The Wolverines won 6 of their first 7 games including a 41–30 victory over rival #14 Notre Dame. After defeating the Indiana Hoosiers 63–47, Michigan only won one more game and lost four more heading in to this bowl game.[6]
The Wildcats were led by head coach Bill Snyder in his 22nd overall and fifth straight season since taking over his second tenure in 2009. Kansas State began their season with four losses in their first six games, including a 24–21 season opener against North Dakota State Bison, a program that competed in the 2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season. North Dakota State went on to finish the season undefeated with a record of 15–0[7] and won their third consecutive FCS Championship.[8]
As a member of the Big 12 Conference, the team began conference play with a loss to the Texas Longhorns. The regular season ended with a win over in-state rival Kansas in the Sunflower Showdown. The Wildcats completed their regular season with a 7–5 record (5-4 in conference play) by winning five of their final six regular season games, including a 49–26 win over #25 Texas Tech.[9]
Scoring summary
Kansas State scored first with a touchdown pass from Jake Waters to Tyler Lockett in the first quarter and K-State's kicker Ian Patterson made good on the extra point to take the lead 7–0. Kansas State maintained the lead for the remainder of the game. At halftime, Kansas State led 21–6 with Tyler Lockett receiving three touchdown passes from Jake Waters and Michigan succeeding with two field goals. After no score in the third quarter, Michigan's Fitzgerald Toussaint ran the ball three yards for a touchdown while Kansas State's Patterson made a field goal and John Hubert ran in a touchdown for 1 yard.[10]
Kansas State won the game by a score of 31–14. Many sportswriters determined that Kansas State controlled the Michigan team through the entire game and one wrote "Kansas State dominates Michigan in Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl" to summarize the results.[11] Another wrote that "K-State could be a 2014 Big 12 title contender" after the results of the game.[12] Supporters of Michigan used the results to highlight high hopes for the upcoming seasons with comments such as "The young guys are the bright spot for this team."[13]
Kansas State's Tyler Lockett was named the offensive MVP. Lockett finished the game with ten catches for 116 yards and three touchdowns to tie the Bowl record.[14] Kansas State safety Dante Barnett was awarded the Defensive MVP. Barnett recorded a team-high eight tackles and an interception with a 51-yard return to the Michigan seven-yard line.[15]
Kansas State quarterback Jake Waters was named the overall Most Valuable Player of the game.
In the state of Michigan, customers were reduced to watching the bowl game on a small number of televisions with no sound.[18] A corporate officer of Buffalo Wild Wings welcomed viewers to the game and encouraged people to watch a bowl game at one of their restaurants and at the same time disgruntled fans at the restaurants reported via Twitter that they were in the wrong place to watch the game on big screens and with sound.[16]
References
^Bowl Schedule, Los Angeles Times, December 10, 2013
