Kansas State Romps N. Illinois 73-7

Bill Snyder wasn't apologizing for scoring 73 points against yet another outclassed opponent.

Kansas

And he definitely wasn't sorry for calling a timeout with two seconds left in the first half and No. 5 Kansas State already leading Northern Illinois by 49 points on its way to a 73-7 victory.

Martin Gramatica had a chance to make Big 12 history, and Snyder wanted him to take it.

Gramatica did, kicking a 65-yard field goal that touched off the biggest crowd celebration of Saturday's game -- far bigger than for any of Michael Bishop's two touchdown runs and two scoring passes.

"Now I'm going to be mad if I miss anything under that, because I know I can make it," said Gramatica, whose previous best was 55 yards -- and whose kick Saturday was the longest ever without a kicking tee.

Snyder insisted he wasn't trying to needlessly pad the score by letting Gramatica take the kick.

"That was an opportunity for a young man to do something very special," Snyder said. "He had an opportunity to put his name in the record book, and in the first half of a ballgame -- no matter what the score -- you ought to let him have that opportunity."

Huskies coach Joe Novak, whose team's 20-game losing streak is the longest in the major-college ranks, also had no complaints about Snyder's decision.

It was never this close ... Kansas State receiver Darnell McDonald keeps Northern Illinois cornerback Duane Hawthorne out of reach. (AP)

"That didn't bother me," Novak said. "Our job is to stop them. He's (Snyder) got to do hithing, and that kid made a great kick."

Gramatica's kick cleared with room to spare, leading some to speculate how far it could have gone.

"I think we should have backed him up a little bit," Bishop said. "I think it could have gone 70 yards."

If Snyder came away feeling badly about anything, it was because his team committed 14 penalties for 107 yards.

"Some of it is lack of focus. Some of it is maybe not paying attention," Snyder said. "That may be exactly the same thing. Part of it might be stupidity, but I hope that's not the case."

Kansa State (2-0), which has outscored its opponents 139-7 this year, set school records for touchdowns (nine) and points in a game, and also for points (59) in a half. Kansas State beat Akron 67-0 in 1995 and twice scored 42 points in a half, the last in a 47-7 victory over Northern Illinois last year.

Northern Illinois (0-2) gave up the most points the Huskies have yielded since a 96-0 loss to St. Viator's in 1915.

Bishop scored twice on 2-yard runs and threw touchdown passes of 36 yards to Eric Hickson and 27 yards to Darnell McDonald. David Allen scored twice for the Wildcats.

Allen's 1-yard scoring run and his 69-yard punt return, along with a 2-point conversion pass, gave Kansas State a 15-0 lead. Two flags for personal fouls and one for pass interference helped the Huskies make it 15-7 on Bill Andrews' 1-yard run with 2:43 left in the quarter.

Gramatica kicked a 46-yard field goal 50 seconds later, and two plays after that Gerald Neasman intercepted Frisman Jackson's pass and lateraled to Jarrod Cooper, who scored from 15 yards.

Kansas also got a 37-yard field goal from Gramatica and a 4-yard touchdown run from Marlon Charles in the second quarter. A fumble recovery by Jeff Kelly and interceptions by Jerametrius Butler and Milton Proctor set up three of the Wildcats' second-quarter scores.

Northern Illinois also let Monty Beisel recover Gramatica's squibbed kickoff after Cooper's score. Beisel's play led to Bishop's first score.

"We made so many mistakes -- the interceptions, the punt return, the kickoff they recovered," Novak said. "Those things just aren't good football. I'd hoped to make it more competitive than that."

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