Let the celebration begin: Oklahoma-Nebraska and the 50th anniversary of a classic is this year

It's been 10 years in the making, but Joe Castiglione's vision of commemorating the 1971 Big Red classic, will hopefully come to fruition this September

It’s 2021, and that means it’s the 50th anniversary of “The Game of the Century,” the 1971 classic between No. 1 Nebraska and No. 2 Oklahoma.

That also means at least nine months of praise for Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione, who long ago dreamed up an historic rematch and insisted that the two Big Reds commemorate the anniversary with a little football game.

So — COVID permitting, of course — the Sooners and Cornhuskers clash again on Sept. 18 in Norman. OU returns the home game in 2022, scheduled for Sept. 17.

This was Castiglione’s vision in September 2010. Three months later, OU and Nebraska played for the final Big 12 Championship Game — before realignment, before the Cornhuskers jumped to the Big Ten Conference, before the Big 12 title game took a six-year hiatus.

“He wanted to commemorate the Game of the Century,” Tom Osborne told the AP in 2010.

Two years later, in September 2012, the contracts were signed.

Then in 2016, they agreed to play again, in 2029 (in Norman) and 2030 (in Lincoln).

Who knows what college football will look like by then? Instead of a transfer portal, maybe universities will install pneumatic tubes running between campuses so players can shuttle back and forth without any paperwork. Instead of name-image-likeness compensation, maybe players who make big plays can just download Bitcoin currency from the crowd.

A lot can happen in the time it takes these contracts to ripen.

To wit: Tom Osborne told the Associated Press more than 10 years ago that he’d have to check with Bo Pelini before agreeing to Castiglione’s wishes. That seems a lifetime ago now, as Osborne retired three ADs ago and Pelini has moved on — a few times.

When the 2029-2030 game contracts were signed, Shawn Eichorst was the Nebraska AD. So yeah, more changes are coming.

But what won’t change is the history these two college football titans share.

The Cornhuskers won that 1971 showdown in Norman 35-31.

The game featured 17 of the Big Eight’s 22-man All-Conference team. OU had the No. 1 offense in the country, NU had the No. 1 defense.

The play everyone remembers is Johnny Rodgers’ 72-yard punt return for a touchdown (OU fans also remember what they swear was an illegal block) — but what not everyone remembers is that was the game’s first score.

Nebraska led 14-3, but the Sooners jumped in front 17-14 on two TDs by Jack Mildren. Jeff Kinney’s second and third TD runs put the Huskers ahead 28-17, but Mildren scored again to make it 28-24. OU took a 31-28 lead with 7:10 to play on Mildren’s TD throw to Jon Harrison, but Kinney scored again with 1:38 left for the 35-31 final.

It would hardly be the last time the two Big Reds met ranked 1 and 2.

In 1987, No. 2 OU beat No. 1 NU 17-7 in Lincoln. In 2000, Josh Heupel and the No. 2-ranked Sooners fell behind 14-0 and scored 31 unanswered points in a 31-14 win over No. 1 Nebraska in Norman. And in 2001, No. 2 Nebraska scored the last 10 points, including a 64-yard Mike Stuntz reverse touchdown pass to quarterback Eric Crouch, to beat the No. 1-ranked Sooners 20-10 in Lincoln.

The ramifications of those 1-2 showdowns? Nebraska won it all in ’71. OU lost the national title to Miami in ’87. The Sooners went on to win the ’00 championship. And the No. 2-ranked Huskers (ranked No. 4 by the AP after losing to Colorado in the Big 12 title game) lost to No. 1 Miami in the ’01 BCS title game.

OU leads the all-time series 45-38-3. Their last meeting was a good one: After the Huskers announced their plans in June to leave the Big 12 for the Big Ten, Nebraska jumped to a 17-0 lead in the 2010 Big 12 Championship Game, but the Sooners — behind two Landry Jones touchdowns and three Jimmy Stevens field goals — rallied back for a 23-20 victory in Arlington, TX.

“Oklahoma and Nebraska are two of the most iconic programs in college football history,” Castiglione said in 2016 press release, “and we were excited a few years ago when we were able to rekindle the storied series by scheduling games for 2021 and 2022.

“We feel the same way with the addition of the games in 2029 and 2030. Fans of both programs are extremely passionate and loyal, and we’re happy we can preserve — and extend — the on-field history of two of the game’s all-time greats."

Castiglione has a weekend of special activities tentatively planned to celebrate the occasion.

Nebraska’s current AD, Bill Moos, was asked in 2018 what special events he’d like to see.

“The most special thing we’re going to do,” Moos told Rivals.com, “is beat them.”

In about nine months — finally — we’ll see if he’s right.