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
Conference	Big 12 Conference
	North
Ranking
Coaches	No. 9
AP	No. 10
1998 record	11–2 (8–0 Big 12)
Head coach	Bill Snyder (10th season)
Offensive coordinator	Ron Hudson (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Mike Stoops (3rd season)
Home stadium	KSU Stadium (Capacity: 43,000)

1998 Big 12 Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
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

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	6:10 p.m.	Indiana State*	No. 6	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS		W 66–0	41,728
September 12	11:30 a.m.	Northern Illinois*	No. 5	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS	FSN	W 73–7	41,967
September 19	2:30 p.m.	Texas	No. 5	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS	ABC	W 48–7	43,714
September 26	1:10 p.m.	NE Louisiana*	No. 5	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS		W 62–7	42,029
October 10	6:00 p.m.	at No. 14 Colorado	No. 5	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	FSN	W 16–9	51,581
October 17	2:30 p.m.	Oklahoma State	No. 4	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS	ABC	W 52–20	43,694
October 24	1:10 p.m.	Iowa State	No. 4	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS (rivalry)		W 52–7	43,203
October 31	11:30 a.m.	at Kansas	No. 4	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS (rivalry)	FSN	W 54–6	43,000
November 7	1:00 p.m.	at Baylor	No. 4	Floyd Casey Stadium Waco, TX		W 49–6	38,217
November 14	2:30 p.m.	No. 11 Nebraska	No. 2	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS (rivalry) (College GameDay)	ABC	W 40–30	44,298
November 21	2:30 p.m.	at No. 19 Missouri	No. 2	Faurot Field Columbia, MO	ABC	W 31–25	68,174
December 5	2:30 p.m.	vs. No. 10 Texas A&M	No. 2	Trans World Dome St. Louis, MO (Big 12 Championship)	ABC	L 33–36 ^2OT	60,798
December 29	7:00 p.m.	vs. Purdue*	No. 4	Alamodome San Antonio, TX (Alamo Bowl)	ESPN	L 34–37	60,780
*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. # Name Class RB 32 David Allen Jr RB 3 Frank Murphy Jr QB 7 Michael Bishop Sr WR 22 Aaron Lockett Fr WR 80 Darnell McDonald Sr TE 86 Justin Swift Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class 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 LB 8 Jeff Kelly Jr LB 52 Ben Leber Fr LB 50 Travis Ochs Sr LB 42 Mark Simoneau Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 10 Martín Gramática Sr	Head coach Bill Snyder Coordinators/assistant coaches Ron Hudson – Offensive coordinator Mike Stoops – Defensive coordinator Brent Venables – Linebackers Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Game summaries

Indiana State

Northern Illinois

Texas

Northeast Louisiana

Colorado

Oklahoma State

Iowa State

Kansas

Baylor

Nebraska

#11 Nebraska at #2 Kansas State

1 2 3 4 Total Cornhuskers 7 10 7 6 30 • Wildcats 7 7 10 16 40 Date: November 14 Location: KSU Stadium, Manhattan, Kansas Game attendance: 44,298

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]

Missouri

Texas A&M (Big 12 Championship)

#2 Kansas State vs. #10 Texas A&M

1 2 3 4 OT 2OT Total Wildcats 10 7 10 0 3 3 33 • Aggies 0 6 6 15 3 6 36 Date: December 5 Location: Trans World Dome, St. Louis, Missouri Game start: 2:30 p.m. CST Game attendance: 60,798 Referee: Randy Cristal

