On a Mission to Prove Themselves Right
Nov 30, 2022 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Here we are inside the Vanier Family Football Complex, where No. 12 Kansas State is preparing to play No. 3 TCU in the 2022 Big 12 Championship Game, and where the Wildcats aren't intent upon proving the college football world wrong, as much as they are focused upon proving themselves right.
So often, K-State has been counted out through the years, the proverbial underdog role seemingly affixed like a badge of honor upon the purple-and-white uniforms like a Nike swoosh. And so many times through the years, the Wildcats have shown the nation why it's dangerous to write off a squad from a program that has long prided itself on proving itself right in the face of national skeptics.
That brings us to today. Same script. Different year.
"We're trying to do this for us," quarterback Will Howard says. "That's because we want to achieve our goal and win the Big 12. It's right there in front of us. It's one game, one step, away. We made this opportunity for ourselves."
It's been 19 years since K-State has been in this spot, preparing for a Big 12 title game, simply because there was no Big 12 title game between 2011 and 2016. Otherwise, K-State would have played in the league title game in 2011 and 2012.
But here we are, heading toward Saturday's 11 a.m. kickoff at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Inside a K-State football complex that at times carries an air of anticipation, there's emits a curious calmness that wafts across the room and upon the faces of players as they speak about this grand opportunity.
They're comfortable in their familiar role as the underdog.
"K-State has always had that image as long as I've been here and long before I've been here, and this year we've really embraced the role," sixth-year senior nose guard Eli Huggins says. "Every game, it's been us against the world."
Understand, K-State was picked fifth in the Big 12 standings, and the Wildcats appeared to be a hard-to-figure-out squad — one preseason publication projected the Wildcats as the dark horse to win the Big 12 title while others suggested that they might finish with six or seven victories.
"We don't really think too much about what people think of us," center Hayden Gillum says. "We know the work we've put in. A lot of our confidence just comes from the work we put in."
Huggins was at AT&T Stadium wearing a suit and a smile while representing K-State at Big 12 Media Days. Now he'll wear the No. 92 uniform and the Wildcats will don a collective snarl inside the same stadium where only a few reporters chose to speak with the underdog Wildcats back in July. Why? K-State just wasn't the sexy story. Again.
Nearly five months later, battle-tested K-State, 9-3 overall and 7-2 in the Big 12, has the nation talking.
"You just never know what's going to happen," Huggins says. "It's hard to get into the position we're in. For a second there, it really wasn't in our control. The way things shook out, we did what we needed to do to get to where we are now."
Time and time again, the Wildcats adopted their road-warrior mentality in successful business trips in Norman, Ames, Waco and Morgantown with their lone blemish a 38-28 loss to then-No. 8 TCU, which pushed the Horned Frogs over the Wildcats for first place in the league standings.
Now K-State gets TCU again, and…
"I don't want to say I'm happy we lost the first time, but it's hard to beat a team twice," Huggins says, "so I think we're in a good spot."
Since its defeat at TCU, K-State has won four of its last five games, closing the regular season by winning each of its final three games by no fewer than 17 points, including last Saturday's 47-27 victory over Kansas to earn the right to face the Horned Frogs in Arlington.
The Wildcats have earned the right, all right.
They've followed a familiar recipe — proving themselves right despite their underdog identity.
"We understood that's what we're comprised of," running back Deuce Vaughn says. "You're not going to see a bunch of guys who were heavily recruited out of high school on this football team. There's a lot of guys who've had to claw, scratch and try to get their way to this spot. Anytime we're the underdog, we have that chip on our shoulder.
"This is just another mountain we have to climb to be successful and be who we want to be. We all understand we've all had our mountain to get here."
That includes Howard, a junior who's climbed mountains throughout a promising career, experiencing some valleys in 2020 and 2021, and then several sweet victories this fall — one of which prompted teammates and students to carry him off the field.
"You always say that you want to prove everyone wrong, but I wanted to prove myself right, and that's what meant the most to me," Howard says. "It was cool to see that work out a little bit."
Now K-State prepares to prove itself right again, this time on a big stage, and at a time when others are counting out the Wildcats.
"This is what we've been preparing for," Vaughn says. "This is when you turn it on."
Manhattan is 500 miles from of Arlington. A sea of the purple will cross state lines, zipping through the state of Oklahoma that K-State owned this year, while each mile-marker along I-35 South shall serve as an incessant reminder that the Wildcats should never ever be counted out.
"Go back to the preseason and I don't think anybody thought we'd be here," Gillum says. "I don't know if a ton of people believe in us going into this weekend."
There was a time nearly two decades ago when absolutely nobody gave K-State a chance on this stage.
Those players knew they had something special. They sought to prove everyone wrong. But more than anything, they wanted to prove themselves right.
That team went on to beat top-ranked and undefeated Oklahoma, 35-7, in the 2003 Championship Game.
