MANHATTAN — Shutouts don’t occur very often at Bill Snyder Family Stadium for the Kansas State Wildcats.
In fact, the last time Kansas State shut out an opponent was 2006, when they blanked Florida International 45-0 at home during the Ron Prince era.
For legendary Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder, who came out of retirement to guide the Wildcats after Prince was fired in 2008, their 37-0 blowout of Kent State Saturday night at Bill Snyder Family Stadium was the first shutout for a Snyder-coached team since the 2003 season — a 45-0 whitewash of Iowa State on the road during an 11-4 campaign that included winning the Big 12 championship, beating Oklahoma.
“I thought we played well enough to get the shutout,” said Snyder in his postgame conference after his team blanked Kent State. “I was pleased that we put ourselves in a precarious position in the fourth quarter, where we were backed up against the goal line due to a senseless penalty, and still held them even though they had first-and-goal.”
David Garrett, a senior left cornerback, broke up a fourth-down pass by Kent State’s Spencer Keith in the end zone with 5:58 left, negating a long scoring drive by the Golden Flashes and keeping the shutout intact.
“I was very pleased that we did not allow them to score,” Snyder said. “It has been a number of years since we have had a shutout. They are not easy to come by today.”
Garrett also had a 45-yard interception return for a touchdown on Kent State’s second play from scrimmage as he provided the bookends in squeezing the Golden Flashes.
Kansas State’s defense will get a much tougher test this coming Saturday, when the Wildcats travel to Miami to play the Hurricanes at 2:30 p.m. on ESPNU.