The Wildcats and Longhorns enter the football game in Austin on Saturday separated by just one game in Big 12 Conference standings. K-State (8-2, 5-2) will look to defeat the Texas Longhorns (6-3, 3-3) for their fourth straight win in the series.
The past three wins for the Wildcats have been games that will be talked about for years.
The first game was when Josh Freeman was a freshman here at K-State. Texas came into that game ranked fourth in the country and was in the running for a potential championship berth. Colt McCoy, also a freshman at the time, got hurt on the very first play of the game and was unable to go back into the game. That meant another freshman Jevon Snead, who would end up transferring to Mississippi to finish his career, would come into the game. Freeman had what might have been his signature moment in a Wildcat victory as he threw for 269 yards and had four total touchdowns in the 45-42 upset victory.
The following year, the Wildcats entered the game as double-digit underdogs, but injured Colt McCoy for the second straight year and were able to pull the upset. The special teams and defense scored 21 points, including touchdown returns by Jordy Nelson and James Johnson.
Last year, the Wildcats dominated the Longhorns and won the game 39-14. In what may have been Collin Klein’s coming-out party to the country as he rushed for 127 yards and two touchdowns. The Wildcat defense was also outstanding as they intercepted the Longhorns five times and never allowed the Longhorns to get into any kind of rhythm.
However, as exciting as those three victories have been for the Wildcats, the game on Saturday may just be the biggest of the four games.
With a win over the Longhorns, the Wildcats would more than likely cinch a Cotton Bowl berth, and still have a chance to possibly to play in a Bowl Championship Series bowl game.
The Cotton Bowl puts the No. 2 Big 12 Conference team against the No. 2 Southeastern Conference team. With Oklahoma State currently in position to play for a national title, that would most likely mean that Oklahoma would get put in the Fiesta Bowl, leaving the Wildcats the opportunity to play in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.