Oklahoma football: Five standout Sooner season openers

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NORMAN, OK – OCTOBER 15: The Sooner Schooner takes the field after an Oklahoma Sooners touchdown against the Kansas State Wildcats October 15, 2016 at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma defeated Kansas State 38-17. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) /

September 21, 1968 — Oklahoma at Notre Dame

Oklahoma opened the season in 1968 on the road at Notre Dame, a team that the Sooners had played seven times previously and with very little success. The Fighting Irish had won six of the seven meetings, including a 7-0 victory in 1957 that ended the Sooners’ record-setting 47-game winning streak.

This was Chuck Fairbanks’ second season as OU’s head coach. He had led the Sooners to a 10-1 record and the Big Eight championship the year before, including an Orange Bowl win over Tennessee.

The game, featuring a pair of top-5 teams (OU was No. 3 and Notre Dame No. 5 entering the season opener), was close through the opening two quarters.

The Sooners jumped out to a 14-7 lead in the first half, but Notre Dame pushed across a go-ahead score on a touchdown pass by Terry Hanratty right before halftime to go up by a score of 21-14.

Jim Seymour, who caught the TD pass from Hanratty, became the Fighting Irish’s all-time leading receiver with more than 100 receiving yards in the game along with a pair of touchdown catches.

The second half was all Notre Dame, as the Fighting Irish handed the Sooners yet another humbling loss, this time by a score of 45-21.

After the game, Fairbanks had this to say:

"“There were no psychological ups and downs for us,” said Fairbanks. “This wasn’t the reason we got beat today. We got beat because Notre Dame has a better football team than we have.” Next: September 6, 1986 -- Oklahoma vs. UCLA"

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