2006 Kansas State Wildcats football team The 2006 Kansas State Wildcats football team represented Kansas State University in the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season . The team ' s head coach was Ron Prince . 2006 was the first year for Prince who , came to K - State from Virginia as their offensive coordinator . Prince had no other head coaching experience prior to accepting the K - State job . The Wildcats played their home games in Bill Snyder Family Stadium . It was the first year with that name . The stadium was previously called KSU Stadium . After the 2005 season , the university ' s athletic department decided to name the stadium after legendary head coach , Bill Snyder . 2006 saw the wildcats finish with a record of 7 – 6 , and a 4 – 4 record in Big 12 Conference play . The season culminated with a loss to Rutgers in the 2006 Texas Bowl . Schedule . ! colspan = 8 | Regular season Game notes . Illinois State . Illinois State would be the first opponent that new head coach Ron Prince would face . Illinois State , out of the Gateway Football Conference would prove to be a tough task for Kansas State as the Wildcats narrowly won , 24 - 23 Kansas State scored two special teams touchdowns and stopped Illinois State quarterback Luke Drone on a 2 - point conversion in the final minutes to preserve a 24 - 23 victory in the head coaching debut of Ron Prince . Trailing 17 - 16 with 8 : 25 to go , Kansas State ' s Marcus Perry popped the ball out of the arms of Illinois State ' s Jason Horton and into the hands of cornerback Byron Garvin , who sprinted 9 yards into the end zone to give the Wildcats the lead . Dylan Meier hit tight end Rashaad Norwood for the 2 - point conversion to make it 24 - 17 , but the Redbirds came right back , just as they had all game . Driving 47 yards in just over 5 minutes , Drone hit a wide open Pierre Jackson in the corner of the end zone to pull within 24 - 23 with 3 : 02 to go . But instead of kicking the extra point , coach Denver Johnson elected to go for 2 and the win . Drone dropped back to pass but was quickly swallowed by the Kansas State defensive line to preserve the victory . Florida Atlantic . The Wildcats were favored by 22 points going into the game . Justin McKinney became the first Kansas State player in 70 years to run back an opening kickoff for a touchdown . McKinney sprinted to his right and went 88 yards down the sideline for Kansas State ' s first game - opening score since Red Elder ' s touchdown return in a 6 - 6 tie at Oklahoma on Nov . 7 , 1936 . Dylan Meier threw for 125 yards and two touchdowns for the Wildcats ( 2 - 0 ) , who extended their winning streak against Sun Belt teams to 10 straight games . It was the first shutout for Kansas State since a 45 - 0 win over Iowa State on Nov . 8 , 2003 . After managing just 207 yards of offense in its first game , Kansas State rolled up 346 yards on the Owls ( 0 - 2 ) . The Wildcats ' defense , meanwhile , had three sacks and nine other tackles for loss , holding Florida Atlantic to 202 yards . Marshall . The Wildcats were favored by 10½ points going into the game . Kansas State ' s defense dominated for the second straight game and forced three turnovers , and the Wildcats ' offense found its groove late in a 23 - 7 victory over Marshall . Kansas State outgained the Thundering Herd 355 yards to 142 , but didn ' t mount a sustained TD drive until late in the fourth quarter . Louisville . The Cardinals were favored by 14 points going into the game . Kansas State ’ s defense stood tall and Thomas Clayton rushed for 119 yards and a touchdown , but No . 8 Louisville proved to be too much as the Cardinals handed the Wildcats their first setback of the season , 24 - 6 . The Wildcats held the nation ’ s top scoring offense to less than half its average and its fewest points in nearly a year . But K - State had a tough time cashing in on opportunities , coming away without any points on three drives that ended inside the Louisville 30 - yard line . In the end , Kansas State held the high - octane Cardinal offense to their fewest passing yards in 15 games , but it wasn ’ t enough to derail Louisville . Hunter Cantwell threw for 173 yards , including a 19 - yard touchdown to Harry Douglas to cap a 97 - yard drive on Louisville ’ s opening possession of the game . The K - State defense settled in and held