For K-State and Bill Snyder, Cotton Bowl Matchup Presents Opportunities
by TB on Dec 20, 2011 7:34 PM CST
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Despite bitter disappointment over being left out of the Sugar Bowl, K-State's matchup with Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl presents an important opportunity for both the Wildcats and the Big 12. For K-State, the matchup presents the chance to prove, once again, that its 10-2 record is no chimera and that it belongs with the nation's other top teams. For the Big 12, it's a chance to put a chink in the SEC's armor and solidify its position along side the Southeastern as the top conference in the nation.
Of course, getting a win in the Cotton Bowl will require that the Wildcats solve the Tyler Wilson riddle, and K-State's defensive strength this season has not been stopping opposing aerial attacks. The Hogs rank 13th in the nation with 307.8 passing yards per game, and Wilson has thrown 22 touchdowns against only six interceptions on the season. Wilson is only 33rd in the nation with 407 attempts, and has an impressive 8.4 yards-per-attempt.
But it's not like K-State doesn't have advantages of its own to lean on. Arkansas was well below average at stopping the run this season, ranking only 80th in the country and giving up 174.3 yards per game. That would put them squarely in the middle of the Big 12 in stopping the run, and K-State averaged 185 rushing yards against Big 12 competition. For what it's worth, the Razorbacks were gashed by Texas A&M for 381 rushing yards. Arkansas was fairly solid against the quarterback rushing game, never allowing an opposing QB to exceed 100 yards rushing.
The Hogs are almost perfectly average in turnover margin, ranking 59th in the country with the same number of takeaways as giveaways on the season. With a +13 margin, K-State has a big advantage here and will need to capitalize against Arkansas. The Razorbacks averaged more than 1.5 turnovers per game, and if they give K-State two extra possessions in this game, the Wildcats will have an excellent chance at getting their first bowl win since 2002.
On the sidelines, you have to feel good about Bill Snyder matched up against anybody, but Bobby Petrino is no slouch. If the results in Liberty Mutual's online contest are any indication, Snyder buries Petrino in a landslide. But alas, that voting will have no effect on the game results. Instead, we'll have to trust that Snyder will use his team's month off to find the weaknesses to exploit in Arkansas' defense. The Scheme Doctor has undoubtedly been putting in some time in the film room the last few weeks. It probably doesn't hurt that Arkansas' defensive coordinator was fired resigned after the regular-season finale with LSU. The Razorbacks also have a nepotism problem of their own, as Bobby Petrino hired his brother, Paul, as Arkansas' new offensive coordinator at the beginning of December.
We heard just today that Les Miles beat out Snyder for the AP Coach of the Year Award, a disappointment given that Miles coached a team filled with NFL talent and Snyder took a makeshift roster picked to finish eighth in its own conference to 10-2 and eighth in the country. That's not to say that anyone who goes 13-0 in the SEC has done a poor job, but Snyder's work ranks as more impressive in my book. A win in Dallas on January 6th would be another argument in his favor.
Don’t forget to show support for your favorite coach by voting him as the 2011 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year at www.coachoftheyear.com
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Corporate Shill
When life hands you lemons, make grape juice. Let them wonder how the F*ck you did it.
Fight till Hell freezes over and then fight them on the ice.
From anyone but you, I'd consider that an insult
We'll carry the banner high!
Bring On The Cats
by TB on Dec 21, 2011 7:03 AM CST up reply actions
Something about the pot calling the kettle Blackcats?
Capitalism is a beautiful thing.
When life hands you lemons, make grape juice. Let them wonder how the F*ck you did it.
Fight till Hell freezes over and then fight them on the ice.
Miles for COTY?
I bet if you switched rosters, Miles wouldn’t have reached 10-2 like Snyder.
Miles would probably have a tough time getting 8-4
Part of the reason he won is because he “coached through controversy”. Yes they played a pretty tough schedule, but you could make the argument that our conference opponents were possibly better than theirs top to bottom. The other thing that gets me is that everyone EXPECTED LSU to be able to do this. NOBODY expected us to go 10-2 and have our only losses be to top ranked teams. This is another travesty of the media screwing K-State out of something that they deserve and honestly I’m getting a little sick of it and would love to just go beat the shit out of Arkansas to prove everyone wrong.
