Shutout savored by Cats

By KEVIN HASKIN

The Capital-Journal

MANHATTAN ---There was one reason the Kansas State starting defensive unit was on the field late in the fourth quarter Saturday night and you can count it with no hands.

The Wildcats wanted to launch Bill Snyder's 11th season as K- State's coach with the 11th shutout during that span. They succeeded, drilling Temple 40-0.

The risk of injury didn't factor into the decision to reactivate a unit that apparently hasn't slipped at all under new coordinator Phil Bennett.

"Frank Murphy got hurt running over ropes over the course of the summer and had to have a screw in his foot because of it," Snyder reasoned. "You can get hurt doing anything.

"You're going to have to play, and those guys are going to have to be on the field during conference play, maybe this weekend. You can't run scared."

The only reason Temple threatened at all was because backups Adam Helm and Eric Gooden mishandled a pitch and gave the Owls their first possession in K-State territory with 5:32 remaining.

The Owls reached the Wildcat 2 and could have logically settled for a field goal after also getting blanked 6-0 in their opener by Maryland. But coach Bobby Wallace elected to try for the touchdown, and Marcus Godfrey was ridden out of bounds on fourth down by Lamar Chapman and Mark Simoneau.

Shutout preserved. So was a streak of consecutive seasons (now six) that K-State has blanked at least one opponent.

The win earned the Wildcats a No. 16 ranking in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today college polls.

"That's the goal: to shut somebody out, and we got it," said Simoneau, the Cats' leading tackler with nine stops. "Defensively, we could be better than last year. We have talent. It's just a matter of stepping up and making plays."

K-State was good enough in the opener to reduce its tackling opportunities, limiting the Owls to 56 plays, which generated just six first downs and 82 total yards.

The starring role featured senior end Darren Howard, who forced two fumbles and also returned an interception 22 yards for a touchdown.

"I don't think there was anybody that really didn't play well (defensively)," Snyder said. "I thought we got around the ball effectively, I thought we played hard, I don't think we missed much in the way of assignments, I thought we did some of the little things very well, guys just getting their hands up trying to get into throwing lanes."

Quick kicks

--- Fullback Johnno Lazetich was released Sunday from Mercy Health Center after suffering a mild concussion. Snyder said Lazetich was doubtful for Saturday's game against Texas-El Paso. Juco transfer Joe Hall, who rushed six times for 22 yards against Temple, will work at fullback this week with Ryan Payne.

--- Linebacker Jason Kazar was doing OK Sunday after injuring his left arm. "There's still some tests that I haven't gotten results back on," Snyder said. "After the ball game I was told it was broken, but I'm not sure that's the case."

--- Damion McIntosh will continue to work on offense despite not starting against Temple. A two-year defensive starter who was to help bolster depth on the offensive front is "making progress," Snyder said, "but maybe not as rapidly as I had hoped."

--- K-State was one of four Division I-A programs to win each of its season openers in the 1990s, joining Nebraska, Florida and Florida State.

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