the Cardinals to just 87 yards the rest of the half as Louisville took a 10 - 0 lead into the locker room , thanks to a 25 - yard Art Carmody field goal with 4 : 17 to go in the second quarter . The Wildcats were unable to dent the scoreboard until early in the fourth quarter , when Clayton ripped off a 69 - yard run for K - State ’ s only points of the game . After George Stripling ' s 1 - yard run put the Cardinals on top 17 - 0 in the third quarter , Louisville turned the ball over on two fumbles and an interception . Baylor . The Bears were favored by 2½ going into the game . Kansas State won the battle of the stat sheet but was unable to turn yards into points as the Wildcats dropped a 17 - 3 decision at Baylor to open Big 12 play at Floyd Casey Stadium . Josh Freeman threw for 196 yards in relief of starter Dylan Meier , including a 68 - yard pass to Yamon Figurs and a 55 - yard hook - up with Jermaine Moriera , but five turnovers , including three in the red zone helped keep the Wildcats off the scoreboard . Baylor , meanwhile , used three big plays to generate all of its points as the Bears held on for just their second win of the season . Oklahoma State . Freshman quarterback Josh Freeman got rolling late in his first start , running for a 21 - yard touchdown with 1 : 11 left to help Kansas State rally for a 31 - 27 victory over Oklahoma State on Saturday . Leon Patton , another freshman making his first start for the Wildcats , ran for 151 yards and one touchdown and returned a kickoff 95 yards for another score . Safety Marcus Watts also had a huge game for the Wildcats ( 4 - 2 , 1 - 1 Big 12 ) , who trailed 27 - 17 with just over three minutes left before coming back to beat the Cowboys ( 3 - 2 , 0 - 1 ) for the sixth straight time in Manhattan and the 10th time in their last 11 meetings . Watts blocked a punt that Daniel Gonzalez returned 21 yards for Kansas State ' s first score . In the closing seconds , Watts broke up what would have been a game - winning catch by D ' Juan Woods then intercepted Bobby Reid ' s tipped pass in the end zone as time ran out . Freeman , the first freshman to start for the Wildcats since Duane Howard in 1976 , was sacked four times and had just six passing attempts going into the fourth quarter . But in the last four minutes , he was spectacular . His 43 - yard completion to Jermaine Moreira set up Patton ' s 1 - yard TD run with 3 : 04 left . That score , which broke a seven - quarter stretch without an offensive touchdown , got the Wildcats within 27 - 24 . Oklahoma State couldn ' t muster a clock - killing drive in response , and Freeman needed only three plays to give Kansas State the lead . He threw to Gonzalez for 20 yards and Yamon Figurs for 17 , then went the rest of the way on his own after his protection broke down and the middle of the field opened up . He finished the day 10 - for - 15 for 177 yards and did not throw an interception . Nebraska . The Cornhuskers were favored by 11 going into the game . Nebraska gambled and won on a pair of tricky fourth - down calls , beating Kansas State 21 - 3 snapping the 21st - ranked Cornhuskers ' four - game losing streak in Manhattan . Kansas State ( 4 - 3 , 1 - 2 ) had not lost at home to Nebraska since a 39 - 3 defeat on Oct . 5 , 1996 . The Huskers ( 6 - 1 , 3 - 0 Big 12 ) earned the program ' s 800th victory . Nebraska ' s first touchdown , a 17 - yard pass play less than four minutes into the game , came on a fake field goal . Holder Jake Wesch , a backup kicker who played quarterback in high school , rolled right and found reserve tight end Hunter Teafatiller all alone just outside the end zone for a 7 - 0 lead . And on the Cornhuskers ' first drive of the second quarter , Zac Taylor ' s 24 - yard bootleg on fourth - and - 2 from Kansas State ' s 27 set up a 3 - yard TD pass to Josh Mueller — also a backup tight end — for a 14 - 0 lead . Marlon Lucky ' s 40 - yard TD burst up the middle made it 21 - 0 shortly before the midpoint of the third quarter . Jeff Snodgrass ' 53 - yard field goal in the third quarter kept Kansas State from being shut out for the first time since a 12 - 0 loss at Colorado on Nov . 16 , 1996 . Missouri . The Tigers were favored by 16½ points going into the game . Missouri fell behind on the first play Saturday before Chase Daniel threw four touchdown passes to lead the No . 