Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma football: Five standout Sooner season openers

By Chip Rouse

NORMAN, OK - SEPTEMBER 10 : The Oklahoma Sooners meet on the field before the game against the Louisiana Monroe Warhawks September 10, 2016 at Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners defeated the Warhawks 59-17. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) *** local caption ***
NORMAN, OK - SEPTEMBER 10 : The Oklahoma Sooners meet on the field before the game against the Louisiana Monroe Warhawks September 10, 2016 at Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners defeated the Warhawks 59-17. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) *** local caption *** /
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NORMAN, OK – OCTOBER 3: Quarterback Baker Mayfield
NORMAN, OK – OCTOBER 3: Quarterback Baker Mayfield /

September 27, 1958 — Oklahoma vs. West Virginia in Norman

If you didn’t know any better and were oblivious to the date of this game, this would strike you as a game between two Big 12 teams. Only, West Virginia and Oklahoma were not in the same conference back in 1958. OU was a member of the Big Seven Conference, and the Mountaineers were in the Southern Conference, where they had won the conference football championship in four of the previous five years.

The Oklahoma  season opener in 1958 featured a matchup of two top-20 teams. The Sooners were ranked No. 2 in the preseason Associated Press Media Poll, and the Mountaineers checked in at No. 13 to begin the season.

The Sooners got out of the gate early and often in the 1958 season opener, taking command of the game from the opening kickoff.

Bud Wilkinson used a pair of Oklahoma quarterbacks in fueling the offense. Dave Baker stayed on the ground, picking up 78 yards rushing, while Bobby Boyd took to the air, completing five of nine passes for 141 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Oklahoma rolled to a 47-14 victory in the first meeting ever between the two schools. OU and West Virginia would not play again for 20 years. The Mountaineers made a return trip to Norman in 1978, when Barry Switzer’s Sooners were even less hospitable, handing West Virginia a 51-10 thumping.

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