OU-Nebraska Will be a Spectacle for the Fans, Just Not the Players Involved

The coaching staff will do their best to put the game in historical perspective as the two teams meet for the first time in a decade.

Saturday morning, a classic college football rivalry will renew.

The Oklahoma Sooners and the Nebraska Cornhuskers will meet for the 87th time, but the contest is now just a spectacle for the fans, not an intense battle with hatred flowing on each side line.

In fact, almost none of the players taking the field this weekend will hold any personal attachment to the rivalry beyond it’s the next game on the schedule.

“I know it's a big rivalry, was back in the day,” quarterback Spencer Rattler answered diplomatically in his postgame Zoom press conference after this weekend’s victory over Western Carolina. “It's gonna be a big, fun atmosphere, especially being at home.

“It's just another game, though. We've gotta go in and prepare this week and see what they do on the defensive side and practice it to perfection and then come out Saturday and play our best for four quarters. It sounds boring and bland, but that's how it is.”

Even wide receiver Jadon Haselwood, who grew up with Oklahoma games on the TV as a kid, said he’s approaching the contest just like any other game.

“I mean I did hear when I was a kid that Nebraska was a big rivalry and stuff like that, but I feel like it’s just a big game because it’s the next game,” Haselwood said. “We gonna prepare the same. We gonna prepare the same as we play Texas, we gonna prepare the same as if we played who we played tonight. So basically we’re just gonna go out there and play our game.”

Even Oklahoma’s head coach Lincoln Riley missed a great bulk of the history of the rivalry. Just 38-years-old, the Battle of the Big Reds has only played 23 times since Riley’s birth, with the average margin of victory in the game being a less-than-competitive 18.7 points per game. The margin of victory only drops to 15 points per game if Nebraska’s beatdowns of the Sooners in 1996 and 1997 are removed as outliers, leaving much to be desired when the two teams meet.

Unfortunately, the rivalry took a massive hit long before Nebraska bid adieu and left for the Big 10. The Big 12 division split ended the yearly affair, nuking the annual tradition of the rivalry.

Riley did say after the game that the coaching staff would take a little bit of time to ensure that the players understand the magnitude of the rivalry this week, but that it won’t be OU’s primary focus as they prepare to host the Cornhuskers.

“We will, we will spend a little bit with our guys on the education,” Riley said. “It’s a fine line because for us, I think we’ve already proven when we focus on ourselves, we’re a little bit better team.

“The majority of the focus will be on ourselves and going and playing a good game. Let’s go make it a great memory, and something we can look back on and be proud of. But on the flip side it is important to me for the guys to understand what this game means, the history behind it, some of the greats. So we’ll make sure our guys are aware.”

Much like the contests of the mid-90’s, Saturday’s game will likely buttress the reality that Oklahoma and Nebraska are moving in opposite directions.

The Cornhuskers are on their fifth coach since Tom Osborne, and enter Norman on only their fourth two-game win streak under Scott Frost after back-to-back victories over Fordham and Buffalo.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers are 14-21 under Scott Frost as he embarks on his fourth season in Lincoln  :: Ron Johnson / USA TODAY Sports

Rolling out another Martinez at quarterback, this one Adrian Martinez, Nebraska’s star of the past turned head coach Frost appears to be no closer to gettin the Cornhuskers back on the map than Mike Riley was before him.

The Blackshirt Defense is now a symbol of mediocrity, allowing 30 points to Illinois in their Week 0 contest, which looks even worst now that the Fighting Illini lost 37-30 at home to UTSA and then never really arrived in Charlottesville, losing 42-14 to the Virginia Cavaliers.

But still, Pheldarius Payne and Garrett Nelson will lead the ‘Husker pass rush as Nebraska attempts to make life uncomfortable for Rattler.

On the opposing sideline, Riley’s Sooners have been the spitting image of consistency for nearly the entire 21 years after Bob Stoops’ arrival on campus.

And this year, after refocusing and playing a much cleaner game against Western Carolina, OU expects to be squarely in the hunt for the programs’ eighth National Championship.

While the tradition surrounding the game will add a nice spark to the atmosphere, Nebraska is simply the next step in Oklahoma’s chase for perfection.

“It's exciting,” OU defensive lineman Perrion Winfrey said after the Western Carolina game. “I just can't wait to be part of this tradition, and just go in there with my teammates and work this week. I'm excited to play a good opponent and carry on what we did this week, and continue to do what we're doing.

“Honestly, week to week, we don't even look at the opponent. We just focus on us. We don't even try to downplay the opponent or think too much about the opponent. We truly focus on us so that when it comes to the game, we're not thinking, oh, this is an easy game, we've got this. We truly just focus on us so no matter who the opponent is, we're gonna give it our all and go hard every single play.”

OU Vice President and Athletic Director Joe Castiglione has been making plans for years. With the contest commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Game of the Century, Norman will be teeming with Sooner and Nebraska legends, selling plenty of merchandise to commemorate the return of the once great rivalry.

“It’s so cool they brought it back,” Riley said. “What a great job by Joe C and our administration to bring this one back. It’s important, been an important game in our game’s history. So I will, I will, I think you have to appreciate it, especially ones like these that you don’t get every year. This is a one-offer right now, so I definitely think we have to appreciate it for what it is and I think for what it can become, as far as bringing so many people back that were a part of this for years and years and years, coaches and players.”

On hiatus for a decade, the atmosphere surrounding the game still should be incredibly unique, even if the participants in the game lack historical memories of the rivalry.

“It’s a special one,” Riley said. “No two ways about it.”

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