Kansas State University Athletics
An Opportunity to Take Momentum Into 2025
Dec 09, 2024 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
A purple hue might settle over the Valley of the Sun on December 26 and Kansas State hopes purple will be the color of the day on the football field as well as the Wildcats meet Rutgers at Chase Field for the Rate Bowl in Phoenix, Arizona.
"We'll travel really well," K-State head coach Chris Klieman said. "Kansas State always travels really well from the fan base to the families. Arizona is a great destination place to spend a Christmas."
K-State, 8-4, is one of just nine Power 4 schools to win at least eight games in each of the last four seasons, and it is tied for 16th nationally in making 25 bowl appearances since 1993.
Interestingly, the 1993 bowl game was called the Copper Bowl — a 52-17 win over Wyoming for the first-ever bowl victory in K-State history. K-State also appeared in the Insight.com Bowl (2001), Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl (2013) and Cactus Bowl (2017). Now the game is called the Rate Bowl.
K-State's five appearances in the bowl game is most of any school.
The Copper, Insight.com, Buffalo Wild Wings and Cactus Bowl games featured standout performances from the likes of Andre Coleman, Chad May, Ben Leber, Jake Waters, Tyler Lockett, Alex Delton and Denzel Goolsby. Who will be the next K-State player to bust out in the bowl game?
That will be decided after the 4:30 p.m. CT kickoff on December 26 in the bowl season's only Big 12-Big Ten matchup. The Big 12 has 22 appearances in the games' 34-year history with the most appearances and victories (15) of any conference.
"We're so excited to head to Phoenix and play in the Rate Bowl," Klieman said. "We're excited to compete against a great program in Rutgers. It's going to be a fun few days down there. Obviously, it's a chance to get more into some developmental with your players and a chance to send your seniors off the right way.
"This is an important game for both universities and football programs. I know the fans that come out for that game are going to be in for a treat because they're going to see two teams that play it the right way. We're excited to represent the Big 12 in Phoenix."
Rutgers, 7-5, is making its second Rate Bowl appearance and its second-straight bowl appearance overall. The Scarlet Knights won three of their final four games, clinching bowl eligibility with a win over Maryland before a win over Michigan State in the regular season finale secured their first back-to-back winning seasons since 2011-12.
"I'm looking forward to as many Rutgers people as we can get out there and that they come from around the country," Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano said. "There are alums spread out across the southwest and west coast, and hopefully they can join us. We're just looking forward to a great experience. We're playing a really, really good football team.
"Coach Klieman, I've never really competed with him, but I've followed his teams as a fan — all those national championships at North Dakota State and then what he's been able to do at Kansas State. I'm a head coach who goes home and loves to watch college football. I've caught some of their games and they're a really good football team. I love the way they play."
The Rate Bowl figures to be a meeting of two of the top running backs in the FBS.
Senior running back Kyle Monangai rushed for 129 yards on a career-high 31 carries and a touchdown in a 41-14 win at Michigan State. It marked his 14th career 100-yard game. He has 3,221 career yards, second most in school history. His 1,279 yards this season rank 15th in the FBS and are fourth most in single-season history.
"He's a fabulous player," Schiano said of the 5-foot-9, 209-pound Monangai. "We've had a great time with him over the last five years. He's developed and has become one of the best running backs in the country and has done a lot for Rutgers. He's a great example for our program."
K-State junior DJ Giddens ranks 12th in the FBS with 1,343 rushing yards and the Doak Walker Award semifinalist averages 6.55 yards per carry, which is on pace to break Darren Sproles' record of 6.49 yards per rushing attempt in 2003. Giddens has 16-straight games with at least 50 rushing yards, the longest such stretch since Daniel Thomas in 2009-10. His 3,087 rushing yards rank third all-time at K-State.
"DJ has just continued to grow each year as far as a pure every-down running back," Klieman said. "He can stay in the game on third down. He has really good hands out of the backfield. He's had a great career and to cap it off with another opportunity to play in a bowl game — he had a really good bowl game last year — DJ is one of those guys who's going to get his body back and perform at a high level."
Klieman is the first head coach to take K-State to a bowl game in five of his first six seasons. Subtract the COVID-ridden year of 2020 and the Wildcats have done nothing but go to the postseason.
K-State used a victory in the 2021 Texas Bowl to catapult itself into the 2022 season that resulted in a Big 12 Championship title and a berth in the Sugar Bowl.
