 12-1 over-all and 8-0 in conference play.
That Computes: The Congrove
Computer Rankings and Weekly Picks correctly projected
the winner of every game for 10 of the 117 Division 1-A teams.
It missed just one time with 16 others.
The computer's preseason
forecast came within two wins or less of predicting the final
regular season records of 80 teams. It was exactly right for
16 teams, missed by one win on 32 teams, and missed by two wins
on another 32 teams. It predicted the exact conference records
of 23 teams.
It correctly
projected the winners of both Big 12 divisions, Connecticut as
the top independent, Miami (Ohio) as east division winner of
the MAC, Georgia as east division winner of the SEC, USC as conference
champ of the PAC-10, and North Texas as conference titlist of
the Sun Belt.
Conference Juggling: Florida
Atlantic and Florida International accepted invitations Thursday
to join the Sun Belt Conference in football beginning next season.
Florida International was already a member of the Sun Belt in
all other sports. Both schools have been Division I-AA independents
in football. Both schools would spend the 2004 and 2005 seasons
as conditional I-A members before gaining full membership in
2006.
Streaking: Oklahoma's win streak was snapped at 14. Miami
(Ohio) now has the nation's longest winning streak with 12-in-a-row.
Boise State has won 10 straight.
North Texas has won 18 straight over Sun Belt conference opponents.
Boise State has won 18 straight over WAC foes.
Army has lost 15 straight.
SMU has lost 12 straight. |