Cotton Bowl: KS Takes Tennessee

D A L L A S, Jan. 1 -- Jonathan Beasley has a new highlight film to showNFL scouts.

Beasley gave a great display of the all-around ability that isnow the rage among pro quarterbacks, as No. 11 Kansas State beatNo. 21 Tennessee 35-21 in the Cotton Bowl today. He ran for acareer-best 98 yards and a touchdown, threw for 210 yards and twoTDs, and quick-kicked the ball to the 4.

Beasley’s long first-half passes to Quincy Morgan softened theVolunteers’ defensive front, then he and Josh Scobey spent thesecond half running all over a unit that was third-best in thenation.

Pressure Win

The 297 yards rushing by Kansas State (11-3) were the mostagainst Tennessee (8-4) since Nebraska had 409 in the 2000 FiestaBowl. Scobey ran 28 times for 147 yards, two shy of his careerbest.

Although Kansas State tried not thinking of this as the nationalchampionship it missed out on playing against Tennessee two yearsago, the Wildcats played as if more was on the line than a fourthstraight 11-win season.

The Wildcats scored first, then answered the Volunteers’ firsttouchdown with one 50 seconds later and another on the next drive.With Morgan hurt just before halftime, Kansas State opened thethird quarter with 10 straight runs by Beasley and Scobey andproduced two more touchdowns.

Beasley finished 13-of-27 for 210 yards with an interceptionthat Tennessee’s Jabari Greer returned 78 yards for a touchdown.The senior, who redshirted as a junior two years ago when MichaelBishop was a senior, ran 17 times and was not sacked by a Tennesseedefense that came in with a school-record 50.

For all his great passes and improvisational runs, Beasley mightbe most proud of his punt. With Kansas State facing fourth-and-8from the Tennessee 31, he lined up under center, then pooch-kickedthe ball 27 yards.

When the game ended, most of the Wildcats took a victory lapalong the stands while a few others posed for pictures with aschool flag at midfield.