People Will Remember

By: D. Scott Fritchen

Where does the baseball go? And where does it sail? And where does it fall, this imaginary baseball that Chris Tennant hits with his imaginary bat seconds after drilling a game-winning field goal at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. There's a boy. A ball. A dream. Except the boy is all grown up now. He's a 6-foot-5, 226-pound field goal machine from Shawnee, Kansas, a 21-year-old special teams leader for the Kansas State Wildcats, and he has just launched an imaginary baseball over the celebratory fireworks and high above the crowd of 52,074 cheering so loudly that it vibrates the metal railings in the stands. We can only assume his mighty right-handed swing was a grand slam blast, like in the World Series, where dreams also come true, but, alas, this is no dream, the imaginary baseball bat swing celebration by Tennant was a mere sidebar to the biting reality that exists here in this moment, and that shouldn't be taken lightly.

There's 1 minute, 42 seconds left on the clock. It's the fourth quarter. Kansas leads No. 16 K-State, 27-26. It's just before 11 p.m. The game that has stretched more than 3 ½ hours has been an off-the-rails joyride of in-state passion, a Dillons Sunflower Showdown for the ages, so much pride, so many hoarse voices, so many songs by the K-State and KU marching bands, an array of hair-pulling moments awash in purple and white, blue and red, as school colors and visions begin to blur. When will it end? And how will it end? Yes, the game deserves a hero.

Then a moment later, the game finds its hero. He's about to hit the kick of his life. And then he'll reach down, pick up an imaginary bat, and drill an imaginary baseball to celebrate.

"I haven't always been that guy," Tennant will later tell reporters. "I'm glad to finally reach the point in my career where I'm confident and I make others around me confident."

Tennant is surrounded by reporters inside the team meeting room at the Vanier Family Football Complex. I mean, he is absolutely surrounded. The way reporters flock to Avery Johnson? Yeah, Tennant is getting that kind of treatment. Everybody hangs on his words. Everybody wants to know: How does it feel to hit the game-winning field goal?

It's fourth-and-8 at the Kansas 33-yard line. Tennant takes four steps backward, then two steps to the left. He is nearly lined up equal to the Powercat at midfield. K-State trails, 27-26. Less than 2 minutes remaining in the Sunflower Showdown. K-State's 15-game winning streak against Kansas is on the line. K-State's state pride is on the line. K-State's aspirations of reaching the Big 12 Championship Game is on the line.

"HERE IS CHRIS TENNANT, A KANSAS NATIVE!" ESPN play-by-play commentator Roy Philpott beams. "HIS CAREER LONG IS 51! THIS ATTEMPT FROM 51 YARDS AND FOR THE LEAD! TENNANT ON THE WAY! CHRIS TENNANT CONNECTS FROM DISTANCE! KANSAS STATE BACK IN FRONT!"

Don't go to bed just yet, the Sunflower Showdown is a two-point game with 102 seconds left 👀#Big12FB | 📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/L59yqbXZzR
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) October 27, 2024

The kick sails through the middle of the uprights — a 51-yard field goal that ties his career long. The kick could've gone much longer than 51 yards. It could've traveled 60.

"Coming to this field goal, I had this gut feeling, and I can't even describe it, and most people wouldn't even understand it," Tennant says, "but first quarter I knew, I knew there was going to be a big kick."

Tennant is no stranger to long kicks. He has made field goals of 43, 45, 48, 48 and 44 yards this season. His 51-yarder tied his career-long against SEMO last season. Oh, there's more. Tennant totaled nine points in the game and now has 238 career points to rank ninth in school history overall and fifth among kickers. His 37 career field goals made ties for sixth in school history. His 51-yarder was the third of his career of 50-plus yards, fifth all-time in K-State history.

"I'm going to tell you, the last month of watching Chris Tennant, I knew that was going in," K-State head coach Chris Klieman says. "I had no doubt in my mind. There was nobody on our sideline who had any doubt because for one month that kid in practice has done nothing but drill the football.

"It was exciting for him to do that being a senior from Kansas."

Being a senior from the state of Kansas, Tennant spoke earlier in the week. He spoke to his teammates. And what did he say? It still resonates with Johnson, a Wichita, Kansas, native, who felt the in-state pride during his first game as starting quarterback in the Sunflower Showdown.

"I don't really like to watch kicks, so I just listened," Johnson says. "Chris talked about legacy all week and what was going to be the legacy of our 2024 team. We still have a lot to write. But he definitely left his legacy on the game tonight.

"People will remember that for a long time."

Yes, people will remember. They will remember exactly where they were at when Tennant's field goal sailed through the uprights. They will remember the feeling. They will remember the sight. There were 52,074 in attendance and there were 52,074 different perspectives. Yes, there is more to write about the 2024 season. And that time will come. But for now, gaze upon the field one last time at the celebration and listen to the crowd roar and watch the K-State players lose their minds on the field. Watch it all and take it in. Let it soak in. Then let your eyes float toward midfield, the eye of the storm. Amid the celebration and elation as K-State takes a 29-27 lead, there's one person who is totally calm. And he's easy to find. He's the hero.

And he's swinging an imaginary bat.

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Avery Johnson

Chris Tennant

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