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Posted on Sat, Nov. 07, 2009

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Sunflower Showdown goes to Kansas State

BY KELLIS ROBINETT

The Wichita Eagle

MANHATTAN — It wasn't that long ago that the Governor's Cup lived in a Kansas State trophy case on a year-round basis.

Bill Snyder was the Kansas State football coach back then, and he recalls winning the hardware so many times that the award presentations following all those victories against cross-state rival Kansas became "matter of fact" for his players.

They listened to the governor talk, posed for pictures with the trophy and moved on. There wasn't much to the celebration.

But for this group of Wildcats, who for the most part had never seen the silver prize up close before beating Kansas 17-10 on Saturday at Snyder Family Stadium, the experience was unparalleled.

K-State players were so overjoyed to see it in their locker room that they climbed over each other to touch it. When junior center Wade Weibert got to the front of the line, he realized something special.

"It was kinda like, we're the football school this year," Weibert said. "We haven't owned that title in the last couple years."

No, the Wildcats haven't. When Snyder decided to retire in 2005, the Governor's Cup moved East. After winning 12 of 13 in the series — and 11 straight at one point — K-State lost all three Sunflower Showdowns in Snyder's absence.

But now that he's back in Manhattan, so is the Governor's Cup.

"The things we've gone through since coach Snyder got here, he's changed the persona of this entire team and changed a lot of people's attitude toward the game," said wide receiver Lamark Brown, who caught three passes for 43 yards and a touchdown. "It's not really a surprise to me that we've come out and played the way we have."

Of course, K-State didn't have Daniel Thomas during its three-year losing streak to Kansas, either. As he proved Saturday by rushing for 185 yards and a touchdown, that's a big difference, too.

The junior running back took 24 handoffs and didn't lose yardage a single time. He powered ahead for big gains, amassed most of K-State's 332 yards of offense and Kansas frequently required a slew of defenders to bring him down.

"What I really appreciated about Daniel were the second and third efforts," Snyder said. "He carried a lot of tacklers today."

Said Thomas: "That was fun, carrying all those people on my back."

Added senior quarterback Grant Gregory, who completed 7 of 16 passes for 66 yards and a touchdown: "Daniel is a beast. This is his first year ever playing running back, and I think he's the best running back in the conference."

That argument certainly could be made now. Thomas has gained 1,087 yards on 192 carries and could end up as the Big 12's leading rusher.

With two games remaining, both he and his team have a lot to look forward to. With the win, K-State improved to 6-4 overall and 4-2 in conference play. That record keeps the Wildcats on top of the Big 12 North standings, brings them to within a win of securing a bowl bid and moves them closer to clinching the North division.

Kansas dropped to 5-4 and 1-4.

The Wildcats won this Sunflower Showdown on a key series of plays that stretched across the end of the first half and into the second.

After kicking a field goal to take an early 3-0 lead, K-State fell behind 7-3 with 8:18 remaining in the second quarter when KU quarterback Todd Reesing, who completed 27 of 41 passes for 241 yards and a score, connected with Dezmon Briscoe for a 17-yard touchdown pass.

But with 36 seconds remaining in the half, Emmanuel Lamur jumped on a Reesing fumble — one of his three turnovers — at the KU 43-yard line and the Wildcats took advantage.

Sixteen seconds later, Gregory hit Brown for a 31-yard touchdown to give K-State a 10-7 lead.

"It was a major score," Snyder said. "A major happening, so to speak, to go in at that point of time. It wasn't anything that was going to break KU's back, but what it probably did was give our youngsters a little bit of space. It excited them."

That showed shortly after the opening kickoff of the second half when, behind Thomas, K-State strolled down the field for another touchdown.

It was a 14-point swing that, combined with a solid defensive effort from the Wildcats — was too much for Kansas to overcome.

The Jayhawks managed only a field goal in the second half, and that came with 5:20 to go in the fourth quarter.

By then, Gregory said, K-State was simply thinking, "Let's run the ball right down their throat and let's win the game."

The Wildcats did, and they were off to partake in the party they've missed out on the last three years.

"It was such a great experience to be a part of," said sophomore safety Tysyn Hartman. "I couldn't have imagined anything better."

Check Kellis Robinett’s K-State blog at blogs.kansas.com/kstated. Reach him at krobinett@wichitaeagle.com.