Kansas State boasts one of the top running backs, as well as a QB at ease in ground games.
By Associated Press
Published January 2, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz. - Recent history carries ominous implications for Ohio State in tonight's matchup with Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl.
Five weeks ago, in Ohio State's regular-season finale at Michigan, Chris Perry shredded the Buckeyes' vaunted run defense for 154 yards and two touchdowns in the Wolverines' 35-21 victory.
Not only do the Wildcats have All-America running back Darren Sproles, Ell Roberson is one of the nation's best running quarterbacks.
"That makes it exponentially more difficult when the quarterback has to be accounted for," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. "That's a whole new world and you have to do a good job of maybe keeping them off balance."
No team entered the bowl season on a bigger roll than Kansas State. The Wildcats, seemingly finished after a three-game skid, have won seven in a row, outscoring opponents 271-60.
They burned then-No. 1 and unbeaten Oklahoma for 519 yards in a 35-7 victory in the Big 12 Championship Game, earning Kansas State its first BCS berth.
"It's going to be extremely difficult," Ohio State defensive tackle Tim Anderson said. "This is probably one of the most high-powered offenses in the country.
"They obviously have a tremendous backfield with Sproles and Roberson, a receiving corps that's very good and probably one of the best offensive lines we've seen all year, if not the best."
Sproles rushed for a school-record 1,948 yards this season, 1,021 in the past five games. Roberson, despite missing 21/2 games with a wrist injury, needs 67 yards to be the third player in Division I history to rush for 1,000 yards and pass for 2,000 in the same season.
"I couldn't ask for a better year in the way we came back and showed everybody that we still are a team, when a lot of people doubted us," said Roberson, a senior who holds several school records, including career total offense.
The Michigan debacle has motivated the Buckeyes defense.
"Everybody on defense knows that's not how we normally play," Anderson said. "I know nobody's happy with that performance. This is a way for us to kind of come back and redeem ourselves."
The No. 8 Wildcats (11-3) are 71/2-point favorites over the No. 7 Buckeyes (10-2). But Ohio State was an underdog in the Fiesta Bowl a year ago, then beat Miami 31-24 in double overtime to win the national championship.
Tressel and his players say their practices leading up to this game have been at least as intense as they were a year ago.
"I think there's no question they will give the same kind of effort they did last year," Tressel said. "We're going to have to play better than we did a year ago to be successful, but I'm convinced that emotionally they're going to be ready to go."
Ohio State's offense ranked only eighth in the Big Ten, but its rushing defense is No. 1 nationally, allowing 60.5 yards per game, 1.9 yards per carry, even with the bad day in Ann Arbor.
The Buckeyes won two games without an offensive touchdown.
"They have an excellent punter, so field position is a major issue," Kansas State coach Bill Snyder said.
"They have just been a team of minimal mistakes, a field position football team. You look at how you can neutralize that. You don't want your offense starting 80 or 90 yards from the goal line on every possession. Ohio State has the ability to make you do that."
The teams never have played each other, and Kansas State sees the game as another opportunity to enhance its national reputation.
"We are going to be playing harder than ever," linebacker Bryan Hickman said. "It's a big game, one of the biggest in K-State history. I know the whole team will be ready for this one."
