HOWARD RICHMAN / The Kansas City Star | Posted: Saturday, October 14, 2006 7:00 pm
MANHATTAN, Kan. — Nebraska defensive end Jay Moore paid Kansas State quarterback Josh Freeman quite a compliment.
“You know what? He’s a heck of a quarterback,” Moore said. “He’s going to be a great quarterback.”
Moore could be on to something. We’ll see. But until he has thrown more touchdown passes than the Huskers’ kick holder, even Freeman likely would reserve judgment on his place among QB immortals.
All the 21st-ranked and Big 12 North front-runner Huskers really needed in their 21-3 victory against K-State was a trick play on the back end of Nebraska’s opening drive by an unlikely source to doom Freeman and the Wildcats.
Kicker Jordan Congdon lined up to boot a 34-yard field goal, but sophomore holder Jake Wesch shocked K-State by taking the snap and rolling out, where he found tight end Hunter Teafatiller wide- open for a 17-yard TD.
Wesch, NU’s backup kicker, now has one career TD pass.
Freeman, who gave the Huskers all the motivation they needed for this one when he changed his mind on the oral commitment, has zero TD passes and six interceptions, including two Saturday.
Freeman shouldered a chunk of the blame as K-State dropped to 4-3 overall and1-2 in the Big 12. For Nebraska, it was its first win at K-State in 10 years.
“I wish I could go back and play it again,” said Freeman, 23-of-47 for 272 yards. “There’s things I would have done differently that maybe would give us a better chance to win. I felt like I played like I can play. A couple times the ball got away from me. I’ve got to keep grinding, keep fighting.”
Nebraska (6-1 and 3-0) took the fight to K-State with that spiffy fake. Prince didn’t apologize for not reading it correctly.
“We’ve tried to be aggressive. That’s an example of what can happen when you do that,” he said.
K-State defensive end Ian Campbell’s take on it: “We have to be aggressive and have to be smart. We weren’t too smart.”
It doesn’t take a genius to realize what ails K-State.
The rushing attack has been extremely inconsistent, and it took a giant step backward Saturday. The Wildcats totaled only 22 yards in 18 carries. Considering 38 of those yards came on a fake punt that Daniel Gonzalez pulled off, the Wildcats are destined for a return trip to the drawing board in the run game.
K-State true freshman Leon Patton, who had 151 yards on 21 carries against Oklahoma State a week earlier, had just 13 yards on 12 carries against Nebraska.
“When the game is one-dimensional, they (the Huskers) can make the game very difficult,” Prince said.
The failure to run put K-State in tough third-down situations, and it proved to be costly. The Wildcats converted only one of 13 third downs.
The Wildcats had to be uncomfortable being behind 14-0 at halftime.
Nothing seemed to go their way, including a field-goal try right before halftime. Jeff Snodgrass came on to try a 53-yarder. The Huskers called a timeout, then another one. When K-State lined up, it moved Snodgrass back, making it a 54-yarder. It came up just short.
K-State also went 0-2 on official reviews. The second time, Husker wide receiver Maurice Purify was ruled to have made a 32-yard catch when it was determined his left knee touched the ground before he fumbled. The next play, I-back Marlon Lucky scored on a 40-yard run to make it a 21-0 game with 8:55 left in the third quarter.
Somebody asked Freeman if losing to the Huskers was extra painful. He shook his head, and did so with more freedom than he could shake Nebraska defenders.
“It’s just another loss. It hurts if we lose to anybody,” Freeman said.