OU coach Bob Stoops has shown players past highlights of Oklahoma-Nebraska games this week. The attention is to make them understand how big the rivalry was during the heyday of the Big Eight Conference. Back then, the Sooners and Huskers met on Thanksgiving Weekend, usually with the league title hanging in the balance.

For some players, it was reinforcement of something they already knew.

Quarterback Sam Bradford grew up in Oklahoma City and his father, Kent, was an offensive lineman at OU in the 1970s.

“I think, growing up in the state, you knew about the battle of the Big Reds,” he said. “Probably, the game I remember the most, was the year we won the national championship (2000). I was playing a hockey game so I wasn’t able to come to the game. I remember the first thing after my game was over, I skated over to the glass and I asked my dad if we won, and he said that we did.”

It hasn’t been an annual meeting since the inception of the Big 12 Conference in 1996. Saturday’s meeting will be just the seventh since the conference came along. Since, only the 2000 and 2001 contests were meetings between two ranked teams, with both teams in the top 5. The Sooners and Huskers have met once at the Big 12 title game, in 2006.

Hometowners

With OU coach Bob Stoops and Nebraska coach Bo Pelini squaring off for the first time, it’s easy to assume Saturday’s game will be a big one in their hometown of Youngstown, Ohio. Stoops said he thought there would be a big demand for tickets for high school friends when he was in Youngstown over the summer, but the anticipation didn’t make it to the fall.

“There was more talk than anything, because when it comes down to doing it most of them chicken out and stay at home. It always sounds good in the summer, but when it comes time to actually do it then it’s not as easy to do.”

Pelini isn’t expecting any extra hometown love this week.

“Knowing the people back home, they’ll want us both to do well, that’s just the way it is,” Pelini said. “We share a lot of friends. Like I said, there are a lot of people who want to see both teams play well.”

Alexander healed

Defensive end Frank Alexander has made an immediate impact since returning to the field two weeks ago against Kansas. He had a forced fumble last Saturday against Kansas State.

He said he’s fully recovered from the stabbing that caused him to miss five games earlier in the season. Coaches didn’t give him too hard a time for missing games due to a non-football related injury and a lesson his mother gave him was reinforced.

“The coaches were very understanding of the situation and came to see me in the hospital which made me feel good to know I had their support and that they care about me,” Alexander said. “They just told me to come back stronger.