Hogs, Wildcats in big-league struggle

ARLINGTON, Texas — College football didn’t get an SEC-BIG 12 matchup in Monday’s BCS title game, but there is tonight’s Cotton Bowl between No. 6 Arkansas and No. 8 Kansas State.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:32 p.m. at Cowboys Stadium, and while the Cotton Bowl is not part of the Bowl Championship Series, it is one of four bowl games matching two top- 10 teams and the only one pitting teams from the ultra successful SEC and Big 12.

“It definitely feels like a BCS game,” Arkansas safety Tramain Thomas said.

“It’s between two top- 10 teams and we’re playing in the best venue for college sports in America, so we’re treating it just like a BCS game,” Arkansas tight end Chris Gragg said.

“Who doesn’t want to play on a top-10 stage with something to prove?” Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson asked.

The SEC, which was assured of winning its sixth consecutive BCS national championship

when Alabama edged Big 12 champion Oklahoma State to earn a rematch with LSU in New Orleans, has a 4-2 record this bowl season while the high-scoring Big 12 is 6-1.

“The Big 12 is mainly about offense, and if you don’t have a good defense to stop it, you’re going to be in trouble,” Kansas State running back John Hubert said.

Arkansas, under fourthyear Coach Bobby Petrino, is trying to reshape its sketchy bowl history. The Razorbacks are 12-23-3 overall in bowl games, but they are one scoopand-score in last year’s Sugar Bowl away from being 2-0 under Petrino.

Kansas State, generally considered the worst team in major college football before the arrival of Coach Bill Snyder in 1989, has grown into a power. The Wildcats’ only bowl appearance before the 1993 Copper Bowl was a 14-3 loss to Wisconsin in the 1982 Independence Bowl.

Today’s game will mark Kansas State’s 14th bowl trip in the past 20 years. The Wildcats are 6-8 in their previous postseason trips.

Wildcats safety Tysyn Hartman summed up the contrasting offensive styles for Arkansas and Kansas State, one of the game’s top storylines.

“It’s almost like they belong in each other’s conferences,” Hartman said. “The SEC is known for pretty solid running games and the Big 12 for their aerial assaults.”

Arkansas enters as the nation’s No. 13 passing team behind Wilson’s 285 passing yards per game, while K-state quarterback Collin Klein, with 26 rushing touchdowns, leads the country’s No. 27 rushing attack.

“We do put up numbers like some of those Big 12 offenses,” Gragg said.

Arkansas maximized its record by going 3-0 in games decided by a touchdown or less, with its only losses by 24 points to SEC West rivals LSU and Alabama, who are squaring off in the BCS National Championship Game on Monday.

Kansas State, with eight victories by a touchdown or less, has been nicknamed the “Cardiac Cats” by media who cover it.

“It probably doesn’t help my health much at all, so I have to have a cardiac surgeon close by at every one of our ball games,” said 72-year-old Kansas State Coach Bill Snyder.

The Cotton Bowl will close the careers of a notable Arkansas recruiting class led by receivers Jarius Wright, Joe Adams and Greg Childs and defensive standouts Thomas, Jake Bequette and Jerry Franklin.

Arkansas offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said he spoke with Adams, a consensus All-america return specialist, and Wright, the Hogs’ all- time leader in catches, about how they’d like to finish.

“I said, ‘It’s time for you two to go out and shine in a bowl game,’ ” Petrino said. “ ‘Let’s go put on a show and play as well as you can in a bowl game.’ ”

Kansas State’s game plan is simple: Play keep away from Arkansas, which is something Kansas State seems capable of doing. The Wildcats rank No. 3 in time of possession and No. 39 with 43.6 percent third-down conversions.

“People say possession time is not that important of a stat, but when you’re playing really good offenses like [Arkansas], it’s hard to score when you don’t have the football,” Kansas State co-offensive coordinator Dana Dimel said.

Keeping the ball secure will be important for Arkansas.

“We have to make sure we take care of the ball on offense, because they had done a great job of living on turnovers and situation plays,” Bobby Petrino said.

The Razorbacks defense, hurt by injuries, lost coordinator Willy Robinson after a 41-17 loss at No. 1 LSU, so it’s out to prove its No. 52 rank in total defense should have been better.

“Our defense, we think we haven’t played as good as we could play all year,” Thomas said. “We have one more game left, and we’re going to show the world what we have.”