K-State defense reeling

By Associated Press     Nov 17, 2007

? It didn’t take long for Kansas State safety Chris Carney to get a few phone calls from family members following the Wildcats’ 73-31 loss at Nebraska on Saturday.

They weren’t poking fun at him. They just wanted to make sure he was all right.

“It was definitely tough to get up (on Sunday morning),” Carney said. “Anytime you lose that big, it’s going to be hard. It took a toll on all of us.”

None of Carney’s family members probably had more insight than his cousin, Dyshod Carter, a defensive back at Kansas State from 1997 to 2001. Carter was familiar with the school’s rivalry with Nebraska, but he never had to deal with a loss that lopsided.

As a member of some of the best teams in Kansas State history, Carter went 2-2 against Nebraska.

Heads up

“He just told me to keep my head up and make sure that I get in and watch the film and do everything right next time,” Carney said. “It’s definitely embarrassing because I know he obviously didn’t have to go through anything like that.”

Days after giving up the most points by a Kansas State team since 1971, several players came to the team’s weekly news conference Monday.

“It’s tough. I don’t know what it is,” safety Marcus Watts said. “It just seems like we do the things in practice right, but sometimes we just can’t carry it into the game for some reason. It seems like we’re in the right places, but we just can’t make the plays.

“We just got outplayed. That’s basically what it was. They just took it to us.”

It’s not just that the defense allowed 702 total yards and seven passing TDs. It’s that the opponent entered Saturday on a five-game losing streak.

Strength attacked

Coach Ron Prince said the most alarming part was that Nebraska attacked the Wildcats (5-5, 3-4 Big 12) at their strength – defending the pass. Husker quarterback Joe Ganz finished with 510 passing yards.

“It’s not as though they took the thing we were weakest in and exploited it,” Prince said. “They attacked us right at our strength and performed unbelievably.”

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