Wildcats may throw a zone defense at Oklahoma

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) _ Give Kansas State a month or so to prepare, and the Wildcats would probably throw a tight zone defense at Josh Heupel. <br><br>The problem is that the Wildcats (10-2) do not normally

Thursday, November 30th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) _ Give Kansas State a month or so to prepare, and the Wildcats would probably throw a tight zone defense at Josh Heupel.

The problem is that the Wildcats (10-2) do not normally play zone. So they'll have to stick with what brought them to a rematch against No. 1 Oklahoma Saturday in the Big 12 title game.

``I think we're a program that's ingrained in certain things,'' said Kansas State coach Bill Snyder. ``I don't think we could make a lot of wholesale changes. We have to do what we do. But I do know this _ whatever it is, we've certainly got to do it better. Josh completed 78 percent of his passes in the first game.''

On that chilly October day in KSU Stadium, Heupel survived an unrelenting blitz attack and was a season-best 29-of-37 for 374 yards and two touchdowns. Blitzing the left-handed passer did little good because every time he got knocked down, he got right back up.

``He never changed his facial expression the whole game,'' said Kansas State defensive end Monty Beisel.

Oklahoma (11-0) emerged with a 41-31 win and now stands just one win away in the rematch from meeting Florida State for the national championship.

In the meantime, the national championship game and most other bowls can't get locked up until a winner is decided in Kansas City.

The Wildcats can only admire the way teams used zone defenses to frustrate Heupel in the final games of the year.

``I really think he handles (the bliitz) better than anyone else does, and his receivers handle it well, too,'' defensive back Jon McGraw said. ``They know where to check, where to be. They just make a great team, and get the ball off in a hurry when he has pressure in his face.''

The last thing Snyder is going to do is tip his hand.

``I don't think that it would be appropriate for me to respond in regards to what our game plan is going to be,'' Snyder said. ``We have seen everything that everybody has done against Oklahoma, offense or defense, and they have seen everything that everybody has done against us. I am not going to tell you this is what we are going to do.''

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops thinks the Wildcats might have enough time to install some zone.

``They can to a point, and I think we'll see a mixture of both,'' he said.

Heupel, who struggled in the regular-season finale against Oklahoma State, figures Kansas State will stick to its philosophy.

``They're a man-principle team. That's their bread and butter. They're not going to deviate from that completely,'' he said. ``But we're going to be prepared for them to throw some more zone at us.''

Stoops is looking for another relentless pass rush.

``They've been a high-pressure team. I'm sure that'll remain the same,'' he said. ``We've got to be able to beat their coverage, whether it's man or zone. I'm sure we'll get some of each. On top of that, we need to take care of the football and continue to have a run game like we've had, really, all year.''

Both teams are coming off lackluster wins over lightly regarded opponents in their regular-season finales. The Sooners struggled to a 12-7 victory over Oklahoma State while Kansas State had to come from behind in the second half to squeeze past Missouri 28-24.

But for the players, it'll be a chance to be the feature game of the entire weekend.

``You get a chance to play against another great football team. You're going to have a national TV audience watching you. Those are the things you dream about as a kid,'' Heupel said.