How a Nebraska Fan Helped Oklahoma's Ted Roof Avoid Disaster on His Last Trip to Lincoln
NORMAN — Over time, Nebraska has developed a reputation of class and respect on the football field from top to bottom.
That example is led by the Cornhuskers fan base.
And nobody has experienced the Big Red’s class, friendliness and forgiveness quite like Oklahoma’s new defensive coordinator, Ted Roof.
Roof spent 2012 in Happy Valley as the defensive coordinator for the Penn State Nittany Lions. Penn State would go onto finish the season 8-4, but the midseason trip to Lincoln provided one of the best stories of Roof’s career.
Remember the story about Mike Leach, then offensive coordinator in Norman, “losing” his play sheet in Dallas in 1999 in hopes the Longhorns would fall for the trick? In this case, think of the exact opposite.
“I was at Penn State, OK, in 2012,” Roof said at Monday’s press conference. “My game plan flies out of my hands and goes up into the stadium.
"I’m thinking ‘Oh my god.’ ”
Roof, who had just recently won a national championship at Auburn, quickly realized the situation at hand. If anyone from Nebraska got ahold of that game plan, Penn State could be toast. In typical Nebraska fashion, though, Husker fans clearly valued a clean, fair football game.
“I had just come from the SEC where if that was the case …” Roof began, but then stopped himself and drew a laugh from the media gallery. “A fan, this guy, is like 'Coach! Coach!' He's got my game plan. He walks down to the fence, a Nebraska guy, and hands me my game plan back. I would've never envisioned that. Maybe that'd be the only stadium where that would've happened."
In almost unbelievable fashion, one of Nebraska’s fans either saw the play sheet blow away or just found Roof’s game plan way up in the stands of Memorial Stadium and knew exactly who the lost item belonged to. And who wouldn't recognize a team's play sheet? It detailed all the ways the Nittany Lions would try to stop Nebraska that day.
Sometimes, the football gods can throw around some serious karma. That Saturday in Lincoln was a classic case. Nebraska ended up not needing the extra help of their fans that ended up in possession of the game sheet, as they knocked off Penn State 32-23.
Next Saturday in Lincoln, when Roof returns with No. 6-ranked Oklahoma, the wind is supposed to blowing out of the south at a crisp 16 miles per hour.
One thing for certain, though: Roof will hang onto his game plan a bit tighter this time.
