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Brigham Young Cougars © |
Kansas State Wildcats |
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The Cotton Bowl Played January 1, 1997 at the Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas |
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Teams' Belt Records
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Team |
Belt Reigns |
Overall Record |
Home Record |
Away Record |
Neutral Record |
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W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
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| Brigham Young © | 2 | 8 | 2 | 0 | .800 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 | 5 | 1 | 0 | .833 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Kansas State | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
Previous Belt Meetings: None
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1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
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Brigham Young |
5 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
19 |
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Kansas State |
0 |
8 |
7 |
0 |
15 |
The 5th ranked, 13-1 Brigham Young Cougars of coach Lavell Edwards met the 14th ranked, 9-2 Kansas State Wildcats of coach Bill Snyder in the Cotton Bowl. This was the first time that the Cotton Bowl had hosted a Belt match-up. Brigham Young's All-WAC QB Steve Sarkisian threw 2 touchdown passes in the 4th quarter to lead the Cougars to a 19-15 come-from-behind victory over the Wildcats to retain The Belt. Brigham Young opened the scoring when All-WAC LB Shay Muirbrook tackled Wildcats' QB Brian Kavanagh in the end zone for a safety with 3:34 left in the 1st quarter. Brigham Young scored after the free kick with a 39-yard field goal from PK Ethan Pochman to make the score 5-0 after the first quarter. Kavanagh’s “Hail Mary” pass at the end of the first half was tipped by Brigham Young’s All-WAC CB Omarr Morgan & caught by Kansas State's WR Andre Anderson for a 41-yard touchdown. The 2-point conversion gave Kansas State an 8-5 lead at the half. The Wildcats took a 15-5 lead in the 3rd quarter when Kavanagh hit All-Big 12 WR Kevin Lockett on a short pass that the receiver turned into a 72-yard touchdown pass as he raced down the left sideline. Kansas State's All-American CB Chris Canty had to leave the game due to dehydration & on the next play, Sarkisian hit All-WAC WR James Dye on a 32-yard touchdown pass with 10:55 to play. With five minutes to play, the Cougars took possession at their own 40-yard line still trailing 15-12. Brigham Young drove to the Kansas State 28-yard line. With Canty still on the sidelines, Kansas State then lost CB Joe Gordon which brought freshman CB Lamar Chapman into the game for the Wildcats. In man-to-man coverage, Cougars' WR K.O. Kealaluhi got Chapman to buy his fake on the post-corner route. Sarkisian found Kealaluhi wide open on a 28-yard touchdown pass giving Brigham Young the 19-15 lead. Kansas State drove to the Brigham Young 12-yard line with a minute to play when Morgan preserved the win with an interception at the Brigham Young 3-yard line as Kansas State tried to take the lead. Neither team was able to manage a running game as Brigham Young finished with 59 yards rushing & Kansas State finished with just 41 yards rushing. Sarkisian finished with 291 yards passing with 2 touchdowns but also 2 interceptions. Kavanagh finished with 233 yards passing with 2 touchdowns but also 2 interceptions & Lockett added 7 catches for 135 yards to his touchdown. Brigham Young finished the season 14-1; WAC Champions, ranked 5th nationally while the Wildcats finished 9-3 & ranked 17th nationally. Kansas State would play for The Belt again in 1997.
