STILLWATER — Bedlam football doesn’t rank among the top 10 rivalries nationally. It might not rate in the top 20 or 30.
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When a series is so blatantly lopsided — 78-16-7 if you’re Oklahoma; 77-17-7 if you’re Oklahoma State — that’s a rout, not a rivalry.
Oh, if only Saturday’s game could be bottled and shipped throughout college football territory.
Trim Bedlam down to the last dozen years rather than the first 90 or so and the showdown would be among the nation’s elite.
The 101st edition of Bedlam was a doozy.
There were players hitting hard, coaches thinking hard and fans cheering hard.
Those inside the stadium left after the fourth quarter, not during it. There was no need to beat traffic because there was no traffic.
Fans knew State Highway 51 would become a parking lot on the drive back home, but didn’t care. There was no better place to be in the entire state than Boone Pickens Stadium at that exact moment. So why on earth leave?
This was Bedlam, not a Dodgers game.
And so everyone stayed until the scoreboard clock had no numbers left. On a perfect afternoon for football, roughly 85 percent of the stands wore orange, the other 15 percent wore crimson or white. The only eyesore was a few hundred empty club-level seats on the north side. Where the common folk resided, however, the stadium was filled to the gills — as should be the case with all great rivalries. Lower-level patrons were not in their seats during the last five minutes. Instead, they stood — as should be the case with all great rivalries. The Sooners draw around 84,000 fans for their home games. The Cowboys draw roughly half that. And yet OSU’s hometown crowd often sounds twice as loud when things get interesting. No telling what the decibel level will reach when the west end zone is filled with $175 million worth of construction and the noise has nowhere to escape. As Zac Robinson’s final pass spiraled through the air Saturday, the game-ending sequence seemed to slip into super slow-mo, like one of those highlight reels from NFL Films. The potential game-tying touchdown pass skimmed off the fingertips of OSU senior receiver D’Juan Woods. Had he been able to leap two or three inches higher, or had the ball not been tipped by Sooners cornerback Lendy Holmes, we wouldn’t have Oklahoma vs. Nebraska on Saturday. A few minutes after the game, Woods was alone at the 27-yard line on the west side, down on both knees, face buried in his hands. OU senior offensive tackle Chris Messner, who went unbeaten in Bedlam, boldly walked over to Woods and helped him to his feet. Messner had made it a point to visit the Cowboys sideline afterward to offer a handshake to anyone willing to accept. Messner was there to offer a gesture, not to gloat. Plenty of other Sooners did the same. Bedlam, followed by class. A nice touch. Afterward, both coaches spoke about what a great game it was, how hard both teams played, how proud they were of their players. For one of the few times in your pathetically cynical life, you actually believed what they said. It was a joy to witness Saturday’s Bedlam. An honor, in fact. Hopefully, everyone on hand was smart enough to appreciate the moment — as should be the case with all great rivalries.
John Rohde: 475-3314, jrohde@oklahoman.com; John Rohde can be heard Monday-Friday from 6-7 p.m. on WWLS-FM 97.9 and WWLS-AM 640, and on KYAL-AM 1550 in Tulsa.
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