I remember this game. I had a bad feeling going in that K State was going to upset us. 4 future NFL pro bowlers in this game (Palmer, Sproles, Newman and Polamalu) with Polamalu going on to a HOF career.
This was a hard fought game. One of my takeaways was that USC's offense under OC Norm Chow was designed to create mismatches. However, K State didn't really give any opportunity for USC for those mismatches. That's good coaching on Bill Snyder's part. The scoring and long offensive plays didn't really open up until the 2nd half when the defenses were wearing down. What's laughable is that some K State fans want to say this loss was an embarrassment to Pete Carroll. What they don't realize was that Pete Carroll hadn't yet established himself as the premiere coach he became the following seasons. He was still working with players he didn't recruit like Carson Palmer, Kareem Kelly and Sultan McCullough. At the end of the season this team was firing on all cylinders and looking like they could take on anybody. The way I see it, K-State got out with their asses. The Trojans were driving late in the game for a potentially tying or go ahead score. They should be grateful for the win. A one score win is not an embarrassment to the losing team.
K-State was ahead the whole game man. K-State was ahead at one point in the second half by three touchdowns. K-State was driving deep into USC territory late in the fourth quarter when the refs said Roberson fumbled when he was down. Otherwise this would have been a two touchdown game. KSU was just a better football team
@@JohnHoulgate USC played well but they were going to have to play perfect on that last drive to tie it up. K-State deserved a BCS bowl in 2002 no question about it.
@@RobertRodriguezdrummer No argument there, but if you understood what Carroll was working with his first two seasons, you'd understand better how Snyder was able to outcoach him. I'd be interested to see how Snyder would have fared against Carroll's 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008 teams.
@@JohnHoulgateHard to say, Snyder retired in 2005. It would be cool see K-State 1998 team vs. a prime USC team. Regardless, it wasn’t uncommon for Snyder to beat talented teams. In 2003 he massacred OU
Carson Palmer, the most undeserving Heisman winner until the next overrated USC QB (Williams), was pretty clearly not the best QB on this field that day. Brad Banks, Larry Johnson, Byron Leftwich, Willis McGahee, Mo Clarett, and even EJ Henderson were all so much better than Palmer that it hurts.
The Trojans made Brad Banks look silly in the Orange Bowl that year. Palmer threw for 303 yards and the USC offense put up 505 yards of total offense. At the end of that season Palmer was looking unbeatable. If you understood how Palmer was doing before Pete Carroll and Norm Chow worked with him, you'd see the growth and improvement.
