SE: K-State Seeks Complete Performance in Cactus Bowl Battle with UCLA

By Corbin McGuire

K-State has proven it can finish well.

The Wildcats (7-5) won four of their last five games of the regular season, including two double-digit comebacks. Against UCLA (6-6) in Tuesday's Cactus Bowl at 8 p.m. (CT), however, K-State knows it cannot count on conjuring up late-game magic.

"We put a great deal of emphasis on being able to finish. Finishing a play well, finishing a day well, finishing a practice well, finishing a week well, doing everything that we can do to finish ballgames well and certainly finish the season well," K-State head coach Bill Snyder said. "I just need to put more emphasis on getting started. That's part of the dialogue right now, is we need to be able to start this ballgame well."

Some Wildcats, such as senior linebacker Trent Tanking, were at the 2015 Alamo Bowl against the Bruins and remember how a slow start kept them from clinching a season-ending victory. K-State fell behind 31-6 by halftime before outscoring UCLA 29-9 in the second half, but it was not enough.

"We came out and they just punched us in the mouth," Tanking recalled. "It was just a fight-or-die mentality at halftime. We came out and fought back. We just know that UCLA is a great team and they're going to come out ready to go, so we have to come out and match that."

This season, K-State has outscored its opponents 226-144 in the first half, bolstered by a 148-73 advantage in the second quarter alone. To cap off an adversity-filled season, littered with key injuries and close losses, the Wildcats seek a complete performance.

"Obviously if we play consistently and then finish well, we'll have our marbles together, so to speak, but I was proud of them for being able to come back when things had not gone well," Snyder said, referring to K-State's four losses by seven or fewer points this season. "Those were not easy to take, quite obviously, and I was proud of the young people in our program for being able to respond to that."

At one point this season, the Wildcats dropped three games in a row. A double-overtime loss to Texas, in senior quarterback Jesse Ertz's last game, was followed by a 26-6 loss to then-No. 6 TCU. Next came a heart-breaking 42-35 loss to Oklahoma, one of four teams in this season's College Football Playoff.

From there, the Wildcats rattled off wins at Kansas, at Texas Tech and at Oklahoma State, while also knocking off Iowa State at the last second in the regular-season finale.

"We knew we had to come together and face adversity. Even when things got rough, we all just came together. Player reps and captains called meetings to see what the right thing was for us to do. We knew we weren't going to give up," junior receiver Byron Pringle said. "We were going to fight through it. Everybody was going to come together. Everybody was going to dominate their position, not worry about other positions, and just focus on what they need to do to contribute and make the team much better."

When another injury at quarterback thrust redshirt freshman Skylar Thompson into the starting role, the young Wildcat helped turn the tables for K-State. Thompson earned Big 12 Newcomer of the Week twice for his performances against Oklahoma State and Iowa State, both crucial victories that allowed the Wildcats to extend their bowl appearance streak to eight seasons.

"He's played great all year with his opportunities and he's only getting better. I feel like we've seen him grow each and every game," redshirt sophomore receiver Dalton Schoen said of Thompson. "We know he's going to go out there and play with confidence."

Defensively, K-State had multiple players step up late in the season as well.

Eli Walker filled in at safety for Kendall Adams against Iowa State, while redshirt freshman defensive back A.J. Parker gained some valuable experience with D.J. Reed out the last two games of the regular season.

Junior corner Duke Shelley, in his third year as a starter, said Walker and Parker possess a mentality shared by many Wildcats ready for their opportunity. Shelley said the same mindset must be brought on Tuesday, when K-State looks to win back-to-back bowl games for the first time since 1999-2000.

"Having those guys be able to think that they've been doing this their whole life and this is nothing different, it's just a bigger stage," he said. "If they get that in their head, then they go out playing loosely, with confidence and all the chips fall in place for them."

UCLA reached bowl eligibility with two wins in its last three games. Its only loss in that stretch came against then-No. 11 USC, 28-23. The Bruins, averaging 33.8 points a game, started the season off in exciting fashion as well. In their season-opener against Texas A&M, which K-State defeated in last year's Texas Bowl, the Bruins erased a 34-point deficit in the second half for a win.

From watching game film, that comeback performance certainly caught K-State's attention and reinforced what Snyder said would be crucial to earning a victory.

"Being able to play four quarters and finishing is something that we talk about as a program all the time — finishing, finishing, finishing," Shelley said. "Start and finish."

Kansas State University Athletics

SE: K-State Seeks Complete Performance in Cactus Bowl Battle with UCLA

Players Mentioned

Kendall Adams

Jesse Ertz

Byron Pringle

D.J. Reed

Dalton Schoen

Duke Shelley

Trent Tanking

Skylar Thompson

Eli Walker

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