By Bruce Campbell, Commentary
October 09, 2008 12:34 am
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Nothing beats the atmosphere of the Oklahoma-Texas game.
The Texas State Fair.
Big Tex.
The corn dogs, the turkey legs and the no man’s land at the 50-yard which separates the fans.
ESPN’s Game Day will be there, adding to the drama.
For the game itself, the OU-OSU game might have an edge.
Take a look at recent history.
Of OU coach Bob Stoops’ nine games in the series, only one has been decided by 10 points or less, that coming last season when the Sooners pulled out a 28-21 victory.
That pales in comparison to the Bedlam Series — 12-7, OU, 2000; 16-13, OSU, 2001; 38-35, OU, 2004; and 27-21, OU, 2006.
There hasn’t been a dramatic moment that has gone down in OU-Texas lore at the end since Roy Williams’ Superman act on Chris Simms at the end of the 2001 game.
One thing missing at OU-Texas is some good old hate. Oh, there will be the usual smack talk from OU and UT fans.
There’s no one from OU saying orange makes him puke a la Brian Bosworth in 1984 or Trent Smith in the early 2000s.
One-time Texas fullback Harold Philip once said a Texan playing for the Sooners was like “fighting for Nazi Germany.’’
Remember the Barry Switzer-Darrell Royal feud.
Royal openly accused the Sooners of both spying on an Longhorns practices and recruiting violations. He wanted the OU coaches to take a lie detector tests.
Switzer, without mentioning Royal, a country western fan by name, joked by coaches “who would rather listen to guitar picking’’ than outwork his competitors.
The 1976 game was memorable as President Gerald Ford stood between the two men, who weren’t speaking to each other. Royal would retire after that season.
The joke going around was someone asking “who’s that joker’’ with Royal and Switzer.
That game was a jolt for both teams.
Texas appeared to have the game won late, but the Sooners recovered a fumble which would set up a touchdown run by Horace Ivory.
All the Sooners had to do was to kick an extra point and they would have six straight wins over the hated Longhorns.
The snap went over the head of holder Bud Hebert and the game ended in a 6-6 tie.
It’s hard to dislike Texas coach Mack Brown, a nice man who was once the offensive coordinator at OU. Brown’s brother, Watson, was the offensive coordinator at OU for two seasons.
Brown no doubt remembers the one game he was apart of the OU sidelines in this series in 1984 when two controversial calls went against the Sooners in a 15-15 tie.
Oh to have overtime back then.
Just think what would have happened if the Sooners had beaten UT under Howard Schnellenberger in 1995 instead of playing to a 24-24 tie.
Royal being a former OU player himself did add to the rivalry.
He turned down a chance to become the Sooners’ coach in 1966. That was a move that would benefit both sides.
Royal won national titles in 1969 and 1970 and OU would hire Jim MacKenzie, who brought in Chuck Fairbanks and Barry Switzer.
Under Fairbanks and Switzer the Sooners turned the tables on UT with the Longhorns’ own Wishbone offense.
Fairbanks and Switzer developed a dynasty on African-American players from Texas.
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Bruce Campbell / Commentary