Kansas State Football: Identity crisis plagues Wildcats
By John McCarty
After failing to qualify for a bowl game in his first year back, the Wildcats would in 2010 reach the Pinstripe Bowl in New York. In what became famous for what has been dubbed by some the ‘Wildcat salute’ or ‘Bronx Salute.’
Down by eight with 1:13 left in the fourth, Kansas State wide receiver Adrian Hilburn caught a 30-yard touchdown pass and made a military hand salute to the crowd. The gesture netted a 15-yard penalty, forcing the two-point conversion to take place from the 17. The conversion failed and the Cats would lose to Syracuse 36-34. In the offseason, the NCAA would change the rules on celebrations to only flags for taunting.
Also, on November 6th, with starting quarterback Carson Coffman injured and unable to go, seldom used and unknown Colin Klein would get the start. While only totaling nine passing yards on four attempts (you have read this correctly) the Wildcat quarterback would rush for over 100 yards and two scores, helping to lead the Wildcats to an upset victory over Texas 39-14.
Transfers Arthur Brown (Miami) and Chris Harper (Oregon) would headline a resurgence of the Cats in 2011 and 2012. Brown notched over 100 tackles in both seasons he spent in Manhattan while Harper had over 850 yards receiving with three touchdowns as a senior in 2012.
Bringing in these transfers resulted in one of the best K-State teams in program history, which led to a Cotton Bowl appearance against Arkansas in 2011. That was followed by the 2012 conference championship team that would appear in the Fiesta Bowl.
However as the transfers and holdovers graduated, a new issue began to take shape. While there were still some quality football players on the roster, this team was no longer the dominant, physical force it had been before. Opening the 2012 season, the Wildcats would be out muscled by North Dakota State on their own home field and things continued to go downhill from there.
Since the 2011 and 2012 seasons that saw the Wildcats win a combined 21 games, the Cats have had a couple of nine win seasons (including bowls), but have not really challenged or appeared able to challenge for a conference championship. No longer do emerging stars like a Tyler Lockett or Darren Sproles or Michael Bishop or Josh Buhl roam the field. How and why has this happened?