During the last two years under the leadership of Dan McCarney, Iowa State has been compared to Kansas State in many ways. In fact, it has almost seemed like the Cyclones have wanted to be the Wildcats.

And who can blame them?

K-State locked up its 10th consecutive bowl appearance last weekend and is still in the hunt for the Big 12 North title, which is nothing too out of the ordinary.

Iowa State fans, on the other hand, are dancing in the streets after two consecutive bowl games.

Although the Cyclones have two winning seasons under their belts, they still haven’t reached the level of the ‘Cats.

Remember, since Bill Snyder’s first year in Manhattan, Iowa State has only one victory against K-State — in Ames during the infamous 1993 “streaker game.”

Let’s just say it’s going to take more than a naked ISU student running around on national TV for the Cyclones to win.

‘Tis the season

You know it’s a Saturday in November when the Dev Nelson Press box on the west side of Wagner Field is filled with guys wearing different-colored blazers. No, they aren’t all wannabes of TBS sideline reporter Craig Sager, but bowl officials with Big 12 ties.

Representatives will be on hand from the Cotton, Holiday, Alamo and Independence Bowls on Saturday. And although they will be there to see both teams showcase their talents, something tells me they will only be remembering the purple and white by night’s end.

Sproles takes the fifth

Last Saturday, during a 64-0 thrashing of Kansas, Darren Sproles had his fifth consecutive 100-yard rushing game. Sproles finished with 110 yards in a game, virtually all of which came in the first half. This weekend, Sproles looks to tie the K-State record for most consecutive 100-yard rushing games. The nearly 20-year-old record should fall Saturday against an ISU defense ranked 62nd in Division I-A.

McCarney moving?

Recent rumors out of Detroit have McCarney taking over the Michigan State job vacated by Bobby Williams on Monday.

Rather than saying he wasn’t interested in the MSU job, McCarney said earlier this week, “There are no guarantees in life,” and wouldn’t say he was 100 percent sure he would be back in Ames next year. This could definitely be a distraction for Iowa State Saturday.

Hand back the Heisman, Seneca

The recent trend in college athletics these days is to spend a couple hundred thousand on hyping a star athlete.

Blame Oregon last year for leading the charge by purchasing a billboard in Times Square featuring quarterback Joey Harrington. Unfortunately, Harrington couldn’t live up to the hype of his Heisman campaign.

Iowa State’s athletic department joined in this year by foolishly starting up a Seneca for Heisman Web site at www.gosenecago.com. Rather than putting up a billboard, the Web site featured pictures, like the Sphinx with Wallace’s face superimposed on it. Now that’s productive.

After “losing” to Florida State, Wallace was instantly anointed the front-runner for the Heisman. The hype was ratcheted up even further when the Cyclones beat Nebraska back in September. Wallace then had one impressive run against the “vaunted” defense of Texas Tech, and it was referred to as “His Heisman Moment.”

The Wallace-walks-on-water talk reached its peak the week leading up to an Oct. 19 trip south to take on Oklahoma. Throughout the week, the Wallace bandwagon got so big even Mark Mangino could have hopped on board.

ESPN did a segment on Gameday featuring Wallace draped in a toga. He was supposed to be dressed like the Roman philosopher with whom he shares his first name. He spouted off some of the philosopher’s quotes, and ESPN showed highlight clips of Wallace this season. Later that day, Wallace went 4-for-22 with three interceptions and only 43 yards passing. What a Heisman performance.

Iowa State got blown out 49-3. All of Seneca’s hype really helped him out on the gridiron, didn’t it?

The point is Iowa State has made a huge mistake this year by glorifying the individual. A Division I football team is composed of 85 players and coaches.

Iowa State does have something the ‘Cats lack this year — a player receiving attention as a possible Heisman Trophy candidate. But K-State has some things Iowa State lacks.

First, a defense. Second, a coach not looking into leaving. And third, a rock-solid program.

The moral of the story is Wallace is beatable and when you take him out of the game, Iowa State is toast. You can bet the lynch mob (the K-State defense) is ready to end Wallace’s Heisman Trophy campaign.

Chris Shank

is a senior in secondary

education from Kansas State. He appears courtesy of the Kansas State Collegian.