Oklahoma Football: 30 Best Games in School History
By Chip Rouse
Sep 5, 2015; Norman, OK, USA; The Oklahoma Sooners take the field prior to action against the Akron Zips at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Nov. 8, 1947 – Oklahoma 27, Kansas State 13
This was Bud Wilkinson’s first season as head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners, the 13th in the school’s history. The decade before Wilkinson arrived, the Sooners were a pedestrian 62-29-6. We say “pedestrian” only in comparison to the level of performance that followed and which Oklahoma football has managed to sustain over most of the past six decades.
Wilkinson’s Sooners lost two games out of a total of 10 in his inaugural season in Norman. He would not lose that many in 11 consecutive seasons after that, three of which resulted in national championships (1950, 1955 and 1956). In fact, Oklahoma won conference championships in each of Wilkinson’s first 13 seasons at OU. His teams did not lose a Big Six or Big Seven game until the 1959 season, when Nebraska spoiled Wilkinson’s perfect conference record after 71 consecutive victories over league opponents.
The Kansas State game on Nov. 8, 1947, not only was significant because it was Wilkinson’s first season as the Sooners’ head coach, but it also was notable because it was the only time K-State would score as many as 13 points against a Wilkinson-coached Oklahoma team.
Kansas State and Oklahoma played 16 times in the Wilkinson era at OU, which spanned the Big Six, big Seven and Big Eight Conferences. On 10 of those 16 occasions, the Wildcats failed to score against the Sooners, and only in 1947 did K-State reach double-digits on the scoreboard.
Next: Jan. 1, 1951 - Oklahoma 13, Kentucky 7