Oklahoma football: Five games that could have changed OU gridiron history

1. Oklahoma vs. Nebraska, Nov. 25, 1971

It was billed as the “Game of the Century.” Defending national champion and top-ranked Nebraska was going up against No. 2-ranked Oklahoma on Thanksgiving Day in 1971 before a sell-out crowd and a national television audience.

The Sports Illustrated cover that week featured the images of an Oklahoma and Nebraska football player under the headline: “Irresistible Oklahoma Meets Immovable Nebraska.” The headline made reference to Oklahoma’s powerful offense going toe to toe against Nebraska’s dynamic shutdown defense.

The Nebraska defense ranked No. 1 in the nation that year. The Cornhuskers had shut out three opponents that season and were allowing just 6.4 points per game. Only 12 times all season had an opponent crossed the Nebraska 20-yard line.

A matchup for the ages, and the game lived up to all of it. Seventeen of the 22 players voted First-Team All-Big 12 that season played in this game.

At stake in the game was not just the Big Eight title, but the No. 1 ranking and a potential national championship.

Nebraska’s Johnny Rogers got the Cornhuskers on the board early with a 72-yard punt return for a touchdown.

The opening half was one of contrasting styles. The Nebraska offense had difficulty moving the ball against an underrated Sooner defense, and Oklahoma’s powerful wishbone helped out an already tough-as-nails Nebraska defense by turning the ball over a couple of times.

Nevertheless, Oklahoma fought and clawed its way back from a 14-3 deficit and took a 17-14 advantage into the locker room at halftime.

The Huskers scored the first 14 points of the second half on a pair of short touchdown runs by tailback Jeff Kinney to go ahead 28-17, but then quarterback Jack Mildren led a 14-point Oklahoma comeback to take a 31-28 lead with just over seven minutes to go in the game.

After the kickoff exchange, Nebraska took possession on its own 26-yard line. Nebraska controlled the ball for all but a minute and a half of the remaining seven minutes and took a commanding 35-31 lead after four consecutive straight ahead runs by Kinney, beginning at the 15-yard line.

The Sooners still had one last chance, but Mildren was sacked on third and fourth down in OU territory to end the game.

Nebraska went on to defeat No. 2 Alabama, 38-6, in the Orange Bowl to repeat as national champions. Oklahoma beat 5th-ranked Auburn, 40-22, in the Sugar Bowl.

The Big 12 completed a 1-2-3 sweep in the national polls that year, with the Sooners finishing second and Colorado third. But what would the outcome have been if Oklahoma had beaten Nebraska on Thanksgiving Day in 1971?

Oklahoma went 11-2 the following season, Chuck Fairbanks’ final season as head coach, and finished No. 2 in the country.

In 1973, Barry Switzer became the OU head coach. The Sooners finished 10-0-1 that season, their one blemish a 7-7 tie against No. 1 USC. The next two seasons, 1974 and 1975, Oklahoma won back-to-back AP national championships.