1998 Big 12 Championship Game
Encyclopedia
The 1998 Big 12 Championship Game was played on December 5, 1998 at The Trans World Dome
in St. Louis, Missouri
, United States
. The game determined the 1998 football
champion of the Big 12 Conference
. The Texas A&M Aggies
, winners of the South division of the Big 12, narrowly beat the Kansas State Wildcats
, who won the North division, by a score of 36-33 in double overtime. This was the first time the two teams met in the Big 12 Championship Game. Texas A&M would not win the South Division again until the 2010 season, when they shared it with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. Kansas State went on to win the North in 2000 and 2003, when they also beat to capture their first conference title since 1934.
The Wildcats were coached by Bill Snyder
. They came into the game with a 11-0 record, including a 8-0 record in Big 12 play. The Aggies were coached by R. C. Slocum
. Texas A&M went into the game with an 10-2 record including a 7-1 mark in conference play.
Texas A&M was just coming off of a loss in the previous week to their bitter rival, the Texas Longhorns
, 26-24. The loss did not stop the Aggies from winning the South Division, and set them up with a match-up with the North Division Champion and #1 (Coaches Poll) team in the country, Kansas State.
Running back Sirr Parker
scored 14 points on a pair of touchdown catches and a two-point conversion, rallying the Aggies to a 24-point surge in the final 9:20 of regulation and the extra periods.
Parker’s unlikely 32-yard reception for the winning TD on a 3rd-and-17 situation for Texas A&M in the final overtime capped an evening of surprising developments for both teams. The final six-pointer also gave the Aggies their first football win in history over a team ranked first nationally at the time of the contest.
Texas A&M had trouble finding the end zone in the first half against the Wildcats’ defense, as KSU built a 17-6 halftime advantage. A pair of Russell Bynum field goals helped offset a brilliant passing performance by KSU quarterback Michael Bishop
, who was 8-of-8 passing for 159 yards and a pair of TDs in the opening 30 minutes. Tight end Justin Swift was a favorite target as he made three catches for 47 yards and one score.
Linebacker Dat Nguyen
led the Aggie defense with an interception to go along with a championship-most 17 total tackles. The pilfer led to a 57-yard Aggies’ scoring drive, capped by a two-yard scoring plunge by A&M freshman fullback Ja’Mar Toombs.
Quarterback Brandon Stewart
reeled off 245 passing yards on 11-of-20 aerial work and two touchdowns in the final quarter and two overtime periods, as the Aggies mounted the greatest comeback in the brief history of the Big 12 Championship.
The two teams traded field goals in the first overtime session, with Bynum hitting from 18 yards and Gramatica connected from 22 yards.
In the second overtime, KSU drove to the eight-yard line on four rushing plays of 17 yards. The Wildcats put one more field goal on the board for a 33-30 lead. Texas A&M then converted as Parker caught the pass from Stewart and eluded one tackler before lunging over the pylon in the right corner for the winning score.
KSU (0-3) - Martin Gramatica
47-yard field goal; 6:31
KSU (0-10) - Justin Swift 15-yard pass from Michael Bishop
, (Gramatica kick); 2:02
Second Quarter
A&M (3-10) - Russell Bynum 25-yard field goal; 11:00
KSU (3-17) - Darnell McDonald 66-yard pass from Bishop (Gramatica kick); 10:37
A&M (6-17) - Bynum 26-yard field goal; 4:16
Third Quarter
A&M (12-17) - Ja’Mar Toombs 2-yard run (Pass failed); 8:42
KSU (12-20) - Gramatica 45-yard field goal; 4:31
KSU (12-27) - Bishop 5-yard run (Gramatica kick); 0:40
Fourth Quarter
A&M (19-27) - Leroy Hodge 13-yard pass from Brandon Stewart
(Bynum kick); 9:20
A&M (27-27) - Sirr Parker
9-yard pass from Stewart (Parker pass from Stewart); 1:05
First Overtime
A&M (30-27) - Bynum 18-yard field goal
KSU (30-30) - Gramatica 22-yard field goal
Second Overtime
KSU (30-33) - Gramatica 25-yard field goal
A&M (36-33) - Parker 32-yard pass from Stewart
, where they went on to lose to #3 Ohio State
, 24-14.
The Wildcats, anticipating a major bowl bid, fell all the way to the Alamo Bowl
, losing to the Purdue Boilermakers
, 37-34.
