College Football Old School Game of the Week: Sooners Dominate Huskers in "Game of the Century II"

 

On November 25, 1971, the #1 ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers took on the #2 Oklahoma Sooners in what was nicknamed the "Game of the Century" as the winner of the game would clinch the Big 8 conference title and play for a national championship in the Orange Bowl.

The game lived up to the hype as both teams traded the lead four times with the final lead change coming on Nebraska fullback Jeff Kinney's fourth touchdown of the game with 1:38 remaining to give Nebraska a 35-31 victory as the Huskers would go on to win the Orange Bowl as they destroyed the Alabama Crimson Tide 38-6 to claim their second straight national championship.

Nearly 16 years later on November 21, 1987, the Sooners and the Huskers meet again as the two top teams in the country in a game that was dubbed as "Game of the Century II" as #1 Nebraska hosted #2 Oklahoma where once again the winner of the game would win the Big 8 conference championship and earn a trip to the Orange Bowl.

Nebraska come into the game with a 10-0 record, bolstered by the nation's #1 offense which averaged 524 yards per game and had scored at least 30 points in every game this season while its defense had allowed a combined 15 points in the Huskers' previous five games.

While the Huskers come into "Game of the Century II" riding high, the same could not be said for Oklahoma, where two weeks prior they lost starting quarterback Jamelle Holieway for the rest of the season after he tore his ACL in his left knee as well as fullback Lydell Carr who went out with a knee injury in the same game

Holieway was replaced by redshirt freshman Charles Thompson while Carr was replaced by Rontei Anderson, as the two helped Oklahoma to a 29-10 win over Oklahoma State, which was followed by an rather lackluster performance the following week as the Sooners defeated the Missouri Tigers 17-13, causing voters to drop Oklahoma from #1 to #2 and moving Nebraska up to #1.

This led to several Nebraska players talking a lot of trash in the lead up to the Oklahoma game as quarterback Steve Taylor "The flat out truth is Oklahoma can't play with us. The Sooners aren't good enough. It might not even be close and I mean that". 

This bravado was backed up by Nebraska tight end Tom Banderas who predicted that the Huskers would win 42-10 while All-American defensive end Broderick Thomas to proclaim Memorial Stadium, the Huskers' home stadium as "our house and only we have the key".

All this talk came at the expense of Nebraska head coach Tom Osbourne, who was in his 15th season as the Huskers' head coach and had complied a 140-36-1 overall record but was 4-11-1 against the Sooners and head coach Barry Switzer, having lost the previous three game with the Sooners including two in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Before the 156th straight sellout at Memorial Stadium, the #1 9-0 Nebraska Cornhuskers hosted the #2 10-0 Oklahoma Sooners in "Game of the Century II".

Oklahoma quarterback Charles Thompson is chased by Nebraska defensive tackle Neil Smith.

 The Sooners got the ball to start the game and proceeded to drive 72 yards in 13 plays until Anderson was hit by Huskers linebacker Steve Forch, causing a fumble which was recovered by linebacker LeRoy Etienne to give Nebraska the ball at its eight-yard-line.

After both teams traded punts on their ensuing possessions, the Huskers had the ball at their 16-yard-line as Taylor lead the Nebraska offense into Sooner territory by completing a 11-yard pass to Richard Bell, then running for 16 yards on a quarterback draw, and then scrambling for 11 yards when a reverse flea flicker failed to fail the Oklahoma defense to give Nebraska a 1st down at the Sooners' 31-yard-line.

Following a holding penalty that pushed the Huskers back 10 yards to the Oklahoma 41-yard-line, Taylor handed the ball off to Keith Jones, who ran the ball on back-to-back plays for 41 yards, with the last one being a 25-yard touchdown run to give Nebraska a 7-0 lead with 1:28 left in the first quarter.

It was the first time all season that the Oklahoma defense had allowed a touchdown in the first quarter and the Sooners would make the Huskers pay for it as they did not allow Nebraska to pick up another 1st down for the rest of the first half.

Despite the Sooner defense hunkering down on the Nebraska offense, the Sooners were unable to get any points on the board in the second quarter despite three drives deep into Husker territory.

The first drive went 52 yards but ended with R.D. Lashar' 44-yard field goal attempt sailing wide right with 11 minutes left in the second quarter, which was followed by a 50-yard drive to the Nebraska 25-yard-line which included a 20-yard pass from Thompson to All-American tight end Keith Jackson, only to have end with another Anderson fumble which was recovered by Huskers linebacker Jon Marco.

