Ex-Titan May Takes Manhattan by Storm : College football: After a year of dodging defensive linemen while at Cal State Fullerton, quarterback has Kansas State on the rise.

So now they are making pilgrimages to see Chad May, the big cheese in the Big Eight and the latest star of late-night highlight reels.

They are loading up food and revving up their motor homes to catch this new Kansas State quarterback, the one who was more tackling dummy than passer while at Cal State Fullerton.

They are camping overnight to watch the guy who is most responsible for helping Kansas State obtain a No. 25 ranking this week, the Wildcats’ first national ranking in 23 years.

Out-of-towners may not be streaming into the streets of Manhattan, Kan., but you can darn sure see one motor home this week right in the back yard of May’s rented house.

It belongs to his parents.

You didn’t think they would miss out on one of college football’s biggest stories of the year, did you?

“It’s kind of strange having them here,” May said. “They’re going up and down, between Manhattan and Sioux City, Iowa, to visit my grandparents.”

Chad’s dad, Jim, a stockbroker, gets six weeks of vacation a year. He took five of them this fall and he and Marla, May’s mother, left their home in Laverne and landed in Manhattan three weeks ago.

They watched their son direct a 10-9 victory over arch-rival Kansas, set a Big Eight Conference passing record with 489 yards in a 45-28 loss to Nebraska and pass for 273 yards during a 16-16 tie with Colorado last Saturday.

“Yeah, they’ve been having a good time,” May said. “It’s pretty nice.”

Kansas State (5-1-1) started the season 5-0 for the first time since 1931 and for just the fourth time in school history. The Wildcats’ current 10-0-1 streak at home is their longest unbeaten stretch since 1909-1910. They also went 4-0 in nonconference games, the first time the Wildcats had accomplished that since 1954.

They way things are going, May’s parents aren’t the only two people having fun in Manhattan. And they aren’t the only ones trying to finagle some time with their son.

May, who wallowed in obscurity behind a porous offensive line during an abbreviated career at Fullerton, suddenly finds himself averaging about 15 interviews a week. And, going into Saturday’s game against No. 22 Oklahoma, Kansas State is averaging 31,800 fans per game.

If that figure holds--and there is no reason why it shouldn’t, what with all the purple face paint being sold in Manhattan this fall--it will be the best average attendance at Kansas State since 1975.

Perhaps the best thing their rocket-armed new quarterback has brought to town is a sense of pride.

“Before, against the big three (Nebraska, Colorado and Oklahoma), people around town were like, ‘I think we can play them close,”’ said Ben Boyle, Kansas State sports information director. “Last week, before the Colorado game, I couldn’t tell you how many people said, ‘I think we’re going to beat Colorado.’ People feel the same way about Oklahoma this week.

“It’s infectious.”

It’s quite an achievement for someone whose biggest accomplishments at Fullerton were dying his hair orange one time and white another.

“I was just trying to switch things up,” he said. “We were getting beat so bad . . . “

So why not dye his hair? Maybe it would throw off the defensive linemen. Maybe they would rush the wrong guy. When your offensive line couldn’t contain the cast of “Saved by the Bell,” you’ll try anything.

Now, he has 1,806 yards passing through seven games, which puts him on pace to easily surpass Lynn Dickey’s Kansas State record of 2,476 yards, set in 1969. During the one year he started at Fullerton, May threw for 1,066 yards--for the entire 1991 season.

He recalls games against Georgia, San Jose State and Fresno State when he questioned his sanity with each sack. The only person who could have liked him playing for Fullerton was his doctor, who figured to get rich off of it one day.

“It was just getting to the point where everyone would watch films and then bring the house,” May said. “They would (rush) eight people.

“Sometimes, people were beating me back on my drop and sacking me. It was not fun.”

Neither was getting out of bed the next morning.

“I was always in getting treatment,” May said. “I kept getting hammered and hammered.”

He started thinking about leaving at mid-year and then sealed his decision the day after the season.

“I was fed up during the year,” he said. “I don’t like to lose and we were getting blown out. It got to me.”

The season ended with a 37-36 upset victory over Long Beach State. May passed for 213 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown pass to win the game with 38 seconds left.

The next day, Coach Gene Murphy informed May that the Titans were switching to an option offense in 1992, which would better suit their personnel. May, who not nimble enough to run the option, left the office and immediately began looking for a new school.

He considered several, including East Carolina, Northeast Louisiana, North Carolina and Maryland. But he only took one trip.

“I was very comfortable with Kansas State,” May said. “The atmosphere, the coaches. We have a balanced attack. I think I made a good decision.”

He liked the idea of getting in on a construction project early. In 1986, Kansas State’s record over 90 years of football was 296-468-41, by far the worst among Division I football teams.

When Coach Bill Snyder took over in 1989, the Wildcats went 1-10. When May was looking for a new school in 1991, Kansas State was coming off of a 7-4 season.

“This is probably one of the biggest turnarounds in college football history,” May said. “We were something like 1-33 before Coach Snyder came (actually, 1-30-1), and I wanted to be part of a program on the rise.”

As a transfer, May was required by NCAA regulations to sit out last year. Then he won the starting quarterback job in the fall when incumbent fifth-year senior Jason Smargiasso abruptly quit the team.

“I don’t think there’s any question Chad would have beaten Jason out,” said Del Miller, Kansas State quarterbacks coach. “They’re not even in the same league.

“Chad’s got an awfully strong arm, he’s a good competitor and he has picked up our offensive schemes quickly. The thing I’m pleased with, and we didn’t know until this fall, is that his leadership is exceptional.”

Now, in May’s first season, the Wildcats are a legitimate threat to earn the second bowl invitation in their 98-year history. And the secret on May is out.

“I didn’t think Chad would have that big of a day, but at the same time he didn’t surprise me,” Snyder said after May’s record-setting performance against Nebraska. “I think he’s capable of being the quarterback he proved he was against Nebraska 95% of the time.”

In the Kansas State locker room, Wildcat players alternately refer to May as “God”, “Mr. K-State” and “Chad State.” In May’s back yard, his parents’ motor home passes another week.

Oklahoma is Saturday. May’s arm is ready to go.

Chad May, Game by Game

Result Comp. Att. Yds. TDs Int. Kansas State 34, New Mexico State 10 17 30 228 0 0 Kansas State 38, Western Kentucky 13 15 29 233 2 0 Kansas State 30, Minnesota 25 16 30 247 1 1 Kansas State 36, Nevada Las Vegas 20 12 28 177 1 0 Kansas State 10, Kansas 9 18 27 159 1 2 Nebraska 45, Kansas State 28 30 51 489 2 1 Kansas State 16, Colorado 16 17 31 273 2 2