Agree
What a travishamockery this is. I’m frankly quite tired of the collective blowjob the SEC gets every single year.
"Jason Heyward was a Greek philosopher reincarnated as a baseball player." - Don Sutton
by UMDBHIK on Dec 21, 2011 6:24 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
agree
First to identify a TEWWT (so what if it was unintentional)
by Jeremy Sharp on Dec 21, 2011 8:16 AM CST up reply actions
as someone else pointed out...
if he was such a great coach, maybe his players would not have gotten into the foolishness they did and he would not have had as many controversies to coach through.
First to identify a TEWWT (so what if it was unintentional)
by Jeremy Sharp on Dec 21, 2011 8:18 AM CST up reply actions
We've seen what happens when he has lesser talent to work with.
Remember…he used to coach at Okie Lite, and I don’t remember him being COTY material.
First to identify a TEWWT (so what if it was unintentional)
by Jeremy Sharp on Dec 21, 2011 8:15 AM CST up reply actions
Les Miles is a lot more colorful and gives better quotes
I’m sure none of them would ever admit it, but I’d be willing to bet that played at least some sort of subconscious role for many voters.
The grass thing is pretty eccentric
Bobby Hill: What's a meat examination team?
Hank Hill: It's like a debate team, only instead of doing something useless you get to grade the cut and quality of meat!
Snythetic Pot I thought?
Whatever that means and it doesn’t even matter.
Bobby Hill: What's a meat examination team?
Hank Hill: It's like a debate team, only instead of doing something useless you get to grade the cut and quality of meat!
I meant "Doesn't even matter"
In “yeah it’s still illegal” sort of way.
Bobby Hill: What's a meat examination team?
Hank Hill: It's like a debate team, only instead of doing something useless you get to grade the cut and quality of meat!
Depends on the state...for now.
When life hands you lemons, make grape juice. Let them wonder how the F*ck you did it.
Fight till Hell freezes over and then fight them on the ice.
Don't be!
Despite bitter disappointment over being left out of the Sugar Bowl
You are in the far better game – the game more people will watch – and the game more people will remember (absent a Boise/OU type finish). I suppose the BCS prestige would have been nice, but this is a better game by every other standard.
Aye you be speaking the truth
Still, we’ve been to the Cotton Bowl before. It would have been nice to add the Sugar Bowl to our list vs an overrated Michigan squad. I don’t care if their overrated, it’s still a good scalp to have.
Bobby Hill: What's a meat examination team?
Hank Hill: It's like a debate team, only instead of doing something useless you get to grade the cut and quality of meat!
Agreed on all accounts
I’m not unhappy with the Cotton Bowl or the opponent.
I WOULD like to have a Sugar Bowl appearance to add to our list, as it is easier for us to get a Cotton Bowl invite (because of the conference ties) than a Sugar Bowl invite.
And yes, Michigan would be a nice “big name program” to add to our list (even though they have not been THE Michigan they once were for some time). No offense to Arkansas, but I think most people still think of Michigan as the more prestigious football program when comparing them to Arkansas.
First to identify a TEWWT (so what if it was unintentional)
by Jeremy Sharp on Dec 21, 2011 2:13 PM CST up reply actions
Still with the media bias
toward the SEC, this would be a great win. And Snyder might not say it but he knows full well the importance of this being the only game to judge the big 12 vs SEC. It does scare me in the sense that voters will not be able to ignore us with our QB and leading tackler back preseason top 10 next year with the win.
Bitchslapping Texas since 1997
Generally Speaking
People might say “that was a great win vs Arkansas” if we were to win, but if we beat Michigan? The generally ignorant American public would think Michigan is a far better win.
Bobby Hill: What's a meat examination team?
Hank Hill: It's like a debate team, only instead of doing something useless you get to grade the cut and quality of meat!
I agree with mjk
but MeatGeek, this is exactly what I meant. I think all of us here on BOTC know that Arkansas is a far superior opponent to Michigan, and the win will mean more, but in terms of historical perspective, and the “generally ignorant American public”, I think Michigan wins out (I mean, HELLO, why are they playing in the Sugar Bowl in the first place??? Isn’t that what we’ve all been talking about how they unfairly got invited because of their name and national following?)
First to identify a TEWWT (so what if it was unintentional)
by Jeremy Sharp on Dec 21, 2011 2:45 PM CST up reply actions
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