By RICHARD JUSTICE
Houston Chronicle

MANHATTAN, Kan. -- Kansas State began the evening by honoring its 26 seniors. Each player received an emotional bear hug from coach Bill Snyder and an ovation from the record crowd of 53,811.

What came after that was really special as they finished a evening of snow and wintry winds by becoming the first Kansas State seniors in 40 years to beat Nebraska twice in their careers.

Two years after handing the Cornhuskers a stinging defeat on this very field, the Wildcats did it again Saturday night by rallying in the final seconds for a 29-28 victory.

No. 16 Kansas State, which dropped out of the national championship picture with losses to Oklahoma and Texas A&M, suddenly has something to play for after all. At 9-2, the Wildcats can wrap up the Big 12 North and a probable rematch against Oklahoma in the conference championship game if they defeat Missouri in their regular-season finale.

"I'm not sure where it ranks, but I'm pleased and happy," Snyder said. "I'm proud. I said some things that are personal to the team. I thought we played tremendously well on defense. I was really proud of our youngsters. Some guys made plays when he had to have them. It was that simple."

As for Nebraska's much anticipated second chance against the Sooners, it went out the window amid a flurry of mistakes and an offense that mustered just 39 passing yards and seems too one-dimensional in an era of offensive bells and whistles.

Still, the fourth-ranked Huskers (8-2, 5-2 Big 12) almost won. They rallied from nine points down with two fourth-quarter touchdowns for a 28-23 lead with 9:53 left.

That's when the Wildcats (9-2, 5-2) showed their grit by driving 62 yards in nine plays for the game-winner. Wide receiver Quincy Morgan finished a spectacular evening by catching a 12-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jonathan Beasley with 2:52 remaining in the game.

Morgan also caught a 49-yard touchdown pass earlier in the game, and finished with seven catches for 199 yards. His 41-yard reception set up the first Kansas State touchdown. His third down catches of 35 and 13 yards contributed to the second score, a 38-yard field goal. And his 40-yard catch to open third quarter set up a 27-yard field goal for a 20-14 lead.

"Coach said we needed a good game out of me, and I wanted to play well for my teammates," Morgan said. "We watched the film and thought we'd be able to pass. Most everybody they've played has had some success throwing the football against them."

When the Wildcats stopped the Cornhuskers one final time, fans streamed onto the field, slid in the snow, hugged players and braved the 17-degree wind chill for almost an hour in a failed attempt to tear down the north goal posts.

Snyder didn't take part in much of the celebration, but he probably felt like it. He's the author of perhaps the most amazing turnaround in the history of college football, rebuilding a program that had won one of its previous 36 games before he arrived.

Yet even as he has brought Kansas State to national prominence, he has been unable to finish the deal. This week, it was pointed out all over the Big 12 that his teams were 1-19 against Top 10 teams. Never mind that eight of those defeats came in his early years. Never mind that there have been close defeats.

Now, he has a legitimate victory against a team that was ranked No. 1 in the country until losing to Oklahoma. It's the highest-ranked team any Kansas State team has ever beaten.

"We heard all that stuff," Kansas State defensive end Chris Johnson said. "We just wanted to shut everyone up, show that we could play the type of game we know how to play."

Meanwhile, the Cornhuskers picked a bad night to have a bad night. Kansas State shut them down, harassing quarterback Eric Crouch into a 2-of-13 passing performance. Forced to run, the Cornuskers did gain 200 yards on the ground, but they converted just three of 14 third-down plays and were unable to make enough big plays to win.

In the first three quarters, Nebraska's offense was pretty much limited to one 56-yard touchdown drive late in the first quarter. In their other 11 possessions, they were limited to 17 yards, 11 penalties and two turnovers.

Crouch's one-yard run gave the Cornhuskers a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, but Kansas State scored 16 straight points and seemed comfortably in control of the game until Nebraska came alive in the fourth quarter.

Cornhuskers running back Dan Alexander got the lead back for his team with touchdown runs of 19 and 45 yards 4 minutes, 9 seconds apart in the fourth quarter. But when Nebraska needed a final defensive stop, it wasn't there.

The Wildcats started the drive with five straight running plays and a penalty that moved them from their 38 to the Nebraska 12. Then on second down, Beasley found Morgan streaking across the middle one final time. He caught the ball at the five and dodged into the end zone for the winner.

"That was a real big play by Quincy," Beasley said. "He was able to make a good catch. When push came to shove, we were able to come out and get it done."