MANHATTAN, Kan.—Once a career, maybe longer than that, there’s a game that leaves an indelible mark on players and coaches from both sides, the kind the winners want to remember, the losers can’t forget.
Nebraska had two of those games last season, in consecutive weeks, no less.
The first, a 76-39 loss at Kansas, left the Cornhuskers embarrassed, wondering how they could bounce back after allowing the most points in school history and extending their losing streak to five games.
Misery turned to euphoria just seven days later, with Nebraska taking out its frustrations on Kansas State by scoring early and often, then never letting up in a 73-31 win in Lincoln.
Having experienced both sides of a laughably lopsided game, the Cornhuskers (6-4, 3-3 Big 12) know exactly what Kansas State is going through as it prepares for Saturday’s game.
“They probably say it’s just another game, but I guarantee in their locker room they’re a little fired up about it,” Nebraska quarterback Joe Ganz said. “We had pride when we got beat by Kansas by that much and we came out and played really well. I expect nothing less from them to come out and play their best football and try and get back at us for what we did last year.”
Nebraska certainly gave the Wildcats (4-6, 1-5) plenty of motivation for this year’s matchup.
Angry from the previous week and with a game plan that seemed to fit the matchups perfectly, the Cornhuskers steamrolled Kansas State from the start, scoring on 11 straight possessions. Nebraska didn’t let up, either, throwing downfield, going for it on fourth-and-20 from midfield with the game already in hand.
By the time they were done, the Cornhuskers had scored their most points in a decade, the most Kansas State had allowed since 1971.
“We just didn’t stop them. They didn’t really run it up,” Kansas State linebacker Reggie Walker said. “There were times when they ran the ball and they were killing us, and then there were times they threw the ball. We couldn’t stop them at all.”
Kansas State might not have it much easier this year.
Nebraska has the nation’s 14th-best offense at 448.2 yards per game and Ganz is 11th in passing yards at 283.3. The Wildcats have one of the nation’s worst defenses, allowing 451.3 yards and 34.4 points per game.
By matter of direct comparison, the Cornhuskers manhandled Kansas in a 45-35 revenge-game win last week, doing it against a team that gave Kansas State fits the week before.
And Nebraska seems to have the Wildcats figured out—at least based on last year’s rout and the Cornhuskers’ three-game winning streak in the series.
“It was one of those games where everything seemed to work,” Ganz said. “Every call was perfect for the situation, everybody executed everything to the best they could, and everything seemed to work.”
Kansas State also has to avoid being distracted.
Three days before the Wildcats’ Nov. 8 game at Missouri, the school announced that coach Ron Prince won’t be back for next season.
Many of the players took the news hard, feeling at least some responsibility for their coach losing his job. It didn’t help that there were reports—which turned out to be false—that a new coach had been hired, further jumbling their emotions.
Though they played hard under Prince against Missouri, the Wildcats still couldn’t rally for a win, the 41-24 loss running their losing streak to four games.
Now, the Kansas State players have to figure out a way to gain immediate focus with a fuzzy future ahead.
“We are trying to win two more games to get to a bowl game,” Kansas State receiver Lamark Brown said. “We are trying not to focus on the future of the program right now. It is hard because everyone is asking all the time, but we are really just trying to focus on Nebraska.”
