If nothing else, the Buffs made things interesting
Published: 6/10/2010 11:26 PM
Last Modified: 6/11/2010 12:26 AM
Just in case Oklahoma won't be joining Colorado in the Pac-However Many They're Gonna End Up With... Let's salute the Buffaloes with five OU-CU moments that proved that wherever the Buffs went, weirdness followed.
1. Oct. 4, 1980... Sooners 82, Buffs 42
It's not that OU set a still-standing scoring record, or ran for something like 2,000 yards that afternoon at Folsom Field. It's who called the game for ESPN -- Stu Nahan, the guy who interviewed Spicoli in his "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" surfing dream ("Where'd you get this jacket?")
Actual comment by Nahan during pregame introductions: "Defense has to be the key for Colorado." Classic.
2. Sept. 30, 1995... Buffs 38, OU 17
Howard Schnellenberger's Sooners really were on a collision course with a national championship headed into this Saturday night special at Owen Field. They were 3-0 and the buzz of the Big 8.
The only variable wasn't time, though, as The Colonel liked to put it. It was John Hessler, the CU quarterback Schnellenberger belittled leading up to the game.
By 12:01 Sunday morning, Schnellenberger's OU career had hit an iceberg. Rookie Buffs coah Rick Neuheisel, fresh from an ESPN GameDay appearance with his rookie QB, was college football's Boy Wonder.
3. Dec. 7, 2002... Sooners 29, Buffs 7
Nate Hybl quarterbacks OU to a Big 12 championship in Houston, walks onto the postgame OKC Sports Animal radio/KOCO-TV set, and winds up defending himself to co-hosts Jim Traber and Doug Gottlieb.
It is at this moment that Hybl becomes the most maligned QB in Sooner history, officially supplanting Eric Moore.
4. Dec. 4, 2004... Sooners 42, CU 3
One of the worst conference championship mismatches of all time was somehow overshadowed by the tail-kicking the Buffs took in the stands.
The Arrowhead Stadium attendance was 62,130. Number of Colorado fans: very close to 130.
If I'm the Pac-Whatever, I'm welcoming the Buffaloes instead of Baylor. Don't get me wrong. But this is not a night that CU needs to tell its new conference about anytime soon.
5. Sept. 29, 2007... Buffs 27, Sooners 24
You likely remember the loss for Reggie Smith's dropped punt. For me, it's Sam Bradford, the most celebrated quarterback in OU history (if not now, eventually), not throwing a single pass in the direction of playmaking wide receiver Malcolm Kelly.
Still one of the most mind-boggling things I've ever witnessed at a Sooners game.
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
