Wildcats Waltz By Cyclones
Nov 09, 2002 | Football
Nov 9, 2002
Final Stats?|?Quotes?|?Notes
By DOUG TUCKER
AP Sports Writer
MANHATTAN, Kan. - Bobby Walker intercepted two Seneca Wallace passesand returned them for touchdowns 23 seconds apart as No. 12 Kansas State routedNo. 21 Iowa State 58-7 Saturday night.
The Wildcats (8-2, 4-2 Big 12) followed those two plays with two more quicktouchdowns off turnovers in a 28-point third-quarter burst that led to theirbiggest margin of victory in a series that's been played every year since 1917.
The week before, Kansas State crushed Kansas 64-0 in the most lopsided winin the 100-game history of that rivalry.
It was the Cyclones' most lopsided loss since a 56-3 setback to Oklahoma in1987. Iowa State (7-4, 4-3), which has enjoyed a rebirth in coach DanMcCarney's eighth season, came into the game still hoping to compete for theBig 12 North title.
But in their ninth straight loss to Kansas State, the Cyclones lost threefumbles, threw three interceptions and were penalized 12 times for 100 yards.
Ell Roberson and Darren Sproles each scored two touchdowns and Sprolesbecame the sixth Kansas State running back to go over 1,000 yards in a season.
Sproles, who had 103 yards on 18 carries, hit the 1,000-yard plateau on his159th carry of the season, breaking the school record of 1,000 yards in 192carries set by Isaac Jackson in 1973.
His sixth straight 100-yard game tied Jackson's school record.
Walker, a senior cornerback, set a school record with two interceptionreturns in a game and tied the school mark with three in a season.
Wallace, who had a school-record 493 yards of total offense the week beforeagainst Missouri, was 11-of-26 for 162 yards and three interceptions. He had 4yards rushing. Lane Danielsen caught 8 passes for 133 yards.
The Cyclones had a dismal first half, committing 10 penalties for 74 yardsand rushing for 17 yards on 17 carries.
The Cyclones were called for having 12 men on defense on Kansas State'ssecond touchdown, a 1-yard run by Roberson following Josh Buhl's recovery ofWallace's fumble on the Iowa State 12.
At that point, the Cyclones had run four plays and had minus-3 yards and aturnover while Kansas State had a 13-0 lead. Roberson's 28-yard run on KansasState's fourth play of the game put the Wildcats up 7-0.
About five minutes into the third quarter, Walker intercepted his first passand went 45 yards into the end zone. Then he picked off Wallace's next pass andwent 26 yards, scoring at the 10:01 mark for a 44-7 lead.
In the ensuing minutes, Sproles scored on a 5-yard run and Travis Wilsonscored on a 4-yard run, both following Iowa State fumbles.
Ayo Saba had a 4-yard TD run and Jamie Rheem kicked a 35-yard field goal inthe second quarter for the Wildcats.
