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Report: Nebraska wants to cancel trip to Oklahoma; Sooners AD, coach weigh in

Cornhuskers reportedly want to cancel their 50th anniversary game and schedule someone else in Lincoln instead

John E. Hoover

Report: Nebraska wants to cancel trip to Oklahoma; Sooners AD, coach weigh in
Report: Nebraska wants to cancel trip to Oklahoma; Sooners AD, coach weigh in /

Oklahoma’s anniversary game against Nebraska this season is reportedly on the chopping block.

College football insider Brett McMurphy of Stadium tweeted Friday, citing unnamed sources, that Nebraska is “trying to get out of playing Oklahoma on Sept. 18.”

McMurphy said his source told him the Cornhuskers have contacted other schools to play in Lincoln on that date.

Later Friday morning, OU athletic director Joe Castiglione weighed in with a statement on Twitter and said OU "fully intend and expect to play the game as it is scheduled."

 The game was scheduled in 2016 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1971 “Game of the Century,” a 35-31 Huskers win over the Sooners when the Big Eight foes were ranked No. 1 and No. 2.

OU coach Lincoln Riley was asked his thoughts after the Sooners staged their Pro Day workouts.

"I’ll stick with Joe Castiglione’s statement and reiterate that we fully expect and intend on playing that game," Riley said. "Obviously we all know the history behind that game and there’s been a whole lot put into playing it, and we can’t wait to play here it in September."

This year’s game is part of a home-and-home series. OU is scheduled to play in Lincoln on Sept. 22, 2022.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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