Bill Snyder Wants More Than First Place in Big 12 North

It looks like Kansas State is the surprise of the Big 12 North. For some, it's no coincidence the Wildcats' resurrection is coming under the return of the man who built the program from virtually nothing.

The Wildcats put the hammer down on Colorado, 20-6, Saturday to strengthen their stand as the leader of the eroding North Division. K-State has now won two straight and three of its first four in the Big 12 for its best start in league play since 2000. To think, this was to be a rebuilding year with Bill Snyder coming out of retirement to resuscitate his once proud program.

But for those who were expecting to see smiles and hear tear-jerking tirades of returning K-State to its rightful place with a 3-1 league record, you were definitely disappointed.

Old-school Snyder let his team have it in the postgame locker room after they failed to produce even one second-half point in the win over the Buffaloes in Bill Snyder Family Stadium. And he was still just as livid taking the postgame podium as reporters tried to elicit feel-good comments about being alone in first place in the North standings on a day when Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri and faltered.

In a span of a week Snyder went from watching his team put up 62 on A&M to bumbling and stumbling in the second half against Colorado. Credit the Wildcats' defense for pitching a second-half shutout while the offense fell asleep at the wheel.

"The name of this game for us is trying to get better. We got better on defense and I am proud of that," Snyder said. "We did not get better on offense. It is all about preparing well and playing well. It is no more complex than that.

"If you finish well, it means you played well and prepared well. If you do not, that means you did not prepare well or play well. Half of our game we did not prepare well or play well."

Perhaps Snyder's tirade had less to do with being in the moment of Saturday's win and more to do with understanding what's ahead and how the mistakes of the Wildcats past could easily derail one heck of a comeback season.

Sure, the Wildcats have shown signs of playing like classic Snyder teams in a brilliant 62-14 win last week against Texas A&M with stifling defense, efficient offense and hard-hitting special teams play. But there have been many more signs the Wildcats have a ways to go before they will be the program that controlled the North with Nebraska in the 1990s and early in the millennium.

Giving credence to the belief that the North is weaker than ever are the non-conference 17-15 defeat the Wildcats suffered at UL-Lafayette this season and that 66-14 defeat at the hands of South division foe Texas Tech a few weeks ago.

So we all see the type of team Kansas State is capable of falling back into. That could be detrimental with pivotal games coming up this week at Oklahoma followed by a North gut-check against Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska to finish out the regular season. One more slip up might adversely affect the Wildcats in the North division standings, but two defeats could open the door for a wild finish in the Big 12's weaker half.

"Do not misunderstand me, I am just angry," said Snyder. "I am proud of them and I am proud that collectively, we have won a ball game. I am proud wherever we are in the conference and that we have won however many games we have. If that was the only deal, I would be a happy camper. But that is not what we are about and that is not what we are trying to be about. And I do not want them to feel good about playing poorly or coaching poorly."

Don't be confused, the Wildcats have some real deficiencies at quarterback this season. Carson Coffman obviously isn't the answer, which has forced Snyder to turn to well-traveled fifth-year senior Grant Gregory as a one-year stop gap.

But what Snyder does have is an effective ground attack with junior college transfer back Daniel Thomas leading the way. The former JUCO All-American plowed his way Saturday to a career-best 145 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries in helping the Wildcats play keep away from Colorado.

"You know, I think that's what they focus on," said Colorado defensive end Marquez Harold, who had to come head-to-head with the 6-foot-2, 227-pound Thomas on a number of occasions Saturday. "They focus on running the ball and managing the clock. They got a good, fast, hard running guy back there. You know they stick with it. We stopped them a few times, but they always kept coming back to the run."

Defensively, the Wildcats are playing with the pride and determination that made them feared prior to Snyder's retirement. Sure the offense didn't give the Wildcats much in the second half, but the Buffaloes offense mustered even less after going scoreless following a game-opening scoring drive. CU quarterback Tyler Hansen specifically the offense in general were harassed all day into four sacks and four turnovers thanks to the play of linebacker Ulla Pomele, defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald and free safety Emmanuel Lamur.

"We owe this win to the defense because we came out in the second half and did not do much offensively," Gregory admitted. "At halftime we were feeling pretty good, we felt like we could duplicate what we did in the first half, but we didn't do much on offense. Colorado played well defensively, but we did not do what we needed to do offensively."

But what about being alone at the top of the Big 12 North and seemingly in control of their division fate?

"A win is a win," Gregory said. "It feels good to be 3-1 right now."

Even Snyder had to finally admit he was somewhat proud of his guys who have bounced back from the deflating defeat against Texas Tech with back-to-back wins.

"My thinking is we went into the Texas Tech game with an opportunity to improve ourselves and we did not do it," he said. "So it was significant for us to come back. I knew we could be better and that is all I can ask of these young guys."