Here we are inside the Vanier Family Football Complex, where No. 12 Kansas State is preparing to play No. 3 TCU in the 2022 Big 12 Championship Game, and where the Wildcats aren't intent upon proving the college football world wrong, as much as they are focused upon proving themselves right.
So often, K-State has been counted out through the years, the proverbial underdog role seemingly affixed like a badge of honor upon the purple-and-white uniforms like a Nike swoosh. And so many times through the years, the Wildcats have shown the nation why it's dangerous to write off a squad from a program that has long prided itself on proving itself right in the face of national skeptics.
That brings us to today. Same script. Different year.
"We're trying to do this for us," quarterback Will Howard says. "That's because we want to achieve our goal and win the Big 12. It's right there in front of us. It's one game, one step, away. We made this opportunity for ourselves."
It's been 19 years since K-State has been in this spot, preparing for a Big 12 title game, simply because there was no Big 12 title game between 2011 and 2016. Otherwise, K-State would have played in the league title game in 2011 and 2012.
But here we are, heading toward Saturday's 11 a.m. kickoff at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Inside a K-State football complex that at times carries an air of anticipation, there's emits a curious calmness that wafts across the room and upon the faces of players as they speak about this grand opportunity.
They're comfortable in their familiar role as the underdog.
"K-State has always had that image as long as I've been here and long before I've been here, and this year we've really embraced the role," sixth-year senior nose guard Eli Huggins says. "Every game, it's been us against the world."
Understand, K-State was picked fifth in the Big 12 standings, and the Wildcats appeared to be a hard-to-figure-out squad — one preseason publication projected the Wildcats as the dark horse to win the Big 12 title while others suggested that they might finish with six or seven victories.
"We don't really think too much about what people think of us," center Hayden Gillum says. "We know the work we've put in. A lot of our confidence just comes from the work we put in."
Huggins was at AT&T Stadium wearing a suit and a smile while representing K-State at Big 12 Media Days. Now he'll wear the No. 92 uniform and the Wildcats will don a collective snarl inside the same stadium where only a few reporters chose to speak with the underdog Wildcats back in July. Why? K-State just wasn't the sexy story. Again.
Nearly five months later, battle-tested K-State, 9-3 overall and 7-2 in the Big 12, has the nation talking.
"You just never know what's going to happen," Huggins says. "It's hard to get into the position we're in. For a second there, it really wasn't in our control. The way things shook out, we did what we needed to do to get to where we are now."
Time and time again, the Wildcats adopted their road-warrior mentality in successful business trips in Norman, Ames, Waco and Morgantown with their lone blemish a 38-28 loss to then-No. 8 TCU, which pushed the Horned Frogs over the Wildcats for first place in the league standings.
Now K-State gets TCU again, and…
"I don't want to say I'm happy we lost the first time, but it's hard to beat a team twice," Huggins says, "so I think we're in a good spot."
Since its defeat at TCU, K-State has won four of its last five games, closing the regular season by winning each of its final three games by no fewer than 17 points, including last Saturday's 47-27 victory over Kansas to earn the right to face the Horned Frogs in Arlington.
The Wildcats have earned the right, all right.
They've followed a familiar recipe — proving themselves right despite their underdog identity.
"We understood that's what we're comprised of," running back Deuce Vaughn says. "You're not going to see a bunch of guys who were heavily recruited out of high school on this football team. There's a lot of guys who've had to claw, scratch and try to get their way to this spot. Anytime we're the underdog, we have that chip on our shoulder.
"This is just another mountain we have to climb to be successful and be who we want to be. We all understand we've all had our mountain to get here."
That includes Howard, a junior who's climbed mountains throughout a promising career, experiencing some valleys in 2020 and 2021, and then several sweet victories this fall — one of which prompted teammates and students to carry him off the field.
"You always say that you want to prove everyone wrong, but I wanted to prove myself right, and that's what meant the most to me," Howard says. "It was cool to see that work out a little bit."
Now K-State prepares to prove itself right again, this time on a big stage, and at a time when others are counting out the Wildcats.
"This is what we've been preparing for," Vaughn says. "This is when you turn it on."
Manhattan is 500 miles from of Arlington. A sea of the purple will cross state lines, zipping through the state of Oklahoma that K-State owned this year, while each mile-marker along I-35 South shall serve as an incessant reminder that the Wildcats should never ever be counted out.
"Go back to the preseason and I don't think anybody thought we'd be here," Gillum says. "I don't know if a ton of people believe in us going into this weekend."
There was a time nearly two decades ago when absolutely nobody gave K-State a chance on this stage.
Those players knew they had something special. They sought to prove everyone wrong. But more than anything, they wanted to prove themselves right.
That team went on to beat top-ranked and undefeated Oklahoma, 35-7, in the 2003 Championship Game.
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