If the expected happens and Iowa beats Purdue today, the Hawkeyes will enter next Friday’s game at Nebraska with a perfect 11-0 record and sport a national ranking no lower than sixth.
The Sunday morning sports headlines will read, “Undefeated Iowa to meet Nebraska Nov 27.”
I’m having trouble adjusting to that headline. Not that the undefeated Iowa part, but the Iowa at Nebraska on Nov 27.
We traditionalists long for Nebraska vs. Oklahoma around that date.
Of the 45 games played between the Cornhuskers and Sooners between 1970 and 2010, only three were played prior to November 1.
And, wow, what memories.
It probably won’t surprise you that I can remember what I was doing during every Nebraska vs. Oklahoma football game from 1970 to 2010. So, here’s my personal NU vs. OU football journal.
November 21, 1970 – Nebraska 28, Oklahoma 21. I’m an 11-year-old sixth-grader at Valparaiso Elementary School and my radio was tuned to Lyell Bremser as I walked around our farm, located 25 miles northwest of Memorial Stadium. It was a grey, cold day, so I listened to the second half secluded in my bedroom.
November 25, 1971 – Nebraska 35, Oklahoma 31. My family screamed and cheered as we watched the Game of the Century on a 21-inch black and white television – the only TV we owned – in the family room located in the basement of our house. My older brother won the battle of announcers, as Dad ruled in favor of Chris Schenkel of ABC rather than turning the TV sound down and listening to Lyell Bremser.
November 23, 1972 – Oklahoma 17, Nebraska 14. I viewed Bob Devaney’s final home game as head coach on our new color television. It was a bright, crisp, clear day that turned, at least emotionally, very grey by 4 pm. For the second straight year, I lost the Schenkel vs. Bremser announcer debate. Grrrr ….. I can’t wait for my brother to graduate high school and move away!
November 23, 1973 – Oklahoma 27, Nebraska 0. I’m a freshman in high school now, and my family is the proud owner of both a large color television and a small black and white TV. I transported the black and white to my bedroom and watched the misery all alone.
November 23, 1974 – Oklahoma 28, Nebraska 14. On a grey, windy day, Nebraska led the top-ranked Sooners, 14-7, early in the third quarter. But OU scored 21 unanswered points. OU was on probation and not allowed to appear on TV for two years. I walked around the Lancaster County countryside with my radio firmly tucked in my left arm. Trotting alongside was the best friend a boy could ever have – a German Shepherd named Wolffang.
November 22, 1975 – Oklahoma 35, Nebraska 10. The Huskers entered the game with a perfect 10-0 record, but fell apart in the fourth quarter. The second year of OU on probation meant another walk in the country with my radio and Wolffang on a day that, weather-wise, was brighter than the football game.
November 26, 1976 – Oklahoma 20, Nebraska 17. As a senior in high school, I watched Oklahoma score their winning touchdown with 38 seconds left in the game from the north stands of Memorial Stadium. As I have documented before, this was the most devastating Husker loss I have ever experienced.
November 25, 1977 – Oklahoma 38, Nebraska 7. I’m now earning money so I can attend college, and I listened to the game while working at Junior Nelson’s gas station in Valparaiso. Some of the local farmers who stopped at the full-service station at halftime had already given up on the Huskers, who trailed 21-7.
November 11, 1978 – Nebraska 17, Oklahoma 14. I’m now a student at UNL, and I watched the Big Red upset top-ranked Oklahoma from the south stands of Memorial Stadium. It was a cloudy, cold day. But, who cared?!?
November 24, 1979 – Oklahoma 17, Nebraska 14. The game is in Soonerville, and six of my buddies joined me at the apartment I shared with three other guys located one mile north of Memorial Stadium to watch the crushing defeat on TV. NU had entered the game undefeated. To deal with our disappointment, we chose up sides and played slow motion tackle football in the mud following the Husker game.
November 22, 1980 – Oklahoma 21, Nebraska 17. I’m now a radio broadcasting student in Minneapolis and the Minnesota TV stations chose to air a Big 10 game, rather than the Husker-Sooner shootout. So, I attached a pop can to the aerial of my car to help receive WOW Radio in Omaha and Joe Patrick’s call of the game. The Sooners beat the Huskers in the final minute.
November 21, 1981 – Nebraska 37, Oklahoma 14. I am now working at the radio station in Cozad, NE. In those days there were four different announcers calling the games; Lyell Bremser, Joe Patrick, Dick Perry and Don Gill. The Cozad station carried Patrick’s broadcasts. I walked the gravel roads of rural Cozad listening to Lyell Bremser. It was a warm, sunny day.
November 26, 1982 – Nebraska 28, Oklahoma 24. While back home for Thanksgiving, I joined a crowd of 15 other people who gathered at Tigerville in Valparaiso to view the game on CBS. I could write a short novel on the events of Tigerville, which was a two-bedroom mobile home where members of the Valparaiso Tigers men’s fast pitch softball team gathered to celebrate their — well, simply to celebrate. You can fill in the blanks.
November 26, 1983 – Nebraska 28, Oklahoma 21. I watched the game on TV with my good friends Robert and Jackie Fountaine in Cozad. A Thanksgiving weekend snowstorm smacked Cozad a few hours after the game ended.
November 17, 1984 – Oklahoma 17, Nebraska 7. Again, I watched the game with the Fountaine Family. When OU stuffed Nebraska running back Jeff Smith on the one-yard-line to secure victory, Jackie threw an empty beer can at the TV. The TV survived.
