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"It wasn't what he said, it was his emotions," said Kansas State left tackle Damion McIntosh, who shares a Manhattan, Kan., apartment with Moses. "We just all fed off him."

The seventh-ranked Wildcats' 24-20 victory over the unheralded Washington Huskies at Qualcomm Stadium ended Kansas State's season at 11-1, which was a much finer finish than what transpired last season.

In the hunt to play in the national championship game, the Wildcats lost a double-overtime thriller to Texas A&M in the Big 12 title game and then were dumped 37-34 by Purdue in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio.

"I didn't like that feeling," said Moses, a 6-foot-3, 290-pound senior from West Palm Beach, Fla. "At the Alamo, we were not prepared. We had a total lack of effort, enthusiasm and 'want.' I guess everyone followed my lead."

Right when the Wildcats needed to follow a leader, Moses emerged at a critical juncture before a purple-hazed crowd of 57,118.

Toward the end of the third quarter, Washington put together a methodical 12-play drive that covered 73 yards and ended in senior tailback Maurice Shaw bursting up the middle for a five-yard touchdown run.

That gave the Huskies a 20-17 lead, and it was the first points that Kansas State had yielded in the third quarter all season.

The Wildcats seemed stunned, lost two yards on their next three plays on offense, and then watched Washington unleash some trickery on the ensuing punt return.

Joe Jarzynka fielded Travis Brown's punt, dashed right and handed off to Todd Elstrom before hitting the dirt. Elstrom circled around his left side for 29 yards, to Kansas State's 32-yard line.

Then Huskies coach Rick Neuheisel tried going for the knockout punch right away, but Wildcats defensive back Lamar Chapman intercepted a deep Marques Tuiasosopo pass, intended for Gerald Harris, at the goal line.

Chapman returned it eight yards. And that's where Kansas State took over and when Moses started making himself seen, and heard.

"My best friend, but he got on everyone," McIntosh said. "We showed our determination on that drive. Never quit. We knew, right then and there, that we had the ability to decide the game."

Kansas State chewed up more than nine minutes of the fourth quarter, using 20 plays to move 92 yards. The most critical one took place on a third-and-15 call at its own 25.

Wildcats' quarterback Jonathan Beasley watched junior receiver Quincy Morgan on the left side from the moment center Randall Cummins snapped the ball. Morgan streaked 18 yards down the sideline, drifting slightly to the right until he cut in. As he turned left, Morgan and Huskies junior cornerback Roderick Green knocked ankles. Green fell to Morgan's right, but Morgan regained his balance just in time to snatch a 22-yard pass from Beasley.

The next third-down play, at the Washington 24, was easily executed when Beasley nailed Martez Wesley on a 10-yard out pattern on the right side. Three plays later, the Huskies helped the Wildcats with an offside penalty, and Beasley scampered three yards for the first down.

On a second-and-goal at the 1, Kansas State coach Bill Snyder called for a timeout, and Moses implored for a running play to his side. He was so pumped, he'd clear a hole all the way to La Jolla for all of his teammates to follow.

But Beasley saw commotion on the left side, and he called his own number on an audible run to the right that gave Kansas State the lead for good.

QB Jonathan Beasley and DE Darren Howard collect offensive and defensive player of the game honors.(AP)

"All I wanted was a run to my side," Moses said. "But Beasley checked off. That's what happens in football. No big deal. However, this was definitely the best football game I ever played in my life."

Early on, Snyder showed he hadn't forgotten the Alamo, either. The Huskies took the game-opening drive to the Kansas State 22 before settling for a field goal, and Snyder was determined to trump Washington.

The Wildcats took their first drive to the Washington 13, where they were faced with a fourth-and-1 play. Tying it would have been the conservative, and logical, thing to do -- unless the dirt from the Alamo Bowl still isn't washed out of your mouth.

Snyder went for it, and Curtis Williams, Derrell Daniels and Anthony Vontoure all honed in on senior running back Frank Murphy four or five yards behind the line-of-scrimmage. None, however, wrapped Murphy, who squirted through the middle to the 1.

"I didn't know Bill Snyder was a gamblin' man," said Neuheisel, who had split four games against Snyder when Neuheisel coached the Colorado Buffaloes. "But (Murphy) got out of it. That was a great effort."

Beasley finished that one off, too. Although, to Moses' chagrin, Beasley bolted through the middle of the line.

After Kansas State took its 24-20 edge, Washington failed to get past midfield on its final two series of the game as the Wildcats' defense showed why it's rated second in the country.

Now, the critics, as usual, take over. Even when it wins, Kansas State can't seem to win. It finished in sixth place in the BCS rankings, but the Orange Bowl still tabbed eighth-place Michigan over the Wildcats.

That left K-State with unranked Washington, which didn't have a first-team, all-conference selection in the Pac-10 for the first time in 30 years.

And the Wildcats -- who had been outscored 150-13 in four lifetime meetings, all losses, against Washington -- were double-digit favorites against the Huskies.

However, when Kansas State needed to dig down deep, it followed the lead of its gourmet left guard who can't wait to return to the Little Apple and prepare a Jerk chicken feast for his crew.

"I don't know about the BCS," Moses said. "I wish I knew. I wish I could answer that question. I wish I had the answer. Hopefully, this is a game that starts to earn us some respect with the BCS. Hopefully, we can play for a national title one day, and those players will remember this game."