■ After engineering a 40-30 win
over NU, the KSU quarterback gets
the nod from some Big 12 coaches as
the league’s best offensive weapon.
By James Nicas
Staff writer
Throughout the season, people around the
country have been making the push for Texas run
ning back Ricky Williams to win the Heisman tro
I-pby
Aitnougn Williams is still
the front-runner for the
Heisman, the same probably
cannot be said for Williams as
the Big 12 offensive player of
the year.
After Kansas State’s 40-30
victory over Nebraska on
Saturday, many coaches
around the conference said
Bishop KSU quarterback Michael
Bishop is the leading candidate
for the Big 12 offensive player of the year.
Understandably so. Bishop has thrown for
2,346 yards this season while throwing for 20
touchdowns and only two interceptions. He’s KSU’s
second-leading rusher, with 543 yards and 12
touchdowns.
Williams’ credentials are strong, too. The senior
from San Diego has 1,865 yards and 27 touch
downs. He needs 135 yards against Texas A&M to
reach 2,000 and 63 to eclipse Tony Dorsett’s record
of6,082 career rushing yards in Division I football.
Even though Williams has received the atten
uuu uiai gucs wiui ms accom
plishments, Oklahoma State
Coach Bob Simmons said
Bishop has proven his merit for
the award.
“You have to consider what
Bishop has done for his football
team this year, and the fact that
they are playing in the champi
onship game would make me
choose Michael Bishop,”
Simmons said.
Last Saturday’s effort against
the Cornhuskers helped many
coaches decide Bishop is the top
offensive player in the league.
Despite four turnovers, Bishop
ran for 140 yards, threw for 306
yards and accounted tor four touchdowns.
“Bishop is a guy, because he touches the ball
every snap, that is more dangerous,” Missouri
Coach Larry Smith said. “He can hurt you so many
ways, and Williams is the top back in the confer
ence, if not the country, but Bishop is the same at
quarterback.”
Bill Snyder, the normally tight-lipped Kansas
State coach, was quick to offer praise for his quar
terback, who he said last week was the main reason
KSU was undefeated. He accounted 81 percent of
the Wildcats’ offense against the Huskers to Bishop.
“His ability allows him to do so many things,”
Snyder said. “He can throw, run and is even our
back-up punter. He is a great runner, but he is a
quarterback who can run, not a running back who is
ai quarieroacK.
Even though Bishop has
received a lot of his attention
later in the year, Williams has
been in the spotlight since the
beginning of the season.
Since returning to Texas for
his senior season, Williams has
been the front-runner for the
Heisman and presumably for
the Big 12 offensive player of
the year.
Many pundits have ruled
against awarding Williams the
Heisman for career achieve
ments. Texas A&M Coach R.C.
Slocum said that career accom
plishments can be taken into
account when deciding for this year s award.
“I have to go with Ricky Williams, because he
has had a tremendous impact on his football team,”
Slocum said. “For what he has done in his life and
career, it will be difficult for him not to win it.”
In a diplomatic response, Baylor Coach Dave
Roberts gave a suggestion that could please both
sides on die player-of-the-year debate.
“Maybe both of them can be co-players of the
year,” Roberts said. “Both have played us, and they
were incredible, so I hope there is a tie.”
Who’s the bestP
Here are the numbers comparing Michael
Bishop and Ricky Williams this season:
Bishop
Att-Comp Yds. TD
Passing 132 - 243 2,346 20
Car. Yds. TD
Rushing 126 543 12
Williams
Car.* Yds. TD
Rushing 317 1,865 26
Cat Yds. TD
Receiving 19 226 1
Husker women
get at-large bid
for NCAA meet
NCAA from page 7
agreed Dirksen’s surprise would be
their greatest advantage for the
NCAA meet
“I think this is going to pull our
team together even more,” Wiseman
said. “Before, it was like, ‘Our sea
son’s over. This is it.’ Now, all of the
sudden, we have something to prove.
We thought it was over. We’re in it,
and we can do it”
For the NU men, the story was just
the opposite.
