COLLEGE FOOTBALL : BIG EIGHT ROUNDUP : Kansas State Leaves Iowa State Out in the Cold

Cold? What cold? It certainly didn’t seem to bother Matt Miller.

The Kansas State quarterback shrugged off the zero-degree wind chill Saturday to lead the seventh-ranked Wildcats to a 49-7 victory over Iowa State at Ames, Iowa.

He threw three touchdown passes to set a Big Eight season record and ran for two more scores, then retired to the sidelines for the fourth quarter.

“In pregame, I was throwing the ball well, so I really wasn’t worried about the weather,” Miller said. “After you get out there, you don’t think about it.”

Miller played a mistake-free game, finishing 14 for 17 for 209 yards without an interception. He had touchdown throws of three yards to Brian Lojka, one yard to Kevin Lockett and 31 yards to Mitch Running in raising his season total to 22.

The old conference record was 20 by Nebraska’s Vince Ferragamo in 1976.

“I’m not sure Kansas State gets enough credit for what they do,” Iowa State defensive back Matt Straight said. “Those are the best receivers we’ve seen all year.”

Sophomore Eric Hickson rushed for a career-high 144 yards in 23 carries and one touchdown.

Kansas State, 9-1 overall and 5-1 in the Big Eight, scored on seven of its first eight possessions. With a victory over Colorado next Saturday, Kansas State would win 10 games for the first time. Iowa State fell to 3-7, 1-5.

“We couldn’t stop them defensively all day,” Iowa State Coach Dan McCarney said.

Iowa State’s Troy Davis, the nation’s leading rusher, carried 41 times for 183 yards to run his season total to 1,830--the most by a Big Eight sophomore.

Nebraska’s Lawrence Phillips set the old class mark of 1,722 yards last year.

*

No. 9 Colorado 21, Missouri 0--John Hessler passed for two touchdowns, extending his school record, and ran for another score as the Buffaloes (8-2, 4-2) overcame a listless start and gusty winds to blank the Tigers (2-8, 0-6) at Boulder, Colo.

The Buffaloes withstood three turnovers and two missed field-goal tries to stay in contention for a second-place finish in the conference.

Colorado, which had surrendered an average of 36 points the previous four games, recorded its first shutout since 1992.

Hessler, throwing his 17th and 18th touchdown passes of the season, ran 36 yards on fourth and four midway through the final quarter for the clinching score.

“Given the wind conditions today, I thought the way he threw the ball was pretty close to being fantastic,” Colorado Coach Rick Neuheisel said. “The wind made for a bad-hair day.”