'It's painful now'
Kansas State tries to regroup after heartbreaking loss
Posted: Saturday December 05, 1998 11:43 PM
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Kansas State's Joe Bob Clements, falls to his knee, overwhelmed by heartbreak after the game-winning score AP |
KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AP) -- At almost the same instant they seized a
17-3 lead over Texas A&M, Kansas State's charged-up players and
devoted fans learned UCLA had lost to Miami.
The partisan, purple-clad crowd rocked the Trans World Dome with
a mighty cheer. Kansas State players began congratulating each
other on the sideline.
The right to play for the national championship seemed only
minutes away. Trailing only Tennessee and UCLA in the BCS rankings
going in, the Wildcats would now be assured of moving into one of
those two coveted Fiesta Bowl spots they had been longing for.
They would not have to worry about Tennessee and UCLA also both
winning on this day and keeping them out of their dream game.
"I can't wait until we play Tennessee," a Kansas State fan in
his mid 30s told a roving reporter about this same time. "I
wouldn't have missed this for the whole world. I've been dreaming
of this since I was a kid."
There was only one formality left -- complete the victory over
Texas A&M in the Big 12 championship game.
But a couple of hours later, the Wildcats had lost to the
scrappy Aggies 36-33 in double overtime in what will almost
certainly be the greatest college game any of them will ever
participate in.
It took coach Bill Snyder and a few of his shocked, red-eyed
players more than half an hour to collect themselves and face the
media.
"It's painful now. It's going to be more painful later this
evening," Snyder said as running back Eric Hickson and linebacker
Jeff Kelly sat next to him and softly wept.
"It's going to be more painful later tonight," Snyder said.
"Tomorrow morning will be the most painful of all."
The possibility still existed, someone pointed out, that
Tennessee might lose later Saturday night and the Wildcats (11-1)
could still, in a longshot, squeeze into the Fiesta Bowl.
"I would like to think we would still be in the picture,"
Snyder said. "But I doubt very seriously there is anything that
could take place right now that would ease the pain for these young
people."
In the final minute of the third period, quarterback Michael
Bishop had scored on a 5-yard run for a 27-12 lead. But then Texas
A&M's Branndon Stewart started finding wide open receivers and all
the momentum shifted away from the Wildcats.
Did they let down a bit when they got the big lead and knew UCLA
had lost?
"I don't think that had an effect on the game at all," said
guard Jeremy Martin, dabbing at his eyes. "Everybody in the
stadium saw the score. I'm not going to sit here and say we didn't
see it. If anything, it gave us a little boost."
Did they shift their focus when they learned UCLA had been
vanquished?
"We didn't shift anything," insisted Bishop, now 46-2 as a
collegiate quarterback. "We had one goal in mind.
"We were up 15. Then all of a sudden we're in overtime. We were
just trying to win."
Snyder said he spent a long time consoling his players in the
locker room.
"I have so much pride in these young people," he said. "This
may be in their young lives the most difficult thing they have had
up to this point in time."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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