K-State Countdown: Ranking the 10 best game-winning plays in Wildcats history
Editor’s note: In an effort to provide sports content while college athletics are on pause nationwide because of the coronavirus pandemic, beat writer Kellis Robinett will spend some time this summer ranking some of the best and worst games, moments, players and anything else that comes to mind in the history of Kansas State athletics. If you have a suggestion for a future K-State Countdown, let him know by sending an e-mail to krobinett@wichitaeagle.com
Last week: The 10 best individual games in K-State history.
Nothing beats a game-winning play.
They are special and memorable every time they happen, whether they occur on the football field, the basketball court or elsewhere.
Kansas State fans have witnessed many such plays over the years. Which ones were the best?
Let’s take a look back at some of them.
10. Rodney McGruder shoots down Baylor
The odds of Kansas State escaping Waco, Texas with a victory over Baylor (in regulation, at least) in 2013 seemed slim when the Bears attempted an in-bounds pass underneath their own basket with just one second remaining and the score tied at 61. But the Wildcats took advantage of a Baylor blunder and won the game on a memorable buzzer-beater. After the Bears foolishly attempted a length-of-the court pass that sailed out of bounds without touching anyone, the Wildcats had a shot to win the game in regulation. Bruce Weber drew up a play for Rodney McGruder that worked to perfection. Angel Rodriguez hit McGruder with a perfect pass as he came open on the wing and McGruder drilled a three-pointer to give K-State a 64-61 victory that was pivotal on its way to a shared Big 12 championship.
9. Goal-line stand at Minnesota
Beating Minnesota on the road wouldn’t normally classify as a landmark victory for anyone, but K-State’s 35-30 victory at the Metrodome was a huge deal when it happened in 1993. It was the Wildcats’ first road victory over a non-conference opponent in 14 years and it helped catapult them to a nine-win season that ended at the Copper Bowl, Bill Snyder’s first bowl trip with K-State. It almost didn’t happen. The Gophers were driving late in the fourth quarter with a chance to win the game, but the Wildcats held strong on defense to preserve victory.
8. Fred Peete goes the distance to beat Wyoming
You have to squint to make out the grainy video, but Fred Peete’s game-winning layup against Wyoming in 2004 remains impressive in any resolution. The Cowboys led most of the game and appeared to have victory within their grasp until Peete took over late. His most impressive play came after Wyoming missed a potential game-winner of its own with six seconds remaining. The Wildcats got the rebound and Peete emerged from a scrum with the ball. In limited time, he ran the length of the court and made an and-one layup to give K-State a 64-61 road victory that had the Wildcats’ bench celebrating like they just won a NCAA Tournament game.
7. The facemask tackle of Eric Crouch
This might not have technically been a game-winning play, but it might as well have been.
When Travis Ochs came up with a critical fourth-down sack against Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch in 1998, two things were apparent to everyone watching. First of all, a face-mask penalty should have been called on the tackle. Second of all, when no flag was thrown, K-State was about to beat Nebraska for the first time in a generation. The Wildcats had to take of business during the final 2 minutes, 32 seconds of regulation, but with a 34-30 lead that seemed like a forgone conclusion. K-State eventually iced the game on its final play when Jeff Kelly returned a Crouch fumble 24 yards for a touchdown. But the Crouch facemask tackle is what everyone remembers.
6. Goal-line stand at Miami
Kansas State’s defense had no margin for error if it was going to keep Miami out of the end zone and preserve an important road victory for the Wildcats in 2011. Led by quarterback Jacory Harris, the Hurricane marched down field and gave themselves four cracks at a victory with a first-and-goal from the 2. But K-State held strong on four straight plays, forcing an incomplete pass, and then stuffing three straight runs just short of the goal line. The game’s defining play came when Tre Walker corralled Harris inches short of a touchdown on fourth down. That was the start of something special for that team, as K-State won almost exclusively close games on the way to a 10-win season.
5. Skylar Thompson and Isaiah Zuber break Iowa State’s heart
Time was running out on Kansas State’s hopes of beating Iowa State when the Wildcats lined up for a second-and-goal play at the 5 with only eight seconds remaining in 2017. The Cyclones led 19-14 and seemed on their way to beating the Wildcats for the first time in 10 years, especially when they took away quarterback Skylar Thompson’s first two passing options. But Thompson calmly reversed field and ran to his right. That move bought receiver Isaiah Zuber enough time to find open space in the back of the end zone, and Thompson found him with a well-thrown pass. The Wildcats won as time expired, prompting K-State radio commentator Stan Weber to say “K-State always beats Iowa State. I don’t know how, but it happens.”
4. Barry Brown lifts K-State past Kentucky
K-State finished off an unlikely upset against Kentucky in the Sweet Sixteen round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament when Barry Brown made an incredible driving layup that gave the Wildcats a 60-58 lead with 18 seconds remaining. On the play, Brown blew past his defender on the left and then beat a rim-protector by faking a move to his right and finishing the play with a left-handed layup. Kentucky had two more chances to win or force overtime before the buzzer sounded, but it was unable to score again after Brown’s huge shot.
3. Frank Hernandez helps Bill Snyder win his first game at K-State
This might be the most sentimentally important play in the history of K-State football. With the Wildcats stuck in a 30-game winless streak, they won their first game of the Bill Snyder era when Carl Straw found Frank Hernandez in the corner of the end zone as time expired against North Texas in 1989. The Wildcats drove the length of the field to win 20-17 and pandemonium ensued. It wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing game-winner of all time, but nobody cared about style points in the moment. Then radio play-by-play man Mitch Holthus called it “one of the best moments in this school’s history.”
2. Kevin Lockett’s walk-off touchdown at Cincinnati
There was only one way K-State was going to leave Cincinnati with a victory when it lined up for the game’s final play in 1995. The Wildcats had to score a touchdown then and there. Bill Snyder had the perfect play in mind. Matt Miller rolled to his left and heaved a pass into the end zone, where Kevin Lockett streaked open right at the goal line. Lockett caught the pass and crossed the pylon as time expired to give K-State one of its most dramatic victories of all time.
1. The shot that earned Rolando Blackman a Sports Illustrated cover
There’s a reason Rolando Blackman’s game-winning shot against Oregon State in the 1981 NCAA Tournament is the most iconic shot in Kansas State basketball history. Not long after he drained a 16-footer from the baseline to propel the Wildcats past the top-seeded Beavers 50-48, he landed on the cover of Sports Illustrated alongside the words “The Mighty Have Fallen” and “Rolando Blackman shoots down Oregon State.” Nearly 40 years have passed since then, but K-State still shows replays of the shot (and Jack Hartman’s celebratory fist pump) before every home game at Bramlage Coliseum. The beautiful thing about the play was that it lasted more than a minute (no shot clock), as K-State ran the clock down with a tie score and never gave the Beavers an opportunity to win. Oregon State was ranked No. 1 for much of that season, but K-State beat the Beavers in Los Angeles and made it all the way to the Elite Eight.