Edward Jones Dome
The Edward Jones Dome The Edward Jones Dome The Edward Jones Dome (more formally known as the Edward Jones Dome at America's Center, and previously known as The Trans World Dome (from 1995–2001) is a multi-purpose stadium in St. Louis, Missouri, and home of the St. Louis Rams of the NFL. It was...
in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The game determined the 1998 football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
champion of the Big 12 Conference
Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of ten schools located in the Central United States, with its headquarters located in Las Colinas, a community in the Dallas, Texas suburb of Irving...
. The Texas A&M Aggies
1998 Texas A&M Aggies football team
The 1998 Texas A&M Aggies football team completed the season with a 11-3 record. The Aggies had a regular season Big 12 record of 7-1.-Schedule:-Florida State:-Louisiana Tech:-Southern Miss:-North Texas:-Kansas:...
, winners of the South division of the Big 12, narrowly beat the Kansas State Wildcats
1998 Kansas State Wildcats football team
The 1998 Kansas State Wildcats football team represented Kansas State University in the college football season of 1998. The team's head football coach was Bill Snyder. The Wildcats played their home games in KSU Stadium. 1998 saw the Wildcats finish with a record of 11-2, and a 8-0 record in...
, who won the North division, by a score of 36-33 in double overtime. This was the first time the two teams met in the Big 12 Championship Game. Texas A&M would not win the South Division again until the 2010 season, when they shared it with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. Kansas State went on to win the North in 2000 and 2003, when they also beat to capture their first conference title since 1934.
The Wildcats were coached by Bill Snyder
Bill Snyder
Bill Snyder is the head football coach at Kansas State University. He was rehired to the position on November 24, 2008, making Snyder one of the rare college football head coaches to have non-consecutive tenure at the same school. Snyder previously served as head coach at the school from 1989 to...
. They came into the game with a 11-0 record, including a 8-0 record in Big 12 play. The Aggies were coached by R. C. Slocum
R. C. Slocum
Richard Copeland Slocum , better known as R. C. Slocum, was the head football coach at Texas A&M University from 1989 until 2002. He has won more games as coach than anyone else in Texas A&M football history.-Personal:...
. Texas A&M went into the game with an 10-2 record including a 7-1 mark in conference play.
Leading up to the game
The Wildcats were undefeated heading into the game, only needing a win to secure a spot in the National Championship game after had already lost the same day.Texas A&M was just coming off of a loss in the previous week to their bitter rival, the Texas Longhorns
1998 Texas Longhorns football team
The 1998 Texas Longhorns football team represented the University of Texas at Austin in the 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season.-Regular season:...
, 26-24. The loss did not stop the Aggies from winning the South Division, and set them up with a match-up with the North Division Champion and #1 (Coaches Poll) team in the country, Kansas State.
Game summary
No. 10 nationally Texas A&M rebounded from a 27-12 fourth-quarter deficit to edge top-ranked Kansas State 36-33 in double overtime.Running back Sirr Parker
Sirr Parker
Sirr Eluan Parker is a former Quarterback for Texas A&M University who went on to play professionally in the National Football League, the Canadian Football League, and the Arena Football League.-Youth and high school:...
scored 14 points on a pair of touchdown catches and a two-point conversion, rallying the Aggies to a 24-point surge in the final 9:20 of regulation and the extra periods.
Parker’s unlikely 32-yard reception for the winning TD on a 3rd-and-17 situation for Texas A&M in the final overtime capped an evening of surprising developments for both teams. The final six-pointer also gave the Aggies their first football win in history over a team ranked first nationally at the time of the contest.
Texas A&M had trouble finding the end zone in the first half against the Wildcats’ defense, as KSU built a 17-6 halftime advantage. A pair of Russell Bynum field goals helped offset a brilliant passing performance by KSU quarterback Michael Bishop
Michael Bishop (football player)
Michael Paul Bishop is a professional football quarterback who is currently on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers Practice Squad. He was drafted in the seventh round of the 1999 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots....
, who was 8-of-8 passing for 159 yards and a pair of TDs in the opening 30 minutes. Tight end Justin Swift was a favorite target as he made three catches for 47 yards and one score.
