Sooners Prepare for End to Nebraska Rivalry

Bob Stoops reminisced about the history of the OU-Nebraska rivalry as they prepare to face off in the final Big 12 Championship.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:04 pm

By: News On 6

Sooners Prepare for End to Nebraska Rivalry

Originally Published: Nov 30, 2010 3:58 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

NORMAN, Oklahoma – Oklahoma and Nebraska have a storied football rivalry, and Saturday they will essentially end that rivalry in extraordinary fashion.

The Sooners and Cornhuskers have faced each other a total of 85 times, and OU leads the series 44-38-3. The two teams have played in the same conference since 1921, but Saturday’s game will mark the last Big 12 Championship Game as well as the final time the two face each other as conference foes.

“The tradition and history of this rivalry is second to none,” head coach Bob Stoops said. “When you look at the number of times that we have met through the years – from the Big 8 conference to the Big 12 conference – and there’s been championship implications on this game in the conference and even, in some cases, national championship implications.”

The ‘Huskers join the Big Ten next season, joining Colorado in leaving the Big 12. The departures of those two teams will leave only 10 in the conference, meaning the conference championship game will be eliminated.

Saturday will mark just the second time in the 14-year history of the Big 12 that OU and Nebraska will face off in the championship game. Their only other showdown came in 2006, when the Sooners won 21-7.

“It’s one of the more special rivalries in all of football, and it’s really fitting then that here it is our last time we’re in the conference together to have one more go at it,” Stoops said. “It’s really kind of exciting for everybody.”

The 1971 showdown between OU and Nebraska – termed the Game of the Century – is probably the most famous game in the rivalry, but Stoops reminisced about a different memory.

“Probably my favorite game [of my career] is the 2000 game here with Nebraska. We were finally back in the national picture; we’re No. 2, they’re No. 1. Both teams are playing excellently and to be back in the hunt and in that position, we really started to feel, ‘We’re getting Oklahoma back to where we need to be.’”

The Sooners won that game 31-13 on the way to a 13-0 record and the seventh national championship in program history. After the momentous win, OU fans stormed the field and tore down the goal posts.

“When have Oklahoma people stormed the field since?” Stoops said. “You couldn’t keep the people off the field that day; I don’t care how many dogs or horses they might have had.”

In addition to the nostalgia that comes from playing the final game in the OU-Nebraska rivalry, Stoops has a close relationship with ‘Husker head coach Bo Pelini and defensive coordinator Carl Pelini.

Stoops and both Pelini brothers were born in Youngstown, Ohio, and all graduated from Cardinal Mooney High School. Stoops and Carl Pelini also both began their college coaching careers at Kansas State in 1989.

“Our families are very intertwined and close,” Stoops said. “Not only with Bo being here, but Carl lived for I can’t tell you how many months with my wife and I when he came to Kansas State. My wife considers him like a brother; she may be halfway rooting for him.”

Stoops acknowledged that Saturday’s game will be more emotional than usual, but added that once the game starts he will not be thinking about any of it.

“In the end, none of that matters,” he said. “It’s all what we’re talking about now, but when we go to practice and they go to practice, they don’t care about that. And when we show up on Saturday that won’t matter; it’s going to be about this year and winning a championship.”