Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State: Best Bedlam Game I Never Saw
By Chip Rouse
Bedlam – Oklahoma vs, Oklahoma State – hasn’t always been about football. In fact, it didn’t even start there.
The term “Bedlam” originated with the fierce wrestling competition between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, two of the biggest collegiate brands in that sport. The level of competition in wrestling has always been very intense and highly competitive between the two schools, and that includes the overly passionate fans who follow it.
Today, Bedlam is used to reference all athletic competition – men and women – between the Sooners and the Cowboys and not just the two major sports of football and basketball.
On Saturday, the 111th edition in the Bedlam Series in football will take place at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman. I don’t live in or near Norman. I don’t even live in the state of Oklahoma. Yet I’ve witnessed a good number of Bedlam football games, mostly on television although a few in person.
In writing and thinking a lot this week the OU-Oklahoma State rivalry in football, I began thinking about all the Bedlam games I could recall. I did further research (how did we ever go about looking up things of interest without the Internet?) on a few of the more memorable Bedlam battles, and before I knew it, my curiosity took me down another path.
What was the most memorable Oklahoma-Oklahoma State Bedlam football game I never saw but, in retrospect, wished I had?
A tough assignment, but the answer came to me surprisingly quickly when I began scanning the final scores from the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State football games from over the years, at least back as far as the Barry Switzer years.
Some of you may remember the game I am about the reference, quite a few may not. Heck, plenty of you probably weren’t even born yet.
I take you back to November 30, 1985. The game that year was played at then Lewis Field in Stillwater. It had been raining hard the afternoon of the game, but the kickoff was not scheduled until 6:45 p.m. and was being televised by ESPN.
By the time game time rolled around, the weather in and around Stillwater had turned from bad to worse.
Oklahoma City Oklahoman sports columnist Berry Tramel recalled the conditions in an article written on the 20th anniversary of the Bedlam game that came to be known as the Ice Bowl:
“Sleet and lightning and snow turned Lewis Field into a surreal setting,” Tramel wrote. “Footing became treacherous. Lineman resembled horses trying to claw a bare spot for traction.
“Lewis Field was iced over. One of the best Bedlam matchups ever, 9-1 Oklahoma vs. 8-2 Oklahoma State (gave) way to a winter wonderland.”
Oklahoma came into the game ranked No. 3 in the nation, and Oklahoma State was ranked 17th. Unfortunately, the miserable weather conditions took away or minimized the strengths possessed by both teams, while magnifying the chances for costly miscues. For both teams, it meant casting their fate to Mother Nature.
Tramel quoted former Sooner All-American Keith Jackson, who played in that Ice Bowl Bedlam bash: “You can play in pouring rain. You can play in cold. But when you can’t stand up, that’s gotta be the worst conditions.”
The temperature at game time was 27 degrees with a wind chill of 10. By halftime, the temperature had dropped four degree, but the wind chill was down to minus four.
Oklahoma State kicker Brad Dennis attempted a 37-yard field goal off the icy turf. As he attempted the kick, his legs slipped out from under him and he fell backwards on his keister. He still somehow managed to get his foot on the ball, but duck-hooked it badly.
Oklahoma’s Tim Lashar had better luck. He drilled field goals of 27 and 30 yards for the Sooners, and Spencer Tillman (one in the same who teams with Tim Brando on Fox Sport 1 football telecasts this season) scored the game’s only touchdown on a three-yard step and slide late in the first half.
The Sooners held on to win the game 13-0 and went on to win the national championship that season with a 25-10 triumph over No. 1 Penn State in the Orange Bowl.
I call this the best Bedlam game that I never saw, but that’s only because I wasn’t there up close and personal to witness it in real time. Otherwise, had I experienced it live, I probably would be inclined to call it “the worst Bedlam game I never saw” and be thankful for it.