1995 Kansas State Wildcats football team

1995 Kansas State Wildcats football
Holiday Bowl champion
Holiday Bowl, W 54–21 vs. Colorado State
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 6
AP	No. 7
Record	10–2 (5–2 Big 8)
Head coach	Bill Snyder (7th season)
Offensive coordinator	Dana Dimel (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Co-defensive coordinator	Jim Leavitt (5th season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Bob Stoops (5th season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	KSU Stadium

1995 Big Eight Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Nebraska $	7	–	0	–	0			12	–	0	–	0
No. 5 Colorado	5	–	2	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 7 Kansas State	5	–	2	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 9 Kansas	5	–	2	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
Oklahoma	2	–	5	–	0			5	–	5	–	1
Oklahoma State	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	8	–	0
Missouri	1	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Iowa State	1	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
$ – Bowl Alliance representative as champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1995 Kansas State Wildcats football team represented Kansas State University in the 1995 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team's head football coach was Bill Snyder. The Wildcats played their home games in KSU Stadium. 1995 saw the Wildcats finish with a record of 10–2, and a 5–2 record in Big 8 Conference play. 1995 was the last year of the Big Eight. The next year was the inaugural season of the Big 12 Conference.

The season culminated with a victory against Colorado State in the 1995 Holiday Bowl. The 10-win season was the first for Kansas State since 1910, and the final top-10 ranking was the first in program history.

The Wildcats finished the 1995 season leading NCAA Division I-A in total defense, and also shut out three opponents for the first time in school history. The team shut out Akron, Northern Illinois, and Missouri. The Wildcats later repeated the feat in 1999 and 2002.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	6:10 p.m.	Temple*		KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS		W 34–7	34,927
September 9	6:00 p.m.	at Cincinnati*	No. 21	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati OH		W 23–21	16,887
September 23	6:10 p.m.	Akron*	No. 19	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS		W 67–0	33,145
September 30	1:10 p.m.	Northern Illinois*	No. 16	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS		W 44–0	38,527
October 7	1:10 p.m.	Missouri	No. 13	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS		W 30–0	37,925
October 14	2:00 p.m.	at Oklahoma State	No. 8	Lewis Field Stillwater, OK		W 23–17	38,000
October 21	2:30 p.m.	at No. 2 Nebraska	No. 8	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)	ABC	L 25–49	76,072
October 28	1:10 p.m.	No. 6 Kansas	No. 14	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS (rivalry)		W 41–7	44,284
November 4	1:10 p.m.	No. 25 Oklahoma	No. 9	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS		W 49–10	40,138
November 11	1:00 p.m.	at Iowa State	No. 7	Cyclone Stadium Ames, IA (rivalry)		W 49–7	27,356
November 18	2:30 p.m.	No. 9 Colorado	No. 7	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS (rivalry)	ABC	L 17–27	42,454
December 29	8:00 p.m.	vs. Colorado State*	No. 10	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, CA (Holiday Bowl)	ESPN	W 54–21	51,051
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Roster

1995 Kansas State Wildcats football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 12 Brian Kavanagh Jr WR 22 Jimmy Dean Jr G 74 Kendyl Jacox So OT 71 Scott Heun RB 24 Eric Hickson So C 64 Jason Johnson Jr RB 20 Mike Lawrence So WR 83 Kevin Lockett Jr TE 80 Brian Lojka Sr G 78 Jeremy Martin QB 6 Matt Miller Sr OT 63 Chris Oltmanns WR 89 Mitch Running Sr WR 7 Tyson Schwieger Sr TE 86 Justin Swift Fr OT 58 Todd Weiner So OT 76 Ryan Young Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class CB 2 Chris Canty So LB 8 DeShawn Fogle Jr LB 9 Percell Gaskins Sr LB 50 Travis Ochs So LB 42 Mark Simoneau Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 16 James Garcia Fr K 38 Martin Gramatica So	Head coach Bill Snyder Coordinators/assistant coaches Dana Dimel – Offensive Coordinator Ron Hudson – Quarterback & passing game coordinator Greg Peterson – Wide receivers Larry Kramer – Tight ends & offensive line Bob Stoops – co-Defensive Coordinator Jim Leavitt – co-Defensive Coordinator & linebackers Mo Latimore – interior Defensive line Mike Stoops – Defensive end Mark Mangino – Recruiting Game Coordinator Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Rankings

Main article: 1995 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	—	—	21	22	19	16	13	8	8	14	9	7	7	10	10	10	7
Coaches Poll	—	—	23	21	19	15	13	8	8	14	8	7	7	10	10	10	6

Game summaries

At Nebraska

Kansas State at Nebraska

1 2 3 4 Total Wildcats 6 0 0 19 25 • Cornhuskers 14 21 7 7 49 Date: October 21 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 76,072 Game weather: 58 °F (14 °C), Sunny, Wind NW 5–10 mph (8.0–16.1 km/h) Referee: Tom Ahlers TV announcers (ABC): Mark Jones, Todd Blackledge, and Dean Blevins

Scoring summary 1 10:29 Neb Mike Fullman 79-yard punt return (Kris Brown kick) Neb 7–0 1 7:23 KSU Kevin Lockett 18-yard pass from Matt Miller (Gramatica kick failed) Neb 7–6 1 0:02 Neb Jon Vedral fumble recovery in end zone (Kris Brown kick) Neb 14–6 2 9:46 Neb Sheldon Jackson 11-yard pass from Tommie Frazier (Kris Brown kick) Neb 21–6 2 5:21 Neb Ahman Green 10-yard pass from Tommie Frazier (Kris Brown kick) Neb 28–6 2 5:09 Neb Luther Hardin 2-yard interception return (Kris Brown kick) Neb 35–6 3 4:31 Neb Jon Vedral 32-yard pass from Tommie Frazier (Kris Brown kick) Neb 42–6 4 13:07 KSU Mitch Running 7-yard pass from Brian Kavanagh (pass failed) Neb 42–12 4 7:33 KSU Kevin Lockett 11-yard pass from Brian Kavanagh (Gramatica kick) Neb 42–19 4 5:59 KSU Clyde Johnson 6-yard blocked punt return (pass failed) Neb 42–25 4 3:43 Neb Ahman Green 13-yard pass from Tommie Frazier (Kris Brown kick) Neb 49–25

See also: 1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team and Kansas State–Nebraska football rivalry

Kansas

See also: 1995 Kansas Jayhawks football team

Oklahoma

Oklahoma at Kansas State

1 2 3 4 Total No. 25 Sooners 3 7 0 0 10 • No. 9 Wildcats 7 21 7 14 49 Date: November 4 Location: KSU Stadium, Manhattan, Kansas Game start: 1:30 CST Game attendance: 40,138

Colorado

Colorado at Kansas State

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 9 Buffaloes 7 3 0 17 27 No. 7 Wildcats 0 3 7 7 17 Date: November 18 Location: KSU Stadium, Manhattan, Kansas Game start: 2:30 CST Game attendance: 42,454

See also: 1995 Colorado Buffaloes football team

Vs. Colorado State (Holiday Bowl)

Main article: 1995 Holiday Bowl

See also: 1995 Colorado State Rams football team

Kansas State at Colorado

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 10 Wildcats 7 19 21 7 54 Rams 7 0 14 0 21 Date: December 29 Location: Jack Murphy, San Diego, California Game attendance: 51,051