Momentum in bowl games can be serious business.
"It's really important," Klieman said. "What you do this month takes momentum into January, February and March. We've been on both ends of that, winning a bowl game and losing a bowl game. What I'm most proud of is take the COVID year out of it and we've played in a bowl game every year that our staff has been here, and it's helped those guys, whether it's from an experience factor to just having some success with practices, without a doubt there's momentum that'll carry you into the winter and the spring.
"Those guys know they can empty the tank and leave it all on the line on December 26."
Schiano indicated that going to back-to-back bowl games could be a stepping stone for the Scarlet Knights.
"We have back-to-back bowl games now and this is something our fan base needs to get used to and we need to keep providing," Schiano said. "Now we have to go out and do a great job against a great opponent and I'm looking forward to it."
Klieman indicated that the roster could be fluid heading toward bowl preparation.
"I don't know all the guys that are going to play," he said. "Typically, you may have a player or two that elects not to (play). I don't know all those things right now, but the core of our football team will be ready to play and want to play and we're excited about that."
K-State would like to make a lasting statement after a bitter loss at Iowa State in the regular season finale.
"We'll get with the guys early this week, but I know they're excited about this opportunity getting to play in a lot warmer weather than what Ames, Iowa, was," Klieman said. "I know that playing a Big Ten school is something our guys are going to be excited about as well."
Schiano said that "we do what it takes to win" when it comes to offense and defense.
"Later in the year, we threw the ball more, but we love to run the ball and play defense," he said. "We do what it takes to win, but if we have our choice, we'd like to run the football and in our conference you have to be able to do that. The weather gets pretty bad at the end of the year as evidenced by our last game at Michigan State. It was a snow globe."
December 26 calls for sunshine and 59-degree temperatures in Phoenix.
"I know we'll have a lot of fans show up," Klieman said. "What a great opportunity to play a great team like Rutgers. It's an opportunity to spend time with our kids and pour into these guys a little bit more. These are tumultuous, difficult times in college athletics, but when you get an opportunity to take your group of guys to a bowl game, especially something as special as the Rate Bowl in Phoenix, it galvanizes everybody and excites everybody, and we can't wait to start bowl prep and come to Phoenix and enjoy the good weather."
A purple hue might settle over the Valley of the Sun on December 26 and Kansas State hopes purple will be the color of the day on the football field as well as the Wildcats meet Rutgers at Chase Field for the Rate Bowl in Phoenix, Arizona.
"We'll travel really well," K-State head coach Chris Klieman said. "Kansas State always travels really well from the fan base to the families. Arizona is a great destination place to spend a Christmas."
K-State, 8-4, is one of just nine Power 4 schools to win at least eight games in each of the last four seasons, and it is tied for 16th nationally in making 25 bowl appearances since 1993.
Interestingly, the 1993 bowl game was called the Copper Bowl — a 52-17 win over Wyoming for the first-ever bowl victory in K-State history. K-State also appeared in the Insight.com Bowl (2001), Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl (2013) and Cactus Bowl (2017). Now the game is called the Rate Bowl.
K-State's five appearances in the bowl game is most of any school.
The Copper, Insight.com, Buffalo Wild Wings and Cactus Bowl games featured standout performances from the likes of Andre Coleman, Chad May, Ben Leber, Jake Waters, Tyler Lockett, Alex Delton and Denzel Goolsby. Who will be the next K-State player to bust out in the bowl game?
That will be decided after the 4:30 p.m. CT kickoff on December 26 in the bowl season's only Big 12-Big Ten matchup. The Big 12 has 22 appearances in the games' 34-year history with the most appearances and victories (15) of any conference.
"We're so excited to head to Phoenix and play in the Rate Bowl," Klieman said. "We're excited to compete against a great program in Rutgers. It's going to be a fun few days down there. Obviously, it's a chance to get more into some developmental with your players and a chance to send your seniors off the right way.
"This is an important game for both universities and football programs. I know the fans that come out for that game are going to be in for a treat because they're going to see two teams that play it the right way. We're excited to represent the Big 12 in Phoenix."
Rutgers, 7-5, is making its second Rate Bowl appearance and its second-straight bowl appearance overall. The Scarlet Knights won three of their final four games, clinching bowl eligibility with a win over Maryland before a win over Michigan State in the regular season finale secured their first back-to-back winning seasons since 2011-12.
