NCAA Football Preview (Indiana St-Kansas St)
Posted: Tues September 1, 1998 at 4:11 p.m. EDT
Indiana St (0-0) at Kansas St (0-0) Saturday, 7:10 pm EDT
Kansas State begins what it hopes could be the best
season in school history when it hosts overmatched Indiana
State.
It has been a remarkable turnaround in Manhattan under 10-year
head coach Bill Snyder. The Wildcats' victory over Syracuse in
last season's Fiesta Bowl was perhaps the biggest win in the
program's checkered history. Kansas State, which was playing in
a bowl game for the fifth straight season, has won nine or more
games each campaign during that stretch. Prior to 1993, it had
only won nine or more games in a season once.
This year's goals for the Wildcats remain two-fold: beat
Nebraska and win the Big 12 Conference. But the Cornhuskers
must wait until November. In the meantime is the first of what
should be two wins easy wins, with Northern Illinois to follow
next week.
On paper, the Wildcats feature one of the nation's best teams.
The defense, which finished fourth in the country last season,
appears just as formidable while the offense contains a trio of
stars and the nation's best kicker.
Quarterback Michael Bishop, who is 35-1 as a starting
quarterback at the collegiate level, is capable of beating teams
on the ground and through the air. Eric Hickson is back for his
senior season after leading the team in rushing and the
receiving corps, led by Darnell McDonald, features three
wideouts who each averaged over 20 yards per catch last year.
The wild card for Kansas State in close contests -- although
this does not appear to be one of those -- is kicker Martin
Gramatica, who is the reigning Lou Groza Award winner.
Kansas State is one of just five Division I-A schools to win
each of its season openers during the 1990s, joining Nebraska,
Ohio State, Florida State and Florida.
For Indiana State, it will be the debut of head coach Tim
McGuire, who inherits a team that was last in the Gateway
Conference in offense last season. McGuire has installed a
triple-option offense to be run by sophomore quarterback Steve
Englehart.
The Wildcats lead the all-time series, 2-0, picking up victories
in 1991 and 1996 over the Division I-AA school. But the results
of those two games tell just how far the Kansas State program
has come. The Wildcats escaped, 26-25, in the first meeting but
overwhelmed the Sycamores, 59-3, five years later.
© 1998 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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