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In true Pacific Life Holiday Bowl fashion, the unexpected occurred on
December 27 when No. 6 Kansas State rallied for a 34-27 victory over
Arizona State in front of 58,717 at Qualcomm Stadium.
What was pegged as a guaranteed blowout by No. 6 Kansas State University
over unranked Arizona State, turned out to be a come-from-behind win for
the Wildcats with only seconds to spare. The 25th Anniversary of the
Pacific Life Holiday Bowl presented by The San Diego Union-Tribune
featured the 10-2 K-State Wildcats from the Big 12 Conference against
the unlikely ASU Sun Devils who finished third in the Pac-10 Conference
with an 8-5 record. Heading into the 2002 season, ASU was chosen by the
media to finish ninth in the conference.
Both teams arrived in San Diego with something to prove. Kansas State
was the highest ranked team not selected to play in a BCS game while
Arizona State was suppose to be spending the holidays at home preparing
for next year.
After a scoreless first quarter, Arizona State's sophomore quarterback
Andrew Walter went 10 for 16 and led the Sun Devils to a 20-point
outburst and a six-point halftime lead. Limiting K-State's offense in
the first half was All-America defensive end Terrell Suggs who wreaked
havoc in the backfield including a sack for a loss of 11 yards. Arizona
State's first possession of the second quarter resulted in seven points
with a Walter to Justin Taplin six-yard touchdown in the corner of the
end zone. The Sun Devils' linebacker Mason Unck forced an Ell Roberson
fumble and ASU recovered it on the K-State 16 yard line and converted it
into three points on a Mike Barth field goal.
Trailing by 10 points, the Wildcats started on their 20-yard line and
three plays later running back Darren Sproles put K-State on the board
with a 41-yard touchdown. The scoring started to pick up as both teams
traded scores. ASU tailed another touchdown and field goal while the
Wildcats scored a TD on a Roberson 32 yard scramble to end the half
20-14 in favor of the Sun Devils.
Adjustments were made at the half and the defenses stiffened as no
points were scored in the third quarter. The fourth quarter lived up to
Pacific Life Holiday Bowl lore as four of the six possessions resulted
in scores. In order to notch their 11th win of the season, the Wildcats
had to score 20 fourth-quarter points to avoid an upset. Junior KSU
quarterback Ell Roberson earned Offensive MVP honors after scoring three
touchdowns and throwing for one to seal the victory.
With the ball to start the final quarter, Kansas State ran 16 plays and
ate up 7:13 off the clock to tie the game 20-20 on a Roberson three-yard
rush. ASU countered the drive with one of its own. Eight plays and 78
yards later, Walter hooked up with Mike Williams for a 10-yard touchdown
to go up 27-20. The Wildcats took control of the game and Roberson
scored his third touchdown with a one yard run to tie the game at 27
points and the 10-yard pass to Derrick Evans put the Cats on top for
good 34-27 (video).
With 1:15 left on the clock, the Sun Devils started the final drive of
the game on their 22-yard line. After moving 28 yards, ASU took a
timeout. Walter proceeded to throw two incomplete passes, but converted
the 4th and 2 with a 4-yard pass to Daryl Lightfoot for a first down.
With the ball on the KSU 46 yard line, Walter and the Sun Devils were
unable to make a first down and the Hail Mary with only seconds on the
clock fell incomplete. For the fifth consecutive year, the team in the
lead at halftime in the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl took the loss and for
the 16th time in the glorious 25 year history of the game, the winning
margin was seven points or less.
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Attendance: 58,717
Scoring Summary
Second Quarter
ASU- Taplin 6 yd pass from Walter (Barth kick)
ASU- FG Barth 26
KSU- Sproles 41 yd run (Rheem kick)
ASU- Hill 9 yd run (Barth kick)
ASU- FG Barth 39
KSU- Roberson 32 yd run (Rheem kick)
Fourth Quarter
KSU- Roberson 3 yd run (PAT failed)
ASU- Williams 10 yd pass from Walter (Barth kick)
KSU- Roberson 1 yd run (Rheem kick)
KSU- Evans 10 yd pass from Roberson (Rheem kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing
ASU- Hill 11-39
KSU- Sproles 21-118, Roberson 18-60, Newman 2-25
Passing
ASU- Walter 28-57-292
KSU- Roberson 11-28-216
Receiving
ASU- McDonald 10-9, Taplin 4-38, Lightfoot 3-31
KSU- Newman 3-48, Wallace 1-41, Evans 2-37, Terry 5-90
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