Cactus Bowl could be finale for K-State’s Snyder
PHOENIX — Bill Snyder has coached Kansas State for 26 seasons, returning once from retirement to coach at the stadium that bears his name.
Tonight’s Cactus Bowl against UCLA could be his grand finale.
Snyder has a contract that automatically rolls over every season, but the 78-year-old coach hasn’t decided if he wants to work a 27th season or retire.
“I’ve had some dialogue and I need to have some more dialogue with my family, and more dialogue with our administration,” Snyder said. “Just needing to be more thorough with it. Because you know for me it’s a big decision.”
Snyder helped turn Kansas State’s struggling team into a nationally prominent program when he took over in 1989. He retired in 2005, the program went into decline and Snyder returned to coaching in 2008.
Snyder has led Kansas State to eight straight bowl appearances and 19 overall, including three trips to the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona.
The Wildcats (7-5) got their 2017 season off to a slow start, losing three of their first four Big 12 games. Kansas State closed strongly, its only loss in the final five games to No. 23 West Virginia by five.
UCLA (6-6) had a shaky start as well, costing coach Jim Mora his job one game before the season ended. The Bruins closed the regular season with a 30-27 victory over California under interim coach Jedd Fisch to become bowl eligible after missing the postseason a year ago.
UCLA hired former Oregon and Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly last month, but Fisch will lead the Bruins against Kansas State.
“I’ve known Chip for a while and he just said, ‘you take this team until the bowl game is over,’ ” Fisch said. “‘And then at that point in time I’ll resume or I’ll assume the duties of being the head coach.’ So that’s kind of how we’ve made this thing work.”
A big question heading into
the game is whether UCLA star quarterback Josh Rosen will play. He has lingering concussion issues and injured his shoulder in the final game against Cal, missing the second half. Rosen has said he wants to play, though there have been reports he won’t. Whether he plays or not, it could be the end of the prolific quarterback’s college career. He’s expected to leave for the NFL after his junior season and could be the No. 1 pick in the draft.
Heart of Dallas Bowl
DALLAS — If the Heart of Dallas Bowl comes down to a kick for Utah against West Virginia, the Utes will turn to someone who entered this season with only one year of high school football, didn’t know what the Lou Groza Award was, yet walked off with it a few weeks ago.
Matt Gay has difficulty describing what has transpired over the past five months.
“It’s been crazy,” he said. “I’m trying to figure out the emotion of things.”
Gay’s Utes (6-6) need a victory today to finish with a winning record for the fourth consecutive season.
West Virginia (7-5) already has done that but wants to end a two-game losing streak that began when quarterback Will Grier — eighth in the FBS in passing yards per game — was lost with a broken middle finger on his passing hand during the first quarter against Texas.
Gay walked on last summer after playing soccer for Utah Valley and narrowly lost the starting job to freshman Chayden Johnston. After Johnston’s first attempt went wide from 45 yards in Utah’s opener, Gay was told, “You have the next one.”
And the job was his. Gay leads the FBS with 27 field goals, missing only four attempts. He has hit eight of at least 50 yards, converting twice from 56.
Quick Lane Bowl
DETROIT — Duke coach David Cutcliffe has seen his team go through three distinct phases this season.
He’s hoping the Blue Devils won’t fall into a fourth when they play Northern Illinois in the Quick Lane Bowl at Ford Field today.
The year began brilliantly, with Duke winning its first four games — a stretch that included victories over Northwestern, Baylor and North Carolina.
“We were 4-0, and we were playing Miami on a Friday night on national television,” Cutcliffe said. “We really played pretty well for a part of that game, and then it just slipped.”
Miami won 31-6 and then the Blue Devils lost three straight games by seven points each — at Virginia and home against Florida and Pittsburgh.
The losing streak hit five with a 24-3 loss at Virginia Tech and got to six with a fivepoint loss to Army. Suddenly, a year after a 4-8 season that ended their bowl streak at four years, the Blue Devils were 4-6 and looking at another holiday season at home.
“I told them that resilient people find a way to be successful,” Cutcliffe said. “I didn’t know the day or the hour, but if we kept working, we would find a way out of this.”
The Blue Devils found their way, just in time. They finished the regular season with wins over Georgia Tech and Wake Forest to go 6-6, barely qualifying for a Christmas visit to Detroit.