What Oklahoma is saying about Nebraska as their rivalry is revived

We know what Nebraska head coach Scott Frost is saying about Oklahoma.

“This was my favorite game of the year growing up, just like every Nebraska fan, I think.”

We know what Samori Toure is saying about being a 3-touchdown underdog to the Sooners.

“What type of team would we be if we didn’t believe?”

We know what the Nebraska faithful are saying.

“It’s not that Husker fans are delusional and expect a 30-point win …”

But what about Oklahoma? Are they taking Nebraska lightly? Respecting the rivalry and throwing records out the window?

Just what is Sooner Nation talking about?

Well, we found out:

+ Texas: Because of course.

+ Trick-play semantics with Barry Switzer: “It’s NOT a ‘hook and ladder.’ What’s a ladder got to do with anything? It’s a hook and lateral. A lateral.”

+ A man who painted Oklahoma’s football field in his backyard: “Painting it once a year (for the first game of the OU season) makes for a little extra fun and excitement for us all.”

+ “This will be Nebraska’s game of the year and might be kept close on emotions alone.” Now there’s a little respect. Who said that?

A man still mad online about Nebraska’s domination in the mid-‘90s, who wrote an open letter to Lincoln Riley “respectfully requesting” that the Sooners head coach run up the score. Oh.

Well, I guess finals of 73-21 and 69-7 just don’t wash out easily.

+ The game time: Ah yes, Big Noon Saturdaygate. It’s enough to make you want to leave the Big XII for the SEC.

+ Attendance: “Saturday will mark OU’s 136th straight sellout of an originally scheduled home game, dating back to the start of the 1999 season. Only Nebraska (FBS-record 377) has a longer current streak nationally.” Emphasis mine, to point out that there’s more than one team that moves the goal posts on the definition of “sellout.”

+ So, any strategy … at all? A little, in a podcast: “How does Nebraska attack OU and vice versa.”

+ The greatest games in the OU-NU rivalry: Presumably, because they don’t believe this will be one of them.

And finally…

+ Reminiscing about “The Game of the Century”: After all, that’s what this game is all about. Only the 50th anniversary of that legendary battle brought these two back together.

No. 1 Nebraska topped No. 2 Oklahoma 35-31 on Thanksgiving 1971 in Norman. 55 million tuned in and the game featured 17 of the 22 All-Big Eight players (9 from NU and 8 from OU).

Now, after not playing since Nebraska left for the Big Ten after 2010, the rivalry is renewed.

Before their legal separation, Nebraska and Oklahoma were in the same conference since 1921, whether it was the Missouri Valley, Big Six, Big Seven, Big Eight or Big XII Conferences. That final meeting was a 23-20 Sooners victory at the 2010 Big XII Championship Game in Arlington, Texas.

The Huskers and Sooners met for 71 consecutive seasons from 1927 to 1997, and one or both have been ranked in the AP poll in 45 of the last 46 match-ups (sorry 2005), and 62 of the past 72. Oklahoma has the honor this year at No. 3.

This is the 87th meeting between the schools, which rank sixth and seventh in all-time wins (Oklahoma at 919 and Nebraska 907) among FBS programs. The Sooners lead the series 45-38-3 and won 16 consecutive between 1943 and 1958. The Cornhuskers’ 62-point victory in 1997 is the most lopsided.

On Saturday, set it all aside.

The history is there. The hype? Not so much.

Ryan Jaster