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"