November 23, 1985 – Oklahoma 27, Nebraska 7. It was a bad day for the Huskers. I viewed the game on TV at the small house I rented on East 11th Street in Cozad.
November 22, 1986 – Oklahoma 20, Nebraska 17. I am now the director of the Alliance Chamber of Commerce. I watched the last-second Husker loss on TV at my apartment located on the second floor of 819 Box Butte Avenue.
November 21, 1987 – Oklahoma 17, Nebraska 7. I purchased a ticket from Edna Fisher of Hemingford for $25 and viewed the game from the south stands. No. 2 Oklahoma had its way with No. 1 Nebraska that day. The Sooners outplayed Nebraska for three quarters and their margin-of- victory could have been much wider. It was a beautiful, warm sunny day.
November 19, 1988 – Nebraska 7, Oklahoma 3. I’m now employed at KCOW Radio and the Huskers beat the Sooners in an Oklahoma downpour. I watched the game on TV at the apartment of new KCOW newsman Murray McGee and his wife, Heather, near Fourth and Missouri.
November 18, 1989 – Nebraska 42, Oklahoma 25. On a beautiful sunny day, I drove around the Box Butte County countryside listening to Kent Pavelka describe the contest on KCOW. Oklahoma had already lost three games, so network TV ignored the contest.
November 23, 1990 – Oklahoma 45, Nebraska 10. Mike Garwood, Mike Glesinger and I watched the game on TV in Garwood’s office at KCOW. The language in Mike’s office that afternoon was rated R.
November 29, 1991 – Nebraska 19, Oklahoma 14. I ran the audio controls of the game at KCOW while Garwood and I watched the game on TV in the station’s lobby. One of the female staff members supplied us with leftover turkey with orders to clean our plates. We did, and the Huskers plucked the Sooners.
November 27, 1992 – Nebraska 33, Oklahoma 9. It was the weekend that Cynthia and I became engaged. I proposed to her near a grain bin in rural Hayes County about two hours before the game started. In their retirement, my parents had moved to Hayes Center to be closer to my youngest brother. There was a power outage, so no TV. I listened to the game on the radio while my mother shared her feelings about how much she hated my father being retired.
November 26, 1993 – Nebraska 21, Oklahoma 7. I watched the game on TV in the little house that Cynthia and I rented about two miles southeast of Berea.
November 25, 1994 – Nebraska 13, Oklahoma 3. The same as 1993.
November 24, 1995 – Nebraska 37, Oklahoma 0. Cynthia and I, along with baby Kacey, now reside at 1023 Missouri Avenue in Alliance. I watched the game on TV while trying to keep Kacey napping. We Husker fans have our priorities.
November 2, 1996 — Nebraska 73, Oklahoma 21. My parents had moved back to eastern Nebraska and resided on a small acreage near Raymond. Dad and I watched the game on TV in the basement of his house. Cynthia didn’t travel with Kacey and me. She was eight months pregnant with our second child.
November 1, 1997 — Nebraska 69, Oklahoma 7. Now the father of two young daughters, I multi-tasked while watching the Husker/Sooner game on TV while babysitting my girls. Cynthia was at work.
1998 and 1999 – The Huskers and Sooners, now members of the Big 12, did not play each other.
October 28, 2000 – Oklahoma 31, Nebraska 14. My family is now living at G-5 Trailerville and I watched the game on TV there.
October 27, 2001 – Nebraska 20, Oklahoma 10. I watched the game on TV with Hemingford legend Lyle Fodnes at TJ’s Sports Bar and Grill. I made quite a spectacle of myself on the famous Black 41 Flash Reverse Pass. But then, so did everyone else.
In 2002 and 2003, the Huskers and Sooners did not play each other.
November 13, 2004 – Oklahoma 30, Nebraska 3. This was a night game. I watched it on the tube at G-5 Trailervillle.
October 29, 2005 – Oklahoma 31, Nebraska 24. I’m now the halftime and post-game host of the Chadron State College football broadcasts which aired on Double Q Country Radio. My office included cable television and that’s where I viewed the infamous Bill Callahan “throat slash” incident.
December 2, 2006 – Oklahoma 21, Nebraska 7 at the Big 12 Championship game in Kansas City. On a frigid night in both Alliance and KC, I watched the game on TV at my home in Trailerville Court.
In 2007 the Huskers and Sooners did not play each other.
November 1, 2008 – Oklahoma 62, Nebraska 28. It is Bo’s first year as head coach and I assumed the fourth-ranked Sooners would clean our clock. I didn’t want to watch the foreseen massacre on TV, so I went for a walk around Alliance and listened to Greg Sharpe describe the action on KCOW Radio. It was a beautiful autumn evening.
November 7, 2009 – Nebraska 10, Oklahoma 3. I’m now 50 years old and I watched the game with KCOW General Manager Mike Fell from KCOW’s seats in Section 19, Row 35 at Memorial Stadium. The high temperature in Lincoln that afternoon was 75 degrees and the weather during the nighttime game was superb.
December 4, 2010 – Oklahoma 23, Nebraska 20 at the Big 12 Championship game in Arlington, Texas. Our family is now residing at 1016 Platte in Alliance, and I watched the game there on TV. Due to the Huskers blowing a 17-0 lead, our dog, Sam, spent a majority of the game hiding under the kitchen table due to my shouting at the television. Poor Sam.
Ah, yes, Husker-Sooner memories. May I be fortunate enough to be around and deposit more in my memory bank when the two schools meet on the football field in 2021 and 2022.