The Huskers finished 13th in the
field of 22 teams and were paced by
senior Lou Petricca, who had his best
race of the year. Petricca finished the
10,000-meter race in 32:15.40 for
43rd place.
Junior Tony Smith was next for
NU in 51st place with a 32:33.80.
Chris Bailey of Illinois State won the
individual Crown in 30:52.60, while
Oklahoma State grasped the men’s
team title with 42 points.
“We thought we were prepared to
really pull something out,” Smith
said. “It was just one of those days
where not everybody was on. We
didn’t live up to what we thought we
could do.”
A&M, KSU to play in title game
From staff reports
What had been feared by many
Nebraska players, coaches and fans
was made official Saturday: The
_ Cornhuskers
will not be mak
ing a return trip
to the Big 12
Championship.
_ However,
Texas A&M
will make a
return trip, this
time to St.
Louis, where it
- will play
Slocum Kansas State on
Dec. 5 as part of
the Dr Pepper conference champi
onships series to be televised by ABC.
i
The Wildcats are 10-0 this season,
No. 1 in the USA Today/ESPN
Coaches’ Poll and No. 2 in The
Associated Press Poll. KSU solidified
its spot with a 40-30 win over
Nebraska on Saturday.
Texas A&M is 10-1 this season,
with the only loss a 23-14 setback to
Florida State in the Kickoff Classic.
The Aggies stand sixth in both polls.
A&M advanced to the title game by
virtue of a 17-14 win over Missouri
on Saturday. A&M lost to Nebraska
54-16 in the 1997 Big 12
Championship but defeated NU 28
21 this year in College Station.
“I think it will be a very good
matchup,” NU Coach Frank Solich
said. “Kansas State has a great
offense, and Texas A&M has great
defense. I’m sure both teams will play
very well.”
Before both teams reach the title
game, each has critical games that
weigh heavily in the national picture.
KSU plays Missouri this week, while
Texas A&M travels to Texas on Nov.
26.
The other conference champi
onship games have yet to be set. The
SEC Championship game already
had Arkansas as one participant,
while Tennessee, which beat the
Razorbacks 28-24 Saturday, needs to
win one of its last two games to get
in.
The race for the WAC
Championship remains up in the air.
Traditional powers Brigham Young
and San Diego State are tied for one
spot in the conference while Air
Force and Wyoming vie for the other.
§■■■■■■■■
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Brown’s extra-point streak
comes to an end at KSU
BROWN from page 7
It was the first miss for Brown this
season - a season that has been full of
disappointments, Brown said, not only
for himself, but for the team.
“It’s not a year I planned on hav
ing,” Brown said. “I’m not doing the
thincrc TVt hnrwt tn _ ,
do, but it’s just a
part of athletics. It’s
part of being a
competitor.”
Since Brown’s
holder, Frankie
London, suffered a
season-ending
injury in the
Kansas game,
Brown said he has
been in a bit of a
slump.
He said work
mg wim London on so many repeunons
throughout the year and in practice
made the two of them almost machine
like, producing extra points and field
goals automatically.
Since London’s injury, quarterback
Eric Crouch has held for Brown.
“Eric’s done a good job,” Brown
said. “But it’s not something you want
to happen - a kicker losing his holder in
the middle of die season. I think it’s had
some effect on me mentally.”
As far as the record, Young said it
hasn’t been a big concern of Brown’s.
“He’s a team player. He just wants
to do what he can to help the team get a
victory,” Yovmg said. “The kick’s proba
_a. _a. _
uiy iiui uiai isig ui a
milestone for him.
That’s just the kind
ofplayerheis.”
Record or not,
Brown has confi
dence that he’ll get i
another shot
against Colorado
on Nov. 27, know
ing that the
Nebraska offense
will continue to put
the ball in the end
zone.
“For me, it says more about the
team and what this team has done,”
Brown said. “For me to kick extra
points, we had to get in the end zone
that many times.
“It’s more of a team deal. I was just
in the right place, at the right time, for
the right team to put the ball through the
uprights.”
it
I’m not doing the
things Id hoped
to do, but its just a
part of athletics
Kris Brown
NU kicker
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