Kansas State: Reloading Wildcats look to continue success

To contend in the Big 12 this season, Kansas State must go into Norman or Lincoln and prevail.

Sounds like the old Big Eight, only the Wildcats rarely triumphed in either of those places, let alone bid for championships.

Now, a Sept. 29 date at Oklahoma is circled with such vengeance it pokes a hole through the calendar.

OU tripped K-State twice last season, first in Manhattan and then in the Big 12 championship game, en route to the national championship.

Wildcats at a glance

SportsLine.com rank: 11

2000: 11-3 overall; 6-2 Big 12 (1st North)

Coach: Bill Snyder -- 99-43-1 in 12 years at Kansas State and overall

Returning starters: 10; 6 offense, 3 defense, punter

Players to watch:
RB Josh Scobey, 6-0, 205, Sr.
WR/KR Aaron Lockett, 5-7, 165, Sr.
OT Thomas Barnett, 6-5, 290, Sr.
LB Ben Leber, 6-4, 250, Sr.
LB Terry Pierce, 6-3, 250, So.
FS Jon McGraw, 6-3, 200, Sr.

Primary strengths: The running backs provide the most experience on offense, and they have three experienced blockers returning up front to clear paths. Breakaway threats should excel on the returns.

Potential problems: The defensive line lost numerous playmakers who could pressure opposing quarterbacks. The secondary also must depend on newcomers. Quincy Morgan will be hard to replace at wide receiver and a new quarterback has to break in.

Overview: The Wildcats have reloaded before with surprisingly good results under Snyder, so despite the personnel holes, it's not unrealistic to think that K-State still will hover around the national Top 10. That game at Nebraska, though, means the Wildcats probably won't repeat as champs of the Big 12 North.

Those losses were part of an 11-3 finish that left the Wildcats in the top 10, happy after clubbing Tennessee in the Cotton Bowl but feeling a little empty over failing to crash the Bowl Championship Series.

The Wildcats aren't even favored to retain the Big 12 North title in 2001. Not when that road winds into Nebraska for a Nov. 10 showdown. Although Kansas State has won two of the last three meetings with Nebraska (the last time that happened was in the late 1950s), it hasn't left Lincoln with a victory since 1968. The loss of 27 seniors makes that prospect equally difficult this season.

"If that senior class was not the largest we've had here, it's close to the largest," K-State coach Bill Snyder said. "But we don't assess it necessarily in terms of the numbers of losses, but what's within those numbers."

As for the guys coming back, 5-foot-7 senior Aaron Lockett looms as large as any of them. Not only has the fourth-year starter grabbed 113 receptions for 2,043 yards (989 short of his brother Kevin's career record at K-State) and 11 touchdowns, he also rates as the nation's most dangerous punt returner.

After All-America returner David Allen injured his ankle in last season's opener, Lockett stunned everyone who helplessly watched him flash by. His 22.8-yard average led the country. He broke three returns for touchdowns and had another score nullified by penalty.

"I know if I have a crease, I'm going to hit it, and I don't think there's anyone in college football who can catch me once I'm gone,'' Lockett said.

Putting the ball in his hands is another matter as the Wildcats look for a new quarterback for an offense that led the nation with 514 points a year ago.

Sophomore Ell Roberson returns after playing sparingly in 2000 as Jonathan Beasley's backup. Roberson emerged from spring atop the depth chart, but Marc Dunn will continue to push for playing time in the fall. Dunn set a national junior college passing record last season with 4,351 yards and 42 touchdowns.

The winner of the QB derby will be supported by a pair of solid seniors in the backfield -- tailback Josh Scobey and fullback Rock Cartwright. Scobey led the Wildcats with 718 yards and added 16 touchdowns, the most ever by a K-State running back.

Holes along the defensive front generate more concern than any of the other openings.

Tackle DeVane Robinson is the lone returning starter up front, but he is being pushed by less experienced players such as senior Eric Everley and sophomore Justin Montgomery. Junior Melvin Williams heads the list of candidates at defensive end after recording four sacks as a backup last season.

Senior Ben Leber and sophomore Terry Pierce, who was named the Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year by the league coaches, head a linebacking corps that rates as the defense's strength.

The lone returnee in the secondary is senior free safety Jon McGraw. The Wildcats figured to rely on cornerback Jerametrius Butler, but he decided to forego his fourth season as a starter by declaring early for the NFL draft.

His backup, junior Terence Newman, is beginning to fulfill the promise he showed as a raw in-state recruit. It's unlikely anyone will slip by Newman deep; he ran an eye-opening 10.22 100 meters in the spring.

With so many new starters, it might take Snyder time to sort out all the openings, perhaps even at quarterback, though K-State wants that position set before the games begin.

Long criticized for its walk-over non-conference schedule, K-State added a Sept. 8 game at Southern California.

Sure, these aren't the same Trojans who once ruled the West Coast, but it's still the kind of dangerous big-name program that Kansas State has never before engaged in a home-and-home arrangement in Snyder's tenure.

"It doesn't change my philosophy,'' Snyder said. "I still want to do what's in the very best interests of our football team in that given year in regards to scheduling. Sometimes you make some decisions that aren't in the best interests, but you think they are at the time.''

No matter the outcome, maybe that USC game will prepare the Wildcats for those two big conference games that really matter -- at Oklahoma and at Nebraska.

Lindy's Football Annuals (National, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, ACC, plus Pro) are available at newsstands regionally, or can be ordered as a set at www.lindyssports.com, or by calling 1-205-871-1182.