Kansas State coach Bill Snyder and North Texas head coach Dan McCarney have a bit of history. They met more than 30 years ago, when Hayden Fry's staff left North Texas for Iowa. Later on, Snyder's move to become head coach at Kansas State and McCarney's similar gig at Iowa State brought the two to battle against one another.
On Saturday, they again met. This time, McCarney was the head coach at North Texas, and the Mean Green nearly toppled the No. 15 Kansas State Wildcats led by none other than Snyder.
"It is a great program and it is an example of how to build a college football program, how to sustain one and how to win on game days. A lot of good effort by the players on our football team, but it was not enough to win the game. Our football team came in believing they could win, not hoping they could win. I did not sense any hope that we could win a game, but instead more sense in belief. We were not good enough to do it tonight."
Snyder likewise had kind words for McCarney, whose squad lost 35-21 but put a scare into the Wildcats, who struggled with tackling and poor overall execution. The Kansas State coach said he could see a tough game coming during this week's practice, when the Wildcats just didn't look sharp.
They'll need to find themselves quickly. Kansas State meets the No. 6 Oklahoma Sooners this Saturday.
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