With a fair amount of static that this could be The Legend’s final season, I felt it appropriate to take a look at what I feel are the 10 biggest wins between both of his tenures. I tried to choose the best games that both had a significant impact on the program and in Bill’s coaching career. Starting on August 23rd, I’ll be adding the next game in the countdown every day until kickoff. Enjoy.
#10
October 28th 1995 – #14 KSU 41, #6 KU 7
Billed (no pun intended) as the biggest Sunflower Showdown of all time going in, this was the very first matchup with both teams ranked. This would indeed be the most pivotal moment of the series’ history to date, as both programs have taken completely different paths ever since.
Kansas was in the midst of a program resurgence, finishing with winning seasons in three of the previous four years and entered the game undefeated coming off huge wins over #4 Colorado in Boulder and #15 Oklahoma in Norman. They had a pair of workhorses in the backfield in June Henley and JT Levine (both averaging more than five yards per carry) and a stifling defense.
The tone set was almost immediately, with KSU forcing a safety after the Jayhawk punter botched a snap into his own endzone on their very first possession. It only went downhill from there. The Wildcat defense harassed quarterback Mark Williams all day long and held the running game to just 30 yards on 19 carries. It was an early glimpse of what would become the “Lynch Mob” defense in the following years.
Running backs Mike Lawrence and Eric Hickson both eclipsed the 100 yard mark on the ground with a touchdown each and quarterback Matt Miller found wide receiver Kevin Lockett for two more scores as the Cats rolled to a 41-7 win.
This win was significant not only for the future of both programs (KU would finish 10-2 on the year, but they’ve had just *one* winning season ever since; KSU would win 11 games in 6 of the next 8 seasons) but also was Snyder’s first win over a top 10 opponent and one of three in his first stint.
(The game can be viewed in full HERE)
Jake is also a writer at www.big12country.com find his other stuff plus much more by clicking the link.
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