Texas A&M once wrecked a Kansas State national title shot. Now they’re reunited
Good morning! This is the Read Option, your daily college football newsletter. Sign up for this in your inbox!
Most bowls lack any sense of history or personal animosity between the two teams involved. But every year, there are a few with some genuine emotion to them, and this year’s Texas Bowl is one.
In 1998, Kansas State reached an unfathomable 11-0 after winning zero games in 1987 and 1988 and only one in Bill Snyder’s first year, 1989. K-State had gone from being the country’s lowliest program to going 11-1 in 1997, sure, but 11-1 is way different from 11-0.
The Wildcats were No. 3 in the BCS standings and, with No. 2 UCLA losing earlier that day, guaranteed a title shot with a Big 12 Championship win. With only nine minutes to go, the Wildcats led, 27-12.
But a Dat Nguyen interception, two Brandon Stewart touchdown passes, and a two-point conversion by Sirr Parker set up overtime. In the second OT, Stewart hit Parker for a 32-yarder and a plunge toward the end zone. From ESPN:
Parker: Whether I got in or not, that’s what the referee called. I was actually talking to Jeff Kelly the other day, and he was saying, blah, blah, I didn’t get in. Well, I said to him, ‘My ring and the fact they played in the Alamo Bowl proved I did get in.’
Stewart: I wish I remember what that play was called. It’s called the Sirr Parker play now.
Parker: It’s an honor that I left that type of impression. Not just with my school, but the history of college football. Eighteen years later, they still talk about it.
The most impossible turnaround in college football history was frozen forever at nine minutes short. K-State lost a shootout Alamo Bowl to Drew Brees’ Purdue, A&M lost to final No. 2 Ohio State in the Sugar, and Tennessee beat an injured Florida State in the first-ever BCS Championship.
“That was a hard loss,” Snyder said this week. “We had an opportunity to go to the national championship had we won that one. They came back and beat us late in the ball game. That’s a tribute to them. I’ve always had a great deal of respect for their program.”
The Wildcats and Aggies would have a few more memorable games, K-State would touch No. 2 in the AP in 2000 and 2012, and A&M would leave the Big 12 for the SEC after 2011. The Wildcats have won two Big 12 titles since 1998, but the Aggies have yet to win a conference since.
Now a somewhat desperate group of Aggies are in Houston’s Texas Bowl against a Kansas State team that some didn’t even pick to go bowling in the first place (guilty). Some players in this game were only 1 year old during the biggest game in series history, and Snyder’s the only key figure who’s still at one of the two schools.
“I can’t tell you how much respect I have for Bill Snyder and what he has accomplished,” A&M coach Kevin Sumlin said this week. “You look back at where he brought Kansas State from the beginning to where they are now, the heights that they’ve risen to.”
(And 17 years after 1996, the Big 12 will have a conference title game again, knowing good and well how risky they are.)
Elsewhere!
K-State has already secured one advantage over these Aggies: a win in the annual Texas Bowl rodeo.
Watch this 10-year-old boy cling to Cam Newton after the Auburn legend took a charter flight to make a wish come true.
How they cram football games into baseball stadiums, including Wednesday’s Pinstripe Bowl.
Ohio State wasn’t even supposed to be in the Playoff. This was a massive rebuilding year, remember?
Clemson safety with history of bold, but fair, takes has a bold, but fair, take about Ohio State’s QB.
No Leonard Fournette? That’s fine. The Citrus Bowl still pits Lamar Jackson against a terrifying LSU runner.
An Uber driver trashed Mack Brown ... with Brown and Brown’s broadcast partner in his car.
See More:
