Top receivers, defenders meeting in Cotton Bowl

By DOUG TUCKER / Associated Press

DALLAS - One of the nation's most sophisticated passing attacks faces one of college football's finest secondaries in the Cotton Bowl.

And the way Brigham Young quarterback Steve Sarkisian sees it, the winner of that matchup will likely win the game. And he draws no argument from a two-time all-America cornerback who may be playing his last game for Kansas State.

"That's basically what it's going to come down to - our defense vs. their offense," said Kansas State's Chris Canty. "We're going to have to stop or slow down their offense. We've been preparing to do that, and when the first of January rolls around, we'll be geared up and ready to do that."

Sarkisian, the latest quarterback to roll off the BYU assembly line, has thrown for 4,027 yards and hit almost 70 percent of his passes, leading the fifth-ranked Western Athletic Conference champs to a 13-1 record. Normally, the Cougars would feast on the kind of man-to-man coverage favored by No. 14 Kansas State (9-2).

But these are not typical defensive backs. Canty, a junior who is to announce after the game whether he'll enter the NFL draft, has always gotten most of the headlines. But many believe Joe Gordon is equally skilled.

Up front, the Wildcats have an aggressive front led by Nyle Wiren, the school's career sack leader.

"We like to see man-to-man," said BYU offensive coordinator Roger French. "But then again, they're good football players. So maybe we won't like it."

The Wildcats, who beat everyone but Nebraska and Colorado in the inaugural Big 12 season, expect to have Gordon back to full strength. He broke his leg in August and played sporadically.

"Maybe their scheme is good for us, but what they do, they do very well," Sarkisian said. "They're probably one of the top defenses in the country and I think some people believe we're one of the top offenses in the country.

It's not as though the Cougars haven't seen Kansas State's defensive alignment.

"The concept might have been there. But no one executes it and runs it like Kansas State does," Sarkisian said. "They have such good athletes at the cornerback position. Their corners take the wide receivers away, or try to, and then they jam the middle."

Pressuring Sarkisian will be a key for Kansas State.

"We'll just keep adding one to the blitz every time," said co-defensive coordinator Mike Stoops. "If we can't get there with four, we'll bring five. If we can't get there with five, we'll bring six. If we can't get there with six, we'll bring seven. After that, I don't know what we'll do."

Wiren figures the same scheme that broke him loose for 27.5 career sacks will get the job done.

"We're not really going to change things to get there," he said. "We're just going to have to pick up our intensity level of the front four."

Both teams are playing in their first New Year's Day game. But although the Cougars beat everybody on their schedule except Washington and are ranked No. 5, they're still listed as 3-1/2-point underdogs in the Cotton Bowl, sponsored by Southwestern Bell.

"It's the WAC," said BYU defensive tackle Henry Bloomfield. "Nobody gives the WAC any respect."

"I think that would bother me if I were them," said Kansas wide receiver Kevin Lockett. "Those guys have accomplished so much, they probably ought to be favored

Sarkisian says his team's record speaks for itself.

"We've had a tremendous season," he said. "We're conference champions. We're playing on New Year's Day for the first time in school history. I don't see that we have to prove anything, but to ourselves."