Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Face Sooners In 98th Bedlam Football Battle
October 30, 2003 | Cowboy Football
Oklahoma State [7-1, 3-1]
vs.
Oklahoma [8-0, 4-0]
Saturday, Nov. 1, 2003 • 2:30 p.m. [CST]
Owen Field [82,600] • Norman, Okla.
TV - ABC • radio - Cowboy Radio Network
internet broadcast - www.okstate.com
State Rivals Clash for 98th Time
Oklahoma State makes that familiar journey down Interstate 35 this week as the Cowboys square off against top-ranked Oklahoma. Kickoff in Norman is set for 2:30 p.m. (CST). It's a game between two schools from Oklahoma, but with national implications. The Cowboys are 7-1 overall, 3-1 in Big 12 play, and looking to gain the inside track in the race for the league championship game the first week of December. Oklahoma is 8-0 overall, 4-0 in Big 12 Conference play, and has been atop both major Top 25 polls since the beginning of the season.
Bedlam on ABC
Saturday's game between Oklahoma State and Oklahoma will be broadcast live by ABC. It's the fourth ABC appearance of the season for the Cowboys and the third straight. It's the first time ABC has televised the Bedlam game since 1984, when the Sooners claimed a 24-14 win in Norman in a game for the Big Eight title and Orange Bowl appearance. The OSU-OU game has been televised every year since 1998, and eight times since 1958.
High Stakes
Saturday's game between Oklahoma State and its in-state rival arguably has the highest stakes of any of the previous 97 between the two teams. OSU heads for Norman riding a seven game win streak and with its loftiest national ranking since 1997. OSU's only loss in 2003 came in the Aug. 30 season opener at Nebraska. Oklahoma has won all eight games in 2003 in dominating fashion and is ranked No. 1 in both major polls and in the BCS rankings. The stakes are high but easy to define. An OSU win in Norman would give the Cowboys an opportunity to advance to their first Big 12 Championship game and a chance to earn a berth in a BCS bowl at season's end.
OSU-OU, Briefly
Saturday's game is the 98th contest in one of college football's most storied in-state rivalries. While Oklahoma owns a commanding lead in the overall series, Oklahoma State has won two consecutive and five of the last eight. Oklahoma State has won three of the last four games played at OU's Memorial Stadium, including a 16-13 win in Les Miles' first trip to Norman as the Cowboys' head coach. Including three years as OSU's offensive coordinator (1995-97) and two years as head coach, Miles has a 4-1 record vs. Oklahoma. There's much more on the OSU-OU series elsewhere in this release.
Poll Knowledge
Saturday will mark the first time since 1988 for both the Cowboys and Sooners to hold Top 25 rankings when the two teams face each other. The last three years, Oklahoma has been ranked when the two teams met and, in 1997, Oklahoma State was 23rd and the Sooner unranked when the teams played. The 1988 game in Stillwater featured a 12th-ranked OSU team and eventual Heisman Trophy winner Barry Sanders against eighth-ranked Oklahoma. Both teams were ranked in 1987, 1985, 1984, 1975 and 1972.
More on the Rankings
Oklahoma State's 38-10 win over Texas A&M on Saturday helped propel the Cowboys forward in both major polls. OSU is 15th in this week's USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll and 14th in this week's Associated Press poll. The Cowboys are at their loftiest national ranking since week seven of the 1997 season when a 33-29 win over Colorado boosted them to 12th in the AP poll. A win over Oklahoma this week would almost certainly give the school its first top-10 national ranking since 1988 when OSU was ranked 10th before losing at Nebraska.
Cowboys Streaking
Oklahoma State's win at College Station was the Cowboys' seventh-straight victory and that is historically significant. Only OSU's 1945 team that finished with a perfect 9-0 record had a longer in-season winning streak. OSU's longest winning streak, over multiple seasons, was 13 (1944-46). OSU's current seven-game streak matches the fourth-longest overall streak in school history and is one from equalling the second longest.
OSU Last Week
Oklahoma State extended its season winning streak to seven games as the Cowboys used a balanced offense and stingy defense to shut down Texas A&M, 38-10, at Kyle Field. It was Oklahoma State's first win at College Station since 1983, and it kept the Cowboys in the hunt for the Big 12 Championship. Oklahoma State scored on its first possession, had a 14-0 lead after the first quarter, a 21-0 lead at halftime, and a 31-0 lead before Texas A&M was able to avoid a shutout by scoring in the fourth quarter. The stars were plenty for the Cowboys. Tailback Tatum Bell continued his assault on the national rushing chart by running for 196 yards on 29 carries. The DeSoto, Texas, senior also scored three touchdowns. All-America wide receiver Rashaun Woods caught four passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns, and quarterback Josh Fields completed 16 of 25 passes for 208 yards. Oklahoma State's defensive effort was led by Vernon Grant and Greg Richmond, who had 11 tackles each. The Cowboys allowed Texas A&M 184 rushing yards and 183 passing yards, but didn't allow the home team in the endzone until the game was firmly in control.
