Second fiddle a first-rate draw

Colin Morgan stars in the title role when Merlin returns for its fifth and final season at 9 p.m. Friday on Syfy.
Colin Morgan stars in the title role when Merlin returns for its fifth and final season at 9 p.m. Friday on Syfy.

— Kansas State and Oregon were in perfect position at the start of Nov. 17, ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in the BCS standings, seemingly on a crash course toward the national championship game.

By day’s end, Kansas State had been run over by Baylor, Oregon lost a heartbreaker to Stanford, and both of their national title hopes were all but gone.

Disappointing? Certainly. But unlike many college football teams, Kansas State and Oregon ended up with a nice consolation prize: a trip to the Valley of the Sun to face each other in the Fiesta Bowl.

“This game could have been for the national championship,” Oregon linebacker Boseko Lokombo said.

They are headed to the desert instead, setting up another anticipated Fiesta Bowl matchup.

A year ago, it was Oklahoma State and Stanford, two high-profile programs that didn’t disappoint, putting on an offensive show won by the Cowboys 41-38 in overtime.

This year’s game, tonight at University of Phoenix Stadium, might be just as good.

Oregon (11-1) is in its fourth consecutive BCS bowl game under Coach Chip Kelly, following a trip to the 2011 BCS Championship Game and two Rose Bowls, including the program’s first Rose Bowl victory in 95 years last season.

The Ducks overwhelm opponents with speed, their touchdown drives often timed in seconds, not minutes.

Oregon’s running back tandem of Kenjon Barnerand DeAnthony Thomas are threats to score on every touch, and redshirt freshman quarterback Marcus Mariota has proved to be a dynamic force in his own right.

The Ducks were second nationally with averages of 50.83 points and 323.25 yards rushing per game and fourth in total offense at 550.08.

“Basically, only one team stopped them the entire year and that was Stanford,” Kansas State defensive coordinator Tom Hayes said. “It’s a challenge. We need to meet the challenge if we have any wishes for a victory.”

It doesn’t figure to be any easier for Oregon going against Kansas State (11-1) in its second resurrection under Coach Bill Snyder.

Snyder orchestrated one of college football’s greatest turnarounds during his first stint in Manhattan, turning a program that had lost more games than any other into a national championship contender.

Snyder returned after a three-year retirement and again lifted the Wildcats out of the doldrums, leading them to a bowl game his second season, 10 victories a year ago and all the way back to national prominence this season.

Kansas State doesn’t play nearly as fast as the Ducks but can put up points in a hurry - ninth nationally with 40.67 per game - and is led by a Heisman Trophy finalist, doeverything senior quarterback Collin Klein.

A victory in its 14th bowl appearance under Snyder would give Kansas State its first 12-victory season.

“It’s really a special story in college football.” Kelly said.

Klein, lightly recruited and switched to receiver early in his college career, threw for 1,918 yards, rushed for 1,141 more and accounting for 40 touchdowns as a junior, his first as a starter.

Klein has earned the moniker Optimus Klein for his grittiness and ability to grind out victories any way he could.

Klein, 6-5, 226, became the first quarterback in the BCS era to run for at least 20 touchdowns and throw for 10 in consecutive seasons, and broke the FBS record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in two seasons with 49.

He was a Heisman Trophy finalist, the Big 12 Conference’s player of the year and won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.

“He’s very good, he runs that offense efficiently, he’s a poised guy, appears to be a very smart football player,” Oregon defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti said. “He knows what they want him to do in their game plan.”

Many of those attributes could be used to describe Mariota, the first freshman quarterback to start at Oregonsince Danny O’Neil in 1991.

Mariota, 6-4, 211, was considered one of the few question marks for the Ducks heading into this season, provided the answer by throwing for 2,511 yards and 30 touchdowns, running for 690 yards and 4 more scores, and cementing his place as Oregon’s quarterback of the future.

Sports, Pages 20 on 01/03/2013

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