"I'm looking forward to as many Rutgers people as we can get out there and that they come from around the country," Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano said. "There are alums spread out across the southwest and west coast, and hopefully they can join us. We're just looking forward to a great experience. We're playing a really, really good football team.
"Coach Klieman, I've never really competed with him, but I've followed his teams as a fan — all those national championships at North Dakota State and then what he's been able to do at Kansas State. I'm a head coach who goes home and loves to watch college football. I've caught some of their games and they're a really good football team. I love the way they play."
The Rate Bowl figures to be a meeting of two of the top running backs in the FBS.
Senior running back Kyle Monangai rushed for 129 yards on a career-high 31 carries and a touchdown in a 41-14 win at Michigan State. It marked his 14th career 100-yard game. He has 3,221 career yards, second most in school history. His 1,279 yards this season rank 15th in the FBS and are fourth most in single-season history.
"He's a fabulous player," Schiano said of the 5-foot-9, 209-pound Monangai. "We've had a great time with him over the last five years. He's developed and has become one of the best running backs in the country and has done a lot for Rutgers. He's a great example for our program."
K-State junior DJ Giddens ranks 12th in the FBS with 1,343 rushing yards and the Doak Walker Award semifinalist averages 6.55 yards per carry, which is on pace to break Darren Sproles' record of 6.49 yards per rushing attempt in 2003. Giddens has 16-straight games with at least 50 rushing yards, the longest such stretch since Daniel Thomas in 2009-10. His 3,087 rushing yards rank third all-time at K-State.
"DJ has just continued to grow each year as far as a pure every-down running back," Klieman said. "He can stay in the game on third down. He has really good hands out of the backfield. He's had a great career and to cap it off with another opportunity to play in a bowl game — he had a really good bowl game last year — DJ is one of those guys who's going to get his body back and perform at a high level."
Klieman is the first head coach to take K-State to a bowl game in five of his first six seasons. Subtract the COVID-ridden year of 2020 and the Wildcats have done nothing but go to the postseason.
K-State used a victory in the 2021 Texas Bowl to catapult itself into the 2022 season that resulted in a Big 12 Championship title and a berth in the Sugar Bowl.
Momentum in bowl games can be serious business.
"It's really important," Klieman said. "What you do this month takes momentum into January, February and March. We've been on both ends of that, winning a bowl game and losing a bowl game. What I'm most proud of is take the COVID year out of it and we've played in a bowl game every year that our staff has been here, and it's helped those guys, whether it's from an experience factor to just having some success with practices, without a doubt there's momentum that'll carry you into the winter and the spring.
"Those guys know they can empty the tank and leave it all on the line on December 26."
Schiano indicated that going to back-to-back bowl games could be a stepping stone for the Scarlet Knights.
"We have back-to-back bowl games now and this is something our fan base needs to get used to and we need to keep providing," Schiano said. "Now we have to go out and do a great job against a great opponent and I'm looking forward to it."
Klieman indicated that the roster could be fluid heading toward bowl preparation.
"I don't know all the guys that are going to play," he said. "Typically, you may have a player or two that elects not to (play). I don't know all those things right now, but the core of our football team will be ready to play and want to play and we're excited about that."
K-State would like to make a lasting statement after a bitter loss at Iowa State in the regular season finale.
"We'll get with the guys early this week, but I know they're excited about this opportunity getting to play in a lot warmer weather than what Ames, Iowa, was," Klieman said. "I know that playing a Big Ten school is something our guys are going to be excited about as well."
Schiano said that "we do what it takes to win" when it comes to offense and defense.
"Later in the year, we threw the ball more, but we love to run the ball and play defense," he said. "We do what it takes to win, but if we have our choice, we'd like to run the football and in our conference you have to be able to do that. The weather gets pretty bad at the end of the year as evidenced by our last game at Michigan State. It was a snow globe."
December 26 calls for sunshine and 59-degree temperatures in Phoenix.
"I know we'll have a lot of fans show up," Klieman said. "What a great opportunity to play a great team like Rutgers. It's an opportunity to spend time with our kids and pour into these guys a little bit more. These are tumultuous, difficult times in college athletics, but when you get an opportunity to take your group of guys to a bowl game, especially something as special as the Rate Bowl in Phoenix, it galvanizes everybody and excites everybody, and we can't wait to start bowl prep and come to Phoenix and enjoy the good weather."
Players Mentioned
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