Oklahoma football: Numbers to know for 114th edition of Bedlam
By Chip Rouse
The very first Oklahoma football game against Oklahoma State was 114 years ago, in 1904. The game was played in Guthrie, Oklahoma, and the Sooners prevailed by a score of 75-0.
According to historians, the wind was so gusty on that cold, early November afternoon in central Oklahoma that one Oklahoma A&M (that was the name of the school back then, which stood for agriculture and mining, and the school nickname was the Aggies) punt traveled backward and down a hill into a creek. Players from both teams jumped into the creek after the ball; it was recovered by Oklahoma for a Sooner touchdown.
The Bedlam Series is a term most often applied to football and basketball competition between the two schools, but that was not how it originated. It first began with wrestling matches between the two well-known wrestling programs (Oklahoma State’s 34 NCAA championships is the most by any school; Oklahoma is a seven-time national champion in wrestling). The crowds that attended those matches were so loud and dissonant that it became known as “Bedlam.”
The Bedlam Series is the fourth longest continuous series among FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) football teams.
Here are some notable numbers from 114 years of Bedlam football:
.810 — The Sooners’ all-time winning percentage against Oklahoma State (88-18-7).
4 — Oklahoma’s current win streak against OSU.
5 — Touchdown’s scored by OU running backs Trey Sermon and Kennedy Brooks in last year’s Oklahoma bedlam win.
11 — Oklahoma won the first 11 games in the series by the combined score of 319-20.
14-4 — Bob Stoops’ all-time record in games with Oklahoma State (1999-2016).
15-1 — Barry Switzer’s record against Oklahoma State (1973-1988).
17-0 — Bud Wilkinson’s record against Oklahoma State (1947-1963).
19 — The longest winning streak in the series, by Oklahoma between 1946 and 1964.
40-7-5 — Oklahoma’s all-time record in games played at Oklahoma State.
47-0 — Largest margin of victory by Oklahoma State over Oklahoma (1945).
48-47 — Score in last season’s OU-OSU game in Norman.