Sooners edge Huskers as rivalry is renewed
NORMAN, Okla. — Oklahoma and Nebraska played as if they were trying to uphold the history of the rivalry.
Spencer Rattler passed for a touchdown and ran for another, and No. 3 Oklahoma held on to beat Nebraska 23-16 on Saturday.
Celebrating the 50-year anniversary of the “Game of the Century” — No. 1 Nebraska’s 35-31 win over No. 2 Oklahoma in 1971 — the teams rewarded their nostalgic fans with a competitive contest. The programs had a fierce, yet respectful rivalry in the Big Eight and Big 12, with Nebraska winning five national titles and Oklahoma claiming four between 1970 and 2000.
“It was just a hard-fought game,“Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said. “You knew it would be. There’s a lot of pride in these two programs. Both these programs have won a lot of games, a lot of championships. To bring this game back — I think everybody sensed how special it would be. Both teams rose to the occasion and gave us a great college football game.“
It was their first meeting since 2010 — right before Nebraska left the Big 12 for the Big Ten — and it was memorable and much closer than expected. The Sooners were a threetouchdown favorite and there were even reports during the offseason that Nebraska looked at possibly trying to reschedule the game for its rebuilding program to another year.
Turns out the Huskers were more than game.
Nebraska got the ball trailing by a touchdown with 57 seconds remaining and no timeouts. The Sooners sacked Adrian Martinez twice on the final drive, and the Cornhuskers could not manage a first down.
Eric Gray ran for 84 yards on 15 carries and Kennedy Brooks added 75 yards on 14 attempts for the Sooners (3-0).
Martinez passed for 289 yards and a touchdown for Nebraska (2-2), which sought its first win over a ranked team since 2015.
“Our guys aren’t into moral victories,“Martinez said. “We want to win games. Simple as that. There are definitely a lot of positives to take away from today, and we will do that once we watch the film. But at the end of the day, we lost the game. So that is that.“
Oklahoma opened with an old-school 14-play, 75yard drive. Rattler sneaked in from the 1 to give the Sooners a 7-0 lead.
Nebraska responded with a 14-play drive, but the Huskers were derailed by four penalties. Connor Culp’s career-long 51-yard field goal put the Cornhuskers on the board.
Nebraska coach Scott Frost said he was proud of the way his team played.
“We’re going to get more opportunities to win a big game,” he said. “But if they play like that — like we played today all year, and fight that hard all year, we’re going to have a chance in a lot of games. And as disappointed as I am, I’m happy for the way that they competed.”