The third and final wasted opportunity came late in the half as the Sooners drove from their 18-yard-line to the Nebraska 36-yard-line thanks to the legs of Thompson who ran the ball three times for 46 yards until the drive ended when Thompson was intercepted by Nebraska safety Jeff Tomjack at the Huskers' 10-yard-line, which allowed for the Huskers to run out the clock and go into the locker room with a 7-0 halftime lead.

The Huskers would get the ball to start the second half, hoping to get their offense back on track only to have disaster strike on 3rd & 10 from the Nebraska 20-yard-line when Taylor's pass intended for Dana Brinson was deflected by Oklahoma cornerback Derrick White and into the hands of Sooner safety Rickey Dixon, who returned the interception 24 yards to the Nebraska 13-yard-line.

After a two-yard run by Anderson on 1st down, Thompson ran around the right side and just before he was able to be crushed by the Nebraska defense, he pitched the ball to Anthony Stafford, who ran it in for the 11-yard touchdown that with Lashar's extra point tied the game 7-7 with 12:48 left in the third quarter

Following an exchange of punts, the Huskers would pick up their first 1st down since their touchdown drive when Jones ran for 13 yards to the Oklahoma 46-yard-line, only to have the Sooners defense stiffen and force a punt that went into the end zone for a touchback to give the Sooners the ball at their 20-yard-line.

Four straight running plays gaining 15 yards set up a 3rd & 5 at the Oklahoma 35-yard-line when Thompson pitched the ball to halfback Patrick Collins, who thanks to a key block from backup running back John Green, was able to run down the left side relatively untouched for a 65-yard touchdown run to give the Sooners a 14-7 lead with 1:39 in the third quarter.

Oklahoma running back Patrick Collins races down the sideline for his 65-yard touchdown run.

Though they were down only a touchdown, the seven-point deficit seemed insurmountable for the Huskers especially with their offense shut down.

Things did not get better for the Huskers when the fourth quarter began as Dixon made his second interception of the game on the first play of the fourth quarter to give the Sooners at the Nebraska 45-yard-line.

The Sooners appeared as if they were going to have a 1st & goal at the Nebraska eight-yard-line after wide receiver Carl Cabbiness made a spectacular catch, only to have it called back because Cabbiness stepped out of bounds before he made the catch, making him ineligible to catch the ball, forcing an Oklahoma punt.

The Sooners would force another three-and-out from the Huskers to get the ball back at their 48-yard-line when Anderson busted loose for his longest run of the game, a 28-yarder to the Nebraska 20-yard-line where at the end Anderson fumbled only to have his teammate Stafford recover it.

Three straight running plays picked up nine yards to set up a 27-yard field goal by Lashar to increase the Sooners' lead to 17-7 with 7:40 left in the game.

The Sooners would drive to the five-yard-line on their next possession only to have with another fumble which was recovered by the Huskers, who then in turn gave it right back to Oklahoma on the very next play when Taylor was intercepted by Sooners cornerback Dante Jones to give the ball back to Oklahoma at the Nebraska 20-yard-line.

Three runs only picked up two yards, forcing the Sooners to settle for a 35-yard field goal attempt by Lashar which he missed to keep it 17-7 with 1:43 left.

The Huskers would then put together their best drive since their 10-play, 84-yard touchdown drive back in the first quarter, as they drove from their own 20-yard-line to the Sooners' 20-yard-line only because Oklahoma went into a prevent defense.

The final play of the game was an incomplete pass into the end zone which summed up Nebraska's day as the Huskers fell to Oklahoma 17-7 in a loss which Osbourne said in the locker room was the most disappointing in his career.

Oklahoma defensive back Rickey Dixon would have two interceptions in the Sooners' 17-7 win in "Game of the Century II".

The game was not as close as the final score indicated as the Sooners outgained the Huskers 444-235, with 419 of those yards coming on the ground as the Sooners had three players ran for more than 100 yards as Collins lead the way with 131 yards on just 13 carries while Anderson ran for 119 yards on 24 carries and Thompson in his just his second career start running for 126 yards on 21 carries.

Plus, the Sooners picked up 23 1st downs compared to the Huskers' 11 and drove into Nebraska territory on 12 of their 14 possessions, while the Huskers only made into Oklahoma territory three times.

The win clinched the Big 8 conference title for the Sooners to send them to the Orange Bowl where they would play the Miami Hurricanes for the national championship where they entered the game #1 while Miami was #2.

The Sooners would fall to the Hurricanes 20-14 to give Miami its second national championship in five years and denying Switzer his fourth national title.

As for the Cornhuskers, they would finish with a 10-2 record following a 31-28 loss in the Fiesta Bowl.

However, the rivalry would turn in Nebraska's favor as they would beat Oklahoma the next two years and go 9-1 in Osbourne's last 10 meetings against the Sooners to improve his record against the Sooners to 13-13-1.