Scoring summary Q1 6:31 KSU Martin Gramatica 47-yard field goal KSU 3–0 2:02 KSU Justin Swift 15-yard pass from Michael Bishop (Gramatica kick) KSU 10–0 Q2 11:00 A&M Russell Bynum 25-yard field goal KSU 10–3 10:37 KSU Darnell McDonald 66-yard pass from Michael Bishop (Gramatica kick) KSU 17–3 4:16 A&M Russell Bynum 26-yard field goal KSU 17–6 Q3 8:42 A&M Ja'Mar Toombs 2-yard run (pass failed) KSU 17–12 4:31 KSU Martin Gramatica 45-yard field goal KSU 20–12 4:31 KSU Michael Bishop 5-yard run (Gramatica kick) KSU 27–12 Q4 9:20 A&M Leroy Hodge 13-yard pass from Branndon Stewart (Bynum kick) KSU 27–19 1:05 A&M Sirr Parker 9-yard pass from Branndon Stewart (Parker pass from Stewart) Tied 27–27 OT A&M Russell Bynum 18-yard field goal A&M 30–27 A&M Martin Gramatica 22-yard field goal Tied 30–30 2OT A&M Martin Gramatica 22-yard field goal KSU 33–30 A&M Sirr Parker 32-yard pass from Branndon Stewart A&M 36–33

[7]

Purdue (Alamo Bowl)

#4 Kansas State vs. #24 Purdue

1 2 3 4 Total Wildcats 0 7 6 21 34 • Boilermakers 0 17 10 10 37 Date: December 29 Location: Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas Game attendance: 60,780

Scoring summary Q2 14:47 Purdue Daniels 5-yard pass from Brees (Dorsch kick) Purdue 7–0 13:03 Purdue Dorsch 25-yard field goal Purdue 10–0 9:49 KSU McDonald 1-yard pass from Bishop (Gramatica kick) Purdue 10–7 8:36 Purdue Jones 30-yard pass from Brees (Dorsch kick) Purdue 17–7 Q3 8:06 KSU Havick recovered fumble in end zone (kick failed) Purdue 17–13 0:52 Purdue Nugent recovered fumble in end zone (Dorsch kick) Purdue 24–13 0:04 Purdue Dorsch 26-yard field goal Purdue 27–13 Q4 11:59 KSU Allen 3-yard run (Gramatica kick) Purdue 27–20 6:44 Purdue Dorsch 37-yard field goal Purdue 30–20 6:23 KSU McDonald 88-yard pass from Bishop (Gramatica kick) Purdue 30–27 1:24 KSU Swift 2-yard pass from Bishop (Gramatica kick) KSU 34–30 0:30 Purdue Jones 24-yard pass from Brees (Dorsch kick) Purdue 37–34

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

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	6 (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)	4	10
Coaches	6 (1)	5 (1)	4 (1)	3 (1)	3 (1)	4 (1)	3 (2)	3 (3)	3 (5)	2 (5)	1 (30)	1 (36​^1⁄2)	1 (31​^1⁄2)	1 (30​^1⁄2)	4	9
BCS	Not released								4	4	3	3	3	3	3	Not released

[9]

Postseason Awards

• Bill Snyder – Named Big 12 Coach of the Year, Paul "Bear" Bryant Award, Walter Camp Coach of the Year, AP Coach of the Year, Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award
• Michael Bishop – Davey O'Brien Award, Heisman Trophy runner-up, All-American, First-Team All-Big 12
• Jeff Kelly – Consensus All-American, First-Team All-Big 12
• Martín Gramática – Consensus All-American, First-Team All-Big 12
• David Allen – Consensus All-American, First-Team All-Big 12
• Ryan Young – First-Team All-Big 12
• Darnell McDonald – First-Team All-Big 12
• Darren Howard – First-Team All-Big 12
• Jarrod Cooper – First-Team All-Big 12

Players in the 1999 NFL Draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL Club	Ref
Martín Gramática	K	3	80	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	[10]
Jeff Kelly	LB	6	198	Atlanta Falcons	[10]
Ryan Young	OT	7	223	New York Jets	[10]
Michael Bishop	QB	7	227	New England Patriots	[10]
Justin Swift	TE	7	238	Denver Broncos	[10]
Darnell McDonald	WR	7	240	Tampa 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. 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.