The Most Forgettable Loss in Troy History: 2003 Kansas State
Troy State’s 2003 football season can be summed up in one word: overshadowed.
The 2001 team’s 7-4 record outshines the 2003 Trojans’ first real taste of bowl eligibility. The 2002 squad was probably the strongest defensive unit in Troy history, with Osi Umenyiora AND DeMarcus Ware on the field.
2003 had its fair share of moments, like the first Marshall win of the century and Ware’s explosion as a player. That said, the 2004 season will forever be the more memorable year—from the Troy rebrand, to the Missouri upset, to the conference inauguration to the first bowl game.
Much like the 2004 season, the last-ever Troy State football team began the year against a Big XII team. Instead of hosting, the Trojans took Manhattan, Kansas, facing the Wildcats for the first time ever.
The 2002 Kansas State team went 11-2 and ended the year in the top 10. The Cats’ goals were far loftier than the Trojans, who were trying to get back to a winning record.
Kansas State got effectively a Week 0 win over California in the Black Coaches & Administrators Classic, a short-lived preseason matchup. (The game was postponed in 2000 because of a lighting storm that struck Lee Corso’s rental car.)
The game was at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, so despite a crowd that definitely favored the Cats, Troy’s visit was the first real home game for them.
That’s also when fans saw this amazing video for the first time.
41,812 people braved the rain to watch this glorious intro video. It would end up being a solid metaphor for the game, especially illustrating how long it took KSU to get rolling.
Future Super Bowl Champion DeMarcus Ware tackled Future Super Bowl Champion Darren Sproles after a five-yard gain on the first play of the game. The Troy defense held Sproles to just one yard on the next play, and the third-down pass fell to the ground.
Already the 2003 Troy team was off to a great start… and it was about to get better.
Courtesy: Lawrence Journal-World.
As taken from the Kansas State Athletics official recap, “Mike Wilson’s snap sailed over punter Jared Brite’s head and went out the back of the end zone for a safety.”
Not two minutes into the game, and Troy State led 2-0.
For perspective, here’s the list of times a Troy game began with a safety:
| Year | Team | First score |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | UTSA | UTSA |
| 2003 | Kansas State | Troy |
| 1991 | Nicholls State | Troy |
That’s it. That’s the list. Troy’s stats only go back to 1991, but it’s only happened three times… the most recent was last year’s bowl game.
Either way, a hyped offense got a chance to deal some damage. Unfortunately, all the Trojans could accomplish was two incomplete passes and a 1-yard run from Troy legend DeWhitt Betterson.
Future Senior Bowl player and Navy Seal Thomas Olmstead more than flipped the field, pinning Kansas State inside its 20-yard line.
Then the defense stepped back up. Sproles picked up eight yards on two runs, but on 3rd-and-2, DeMarcus Ware took him down again, and this time he knocked the ball free.
It was the first Trojan turnover of the season, and it’s worth noting this was a record year for them. Troy forced 22 fumbles that year and recovered 19.
Both of these stats are the program’s best at the FBS level.
The Mighty Trojan Fumble Machine gave the offense the ball inside KSU territory, with the lead, and it had only been about four minutes of game time.
This time, Troy’s Hansell Bearden found Adrian Moore inside the Cats’ 10-yard line. A penalty pushed Troy back and killed the momentum, but Olmstead made a field goal to increase Troy’s lead to five.
Here’s where the positives end. Much like the season as a whole, the rest of the game Troy was overshadowed by a strong Kansas State team.
The Cats scored on the next four drives, then blocked an Olmstead punt and took a 34-5 lead into halftime. The minute-long highlight reel I found gives you a good feel for how it went.
All of Troy’s first-quarter success was overshadowed by the Wildcats’ unstoppable offense. Much like the pregame video, the train crushed the Trojans.
And yet, like the record-setting Troy defense or the two Super Bowl champions who matched up on the field, the eye-catching final score is noteworthy itself.
The Trojans ended the game with just five points, for just the third time in program history. The other two 5-point games both happened in 1911—Troy’s third season ever.
| Year | Opponent | Result | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1911 | Lanier | T | 5-5 |
| 1911 | Wetumpka | W | 5-0 |
| 2003 | Kansas State | L | 5-41 |
It’s also worth noting that Sproles injured his leg with about two minutes left in the first half. He came back the next week against McNeese State, led the Wildcats to a 35-7 win over Oklahoma in the Big XII title game, and finished his career at No. 6 for most all-time all-purpose yards in NCAA history.
It was a banner year for Kansas State.
The Wildcats didn’t return to the Big XII Championship until 2022, beating TCU 31-28. For them, the title game will forever be the high point of the season… and for a long time, the entire program.
Marshall upset the Cats in Week 5 of 2003, and the next week Troy returned the favor, hitting its own high point for the year. Of course, 2003 itself was overshadowed by the following season.
For everything that came after, this blowout fell quietly to the footnotes of both programs’ seasons.
Then again, it was a 41-5 loss too.
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