Rivals get together again

November 01, 2008 01:23 am

— You usually have to hand out bronze busts to get more than two College Football Hall of Famers in the same room. None were given out Friday night at the Switzer Center, but a reunion honoring the 1971 meeting between Oklahoma and Nebraska brought out a bunch.
"There was a tremendous amount of talent on both sides of the football," said former Nebraska fullback Jeff Kinney, who scored the game-winning touchdown in the Huskers' 35-31 victory over the Sooners in what was billed as the "Game of the Century" and actually lived up to the billing.
It's been 37 years since OU and Nebraska met in the epic battle. But what happened that afternoon still resonates today.
The game captured the attention of the entire nation. More than 55 million people tuned in to watch what happened Nov. 22, 1971, at Owen Field. It was the days before regional broadcasts and full Saturdays of college football from 11 a.m. to nearly midnight. Thirty-seven years ago there was only one game every Saturday. Those who played in Norman on that Thanksgiving Day are still more than happy to relive the memories.
More than 60 former players and coaches, including over 20 from Nebraska, were on hand Friday to celebrate.
"It's a special evening," said former OU coach Barry Switzer, who was the Sooners' offensive coordinator that season. "Thirty-seven years ago, this game captured the minds of college football. The fans all remember. Two great teams that played great all season long. That Thanksgiving Day everyone knew they'd just seen the two best teams in the country."
It's rare to see rivals reunite at any point. Each epic battle has the potential to create some bitterness. That's never happened between Oklahoma and Nebraska.
The current version of the Sooners and Huskers meet at 7 tonight at Owen Field. OU athletic director Joe Castiglione thought it was the perfect opportunity to also celebrate a game, a rivalry and two programs that have always treated each other with a lot more respect than disdain.
"I can't explain why you don't see it more often," Castiglione said. "When you see the respect between these two programs, it makes even more sense to use this opportunity to celebrate it."
Finding participants wasn't hard.
Friday night, former Nebraska Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Rodgers, whose 72-yard punt return for a touchdown in that game is still one of the most memorable highlights in college football history, said he hadn't been back to Owen Field since the game.
When he walked by the stadium Friday night, that punt return was playing on the videoboard.
"I was shocked when I saw that," Rodgers said. "It was a great game and part of great rivalry. It was a game that's kind of frozen in time."