Linebacker Dat Nguyen
Dat Nguyen
Dat Tan Nguyen is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League . He was the first Vietnamese American to play in the NFL. He played for the Dallas Cowboys from 1999 to 2005. He played college football at Texas A&M. He was the Cowboys' assistant linebackers coach and...
led the Aggie defense with an interception to go along with a championship-most 17 total tackles. The pilfer led to a 57-yard Aggies’ scoring drive, capped by a two-yard scoring plunge by A&M freshman fullback Ja’Mar Toombs.
Quarterback Brandon Stewart
Brandon Stewart
Brandon Stewart is a professional Canadian football defensive back for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League...
reeled off 245 passing yards on 11-of-20 aerial work and two touchdowns in the final quarter and two overtime periods, as the Aggies mounted the greatest comeback in the brief history of the Big 12 Championship.
The two teams traded field goals in the first overtime session, with Bynum hitting from 18 yards and Gramatica connected from 22 yards.
In the second overtime, KSU drove to the eight-yard line on four rushing plays of 17 yards. The Wildcats put one more field goal on the board for a 33-30 lead. Texas A&M then converted as Parker caught the pass from Stewart and eluded one tackler before lunging over the pylon in the right corner for the winning score.
Scoring summary
First QuarterKSU (0-3) - Martin Gramatica
Martin Gramatica
Martín Gramática is an Argentine-American former football placekicker.Gramática was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the third round of the 1999 NFL Draft after playing college football at Kansas State, and has also been a member of the Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots, Dallas...
47-yard field goal; 6:31
KSU (0-10) - Justin Swift 15-yard pass from Michael Bishop
Michael Bishop (football player)
Michael Paul Bishop is a professional football quarterback who is currently on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers Practice Squad. He was drafted in the seventh round of the 1999 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots....
, (Gramatica kick); 2:02
Second Quarter
A&M (3-10) - Russell Bynum 25-yard field goal; 11:00
KSU (3-17) - Darnell McDonald 66-yard pass from Bishop (Gramatica kick); 10:37
A&M (6-17) - Bynum 26-yard field goal; 4:16
Third Quarter
A&M (12-17) - Ja’Mar Toombs 2-yard run (Pass failed); 8:42
KSU (12-20) - Gramatica 45-yard field goal; 4:31
KSU (12-27) - Bishop 5-yard run (Gramatica kick); 0:40
Fourth Quarter
A&M (19-27) - Leroy Hodge 13-yard pass from Brandon Stewart
Brandon Stewart
Brandon Stewart is a professional Canadian football defensive back for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League...
(Bynum kick); 9:20
A&M (27-27) - Sirr Parker
Sirr Parker
Sirr Eluan Parker is a former Quarterback for Texas A&M University who went on to play professionally in the National Football League, the Canadian Football League, and the Arena Football League.-Youth and high school:...
9-yard pass from Stewart (Parker pass from Stewart); 1:05
First Overtime
A&M (30-27) - Bynum 18-yard field goal
KSU (30-30) - Gramatica 22-yard field goal
Second Overtime
KSU (30-33) - Gramatica 25-yard field goal
A&M (36-33) - Parker 32-yard pass from Stewart
After the game
The Aggies went on to win the game in double overtime, and earning a berth in the Sugar Bowl1999 Sugar Bowl
The 1999 Sugar Bowl a 1998-1999 BCS game was played on January 1, 1999. This 65th edition to the Sugar Bowl featured the Ohio State Buckeyes, and the Texas A&M Aggies...
, where they went on to lose to #3 Ohio State
Ohio State Buckeyes football
The Ohio State Buckeyes football team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of The Ohio State University. The team is a member of the Big Ten Conference of the NCAA, playing at the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly Division I-A, level. The team nickname is derived from the state...
, 24-14.
The Wildcats, anticipating a major bowl bid, fell all the way to the Alamo Bowl
1998 Alamo Bowl
The 1998 Alamo Bowl featured the Kansas State Wildcats and the Purdue Boilermakers.The Wildcats came into the game fresh off a double overtime loss in the Big 12 Championship Game to the Texas A&M Aggies, which ruined their chance at a national championship in the Fiesta Bowl...
, losing to the Purdue Boilermakers
Purdue Boilermakers football
The Purdue Boilermakers football team is the intercollegiate football program of the Purdue University Boilermakers. The program is classified in the NCAA's Division I Bowl Subdivision, and the team competes in the Big Ten Conference. The Boilermakers have an all-time record of...
, 37-34.