IN ATLANTA
Oklahoma football history well-represented at College Football Hall of Fame
ATLANTA — Within steps of the entrance to the College Football Hall of Fame is the first mention of the University of Oklahoma.
A larger-than-life picture of 2018 Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray cocking back for a pass represents the Big 12 in the hall upon entering.
The Sooners will face LSU in the Peach Bowl at 3 p.m. Saturday about half a mile away from the Hall of Fame.
While there are plenty of reminders about that — displays of memorabilia from all four College Football Playoff teams are prominent in the lobby and a Christmas tree covered with OU and LSU socks adorns the gift shop — there are also plenty of other reminders about Oklahoma's place in college football history.
The Hall was located in South Bend, Indiana, from 1995-2012.
There, it was mainly a museum, showcasing artifacts from throughout the history of the game.
There's still plenty of that on display. Items like the bowl Joe Montana slurped soup from at halftime of the 1979 Cotton Bowl. A trombone from Stanford
A tearaway jersey with “Hello” on the front and “Good-Bye” on the back, worn by Sooners running back Greg Pruitt, is shown in the archives of the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. [PHOTO
band member Gary Tyrrell, who was famously run over at the end of the 1982 Stanford-Cal game. The typewriter Grantland Rice used to write his famous “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” game story and General Douglas MacArthur's desk. An Oklahoma helmet worn by Jim Owens in 1949.
But since i ts reinvention i n Atlanta, the College Football Hall of Fame has become much more about interactive experiences.
Walk past the picture of Murray and you're greeted by a giant wall of helmets. Not only are the Football Bowl Subdivision schools represented but all four-year college programs.
Alongside helmets from Alabama, Notre Dame and USC are helmets from East Central, Panhandle State and Northeastern State.
Fans are asked to pick their favorite team upon entry and the helmets of those programs picked are illuminated for the rest of the day.
As visitors make their way through the exhibits, they can take their turn as a guest picker on ESPN's College Game Day, try their hand as a camera operator on the Goodyear Blimp and “paint” their faces virtually.
Fans can also try their hand at calling some of the game's historic moments, first listening to the original broadcast call and then recording their own.
Unfortunately for Sooners fans, the two calls available involving OU don't exactly go the Sooners' way — Johnny Rodgers' punt return touchdown for Nebraska in the 1971 “Game of the Century” and the end of the 2007 Fiesta Bowl where Boise State stunned the Sooners.
Oklahoma is one of the most represented schools in the hall, with 22 players. The latest is Rickey Dixon, who was inducted earlier this month in a ceremony in New York City.
Bud Wilkinson is among the coaches on a wall of caricatures of legendary coaches.
Go to another interactive exhibit and Barry Switzer breaks down the wishbone before asking fans what each key player should do on a play.
There are also plenty of Sooners' memorabilia not on display. In the Hall's cramped storage room a couple blocks away, historian Kent Stephens opens a box to reveal a plastic headpiece mimicking Brian Bosworth's signature hairdo and a tearaway Greg Pruitt jersey with “Hello” on the front and “Goodbye” on the back.
Oklahoma is hoping the Hall of Fame will want to add some more Sooners memorabilia and moments after Saturday's Peach Bowl.