Oklahoma Last Week
Just a few hours after Oklahoma State recorded its win at College Station, Oklahoma continued its unbeaten season with a 34-20 win over Colorado in Boulder. The game was closer than most predicted and, in fact, the Sooners led by just seven points with two minutes remaining when quarterback Jason White threw a 59 yard touchdown pass to Mark Clayton to provide the final margin of victory. Oklahoma had built a 27-7 third-quarter lead before Colorado closed to 27-20 with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Oklahoma dominated the game statistically. The Sooners had 24 first downs to Colorado's 15. Oklahoma had 434 total yards to 227 for the Buffs, and the tough Oklahoma defense held Colorado to just 40 yards on the ground. White completed 19 of 28 passes for 248 yards and three touchdowns. Clayton was his leading receiver with six catches for 96 yards and two touchdowns. Renaldo Works led all rushers with 20 carries for 130 yards and a touchdown.
Bedlam Memories
It all started with a game in Guthrie and the famous story about the football floating down a creek only to be recovered for a touchdown. It began with eight straight shutout wins by Oklahoma, which was only a precursor of how the series would play out over the first 90 years. Oklahoma State has had its moments in the 97 year old series. Back-to-back victories in 1944 and 1945, two more victories in 1965 and 1966, and OSU's most recent string of five victories in the past eight meetings. Bedlam usually plays true to its definition, and there have been far too many bizarre occurrences to document on these pages. Below, however, are just a few of the moments that have made this series as colorful as it is.
1983 – The Helmet Caper
A sold out crowd in Stillwater watched the Cowboys race to 21-3 lead and appear headed to an easy win over the 15th-ranked Sooners. Not so fast. Oklahoma scored on a long pass from Danny Bradley to Derrick Shepard and again on a five yard run by Spencer Tillman. A two point conversion narrowed the OSU lead to 20-18 with less than three minutes to play. Oklahoma then executed an onside kick that bounced off the headgear of an OSU player and into the hands of Oklahoma's Scott Case. OU moved the ball to the OSU 29 when kicker Tim Lashar came on to nail a 46 yard field goal with 1:14 remaining.
1985 – The Ice Bowl
In conditions that could only be described as “horrible”, Oklahoma State hosted Oklahoma in the Big Eight finale for both teams and on a Lewis Field surface that was coated with sleet and snow. The game began in a cold rain, but that rain turned to sleet and the Sooners skated to a 13-0 win. Oklahoma State's 17th-ranked Cowboys fell behind 10-0 in the first half and could not catch the third-ranked Sooners. Oklahoma State's lone bright spot was tailback Thurman Thomas, who rushed 23 times for 100 yards and became the only opposing back to rush for 100 yards on Oklahoma that season.
1984 – Battle for the Oranges
The 1984 game in Norman still stands as the game with the highest national rankings for both teams. Oklahoma was ranked second in the Associated Press poll and Oklahoma State third, and the rankings were just the opposite in the coaches poll. The nationally televised (ABC) game featured two key mistakes by the Cowboys that probably cost them a chance to play in the Orange Bowl. Oklahoma capitalized on both fumbles to escape with a 24-14 win. The teams played to a scoreless first quarter and went into the half knotted at 7-7. Oklahoma State took the lead in the third quarter on a 77 yard pass from Rusty Hilger to Malcolm Lewis, but the Sooners scored 17 unanswered points to claim the win.
1988 – Vintage Barry
The 1988 Bedlam game drew national attention for a number of reasons. The Cowboys came into the game ranked 12th-nationally and the Sooners eighth. A national cable television (ESPN) audience watched, as did a gathering of national print media, not just because of the teams' lofty rankings, but because of a junior tailback by the name of Barry Sanders who was making an all-out push to win the game's biggest prize. While the game went in favor of Oklahoma, Sanders did not disappoint. He carried the ball 39 times against Oklahoma for 215 yards and two touchdowns. Both touchdowns came in the fourth quarter as the Cowboys tried to rally from a 24-14 halftime deficit. OSU actually had a chance to win the game when Mike Gundy's pass to Brent Parker in the endzone went incomplete with just 43 seconds to play. Sanders, of course, went on to win the Heisman Trophy and every other major award in college football.
1995 – Snapping the Streak
Bob Simmons' first Oklahoma State team went to Norman having won just two of its first nine. The Cowboys came home with a 12-0 victory and the satisfaction of ending 18 years of frustration against their in-state rivals. The Cowboys scored six second-quarter points, all thanks to the leg of kicker Lawson Vaughn, who hit 32 and 47 yard field goals to give OSU a 6-0 halftime lead. The Cowboys added to that lead with 6:24 left in the game on a one-yard run by quarterback Toné Jones. It was Oklahoma State's first win over the Sooners since 1976, and the first shutout over its in-state rival since 1945.
2001 – Finishing Strong
Oklahoma State went to Norman for the season finale in 2001 a prohibitive underdog against the fourth-ranked Sooners. Oklahoma was one win away from the Big 12 title game and a possible run at a second-straight national championship. Les Miles' initial OSU team came away with a 16-13 win, thanks to the passing of Josh Fields and the catching of T.D. Bryant and Rashaun Woods. Fields tossed a 14-yard touchdown to Woods with 1:36 remaining to give Oklahoma State the win. Oklahoma State's defense was just as important in the upset win. The Cowboys sacked Oklahoma quarterback Nate Hybl seven times and allowed Oklahoma zero rushing yards. The OSU defense also came up with three interceptions.