24 Tigers to a 41 - 21 victory over Kansas State , breaking a 13 - game losing streak to the Wildcats . The game , played in a driving rain , marked Missouri ' s first win over Kansas State since a 27 - 14 victory in Columbia in 1992 . Kansas State seemed poised for the upset early . Defensive end Rob Jackson broke around left end on the first play from scrimmage at the Missouri 41 and blindsided Daniel , forcing a fumble that was scooped up by linebacker Zach Diles , who ran 43 yards for the score . After a Jeff Wolfert 30 - yard field goal for Missouri , the Wildcats had a chance to go up 14 - 3 early in the second quarter . But on fourth - and - goal from the 1 , James Johnson was stopped for no gain . Missouri then drove 99 yards in 10 plays , scoring on a 14 - yard pass from Daniel to tight end Martin Rucker . Iowa State . Kansas State was favored by 5 points going into the game . James Johnson had 115 yards rushing and scored the go - ahead touchdown on a 32 - yard run late in the third quarter , as Kansas State scored 31 straight points to beat Iowa State 31 - 10 on Saturday . Linebacker Brandon Archer recovered a muffed punt and a fumble for Kansas State which broke a two - game losing streak . The Cyclones lost their fifth straight , had a two - game winning streak against the Wildcats snapped . Colorado . The Buffaloes were favored by 4 points going into the game . Josh Freeman was efficient in the passing game going 22 - 26 and throwing for 251 yards and two touchdowns . Freeman led the Wildcats to their first win in Boulder since the 2000 season . K - State lost the 2002 and 2004 games in Boulder . Texas . The Longhorns were favored by 17½ points going into the game . Behind Josh Freeman ’ s three - touchdown performance , Kansas State shocked No . 4 Texas . The game was broadcast nationally on ABC ' s Saturday Night Football . The fans stormed the field after the game and tried unsuccessfully for several minutes to tear down the goalpost on the north endzone . The Longhorns got within a field goal on Chris Ogbonnaya ' s 1 - yard touchdown run with 1 : 36 to go . But Jordy Nelson recovered the ensuing onside kick and then caught a 6 - yard pass for a first down that sealed the Wildcats ' win . Freeman threw for 269 yards and three scores and ran for another TD for Kansas State , which scored three touchdowns over a 3 : 06 span in the third quarter on its way to breaking a six - game losing streak against ranked opponents . Texas ' Colt McCoy got pinned under the pile on the first play from scrimmage and came up favoring his right shoulder after a crushing hit by Wildcat linebacker Brandon Archer . He left the game and never returned . Kansas . The Jayhawks were favored by 2 points going into the game . Kansas State had a tough day on the gridiron , turning the ball over six times ( all six were credited to Josh Freeman , including three fumbles and three interceptions ) . The six turnovers led to 30 of Kansas ' 39 points . The Wildcats closed out the regular season with a 7 - 5 overall mark , 4 - 4 in Big 12 play , for their best record since the 2003 . Josh Freeman , the freshman sensation who accounted for four touchdowns in the previous week ' s upset of Texas , was manhandled by a Kansas pass defense ranked 117th in the country . It was the first time since 1917 that both teams came into this state rivalry on winning streaks of at least two games . Kansas ' attendance of 51 , 821 set a Memorial Stadium record . Rutgers . Rutgers was favored by 7 points going into the game . Kansas State hung with No . 16 Rutgers for 30 minutes , but the Scarlet Knights scored 20 unanswered points in the second half to hand the Wildcats a 37 - 10 loss in the inaugural Texas Bowl before 52 , 210 fans at Reliant Stadium . It was the Wildcats ' first bowl game appearance since the 2004 Fiesta Bowl , also a loss . Rutgers , which just missed out on a BCS Bowl berth , was as good as advertised and kept K - State off balance all night long . Ray Rice , the Texas Bowl MVP , rushed for 170 yards and a touchdown and Tim Brown caught two TD passes , for the Scarlet Knights ( 11 - 2 ) , who claimed their first bowl victory in 137 seasons of intercollegiate football . The game was held at Reliant Stadium in Houston , Texas and was broadcast on the NFL Network . This matchup was the inaugural Texas Bowl . The game replaced the Houston Bowl .