1971 Nebraska vs . Oklahoma football game This page lists the events of the 1971 Nebraska vs . Oklahoma football game . On Thursday , November 25 , 1971 , the Nebraska Cornhuskers , defending national champions , ranked # 1 with a 20 - game winning streak ( and 29 games without a loss ) played the Oklahoma Sooners , ranked # 2 . The Cornhuskers defeated the Sooners 35 – 31 . Background . The teams combined for 17 of 22 first - team All - Big Eight players . Nebraska had the nation ’ s top - ranked defense . Oklahoma had the nation ' s most productive offense with their wishbone averaging over 472 rushing yards per game , a NCAA record . The cover of " Sports Illustrated " ( 1971 - 11 - 22 ) published the week of the game included photographs of Nebraska linebacker Bob Terrio and Oklahoma running back Greg Pruitt , nose - to - nose , beneath the headline : " Irresistible Oklahoma Meets Immovable Nebraska . ’ ’ The Husker " Blackshirts " defense included seven first - team All - Big Eight selections , four players who would earn consensus All - America recognition during their careers and two Outland Trophy winners : tackle Larry Jacobson and middle guard Rich Glover . Glover would win both the Outland and Lombardi awards in 1972 and eventually be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame . They were joined in the starting lineup by end Willie Harper , like Glover , a two - time All - American . John Dutton , an All - American in 1973 , was a sophomore backup . The Sooners ' record - setting wishbone attack was led by All - American QB Jack Mildren who rushed for over 1 , 000 yards , but was also a very good passer . His weapons were Heisman candidate HB Greg Pruitt , who averaged a stunning 9 . 5 yards per carry and speedy split end Jon Harrison . Future College Football Hall of Famer Tom Brahaney was the anchor at center . The Husker offense was led by flanker , Johnny Rodgers , who would go on to win the Heisman Trophy the next season and bullish tailback Jeff Kinney , a future NFL first round draft pick . The Sooner defense was anchored by all - Big 8 defensive tackle Derland Moore , a future All - American and NFL Pro Bowler . ABC - TV broadcast the game nationally to an estimated 55 million viewers ( at the time the largest television audience ever for a college football game ) with Chris Schenkel doing the play - by - play . Joining him in the booth for color analysis was Oklahoma ' s legendary former coach , Bud Wilkinson , with Bill Flemming reporting from the sidelines . Before the game , Schenkel and Wilkinson emerged from the tunnel leading to the field , and when the Oklahoma crowd spotted Wilkinson , they erupted into applause . They came to their feet with admiration for the Minnesota - born coach who had guided the Sooners to prominence with three national championships and an NCAA record 47 - game winning streak in the decade of the 1950s . Game . The game was played at Owen Field in Norman on Thanksgiving Day . Not only at stake was the Big Eight title , but also the # 1 national ranking in the polls . However , the bowl trips had already been determined before the game , with Nebraska going to the Orange in Miami and Oklahoma headed for the Sugar in New Orleans . Two days after Thanksgiving , # 5 Auburn ( 9 - 0 ) with Heisman Trophy winner Pat Sullivan at quarterback , hosted # 3 Alabama ( 10 - 0 ) for the SEC title , the two opponents that Oklahoma and Nebraska would play . Given the magnitude of the game , Devaney had even had his players ' food flown in from Lincoln , in case gamblers attempted to induce a hotel chef to give the Huskers food poisoning . The NU - OU game went back and forth . The Cornhuskers struck first , with Rodgers shocking the Sooners with a 72 - yard punt return for a touchdown after the Sooners ' first possession was stopped . The punt return remains one of college football ' s signature moments , though it remains controversial . Some observers and many Sooner fans claim Nebraska cornerback Joe Blahak appeared to clip Sooner receiver Jon Harrison as Rodgers stormed for the touchdown , but no penalty was called , primarily because Blahak blocked Harrison at an angle , which was not a penalty . Referees for the game have continued to deny that there was a clip on the play , even after having studied film footage of it , which is inconclusive due to Blahak ' s trajectory . First half . The first half was atypical for both teams , as the Cornhuskers ' potent offense was stymied by the underrated Sooner defense ; meanwhile , the Sooners devastating wishbone offense was blunted by the brutal Cornhusker defense , as the Sooners had several turnovers and were continually frustrated by Husker middle guard Rich Glover , who would end up with twenty - two tackles on the day despite lining up across from Sooner all - American center Tom Brahaney . Nebraska held a 14 – 3 lead , but Oklahoma came back , relying almost entirely on Jack Mildren ' s arm and legs , and the Sooners grabbed the lead at halftime , 17 – 14 , on two long passes from Mildren to Harrison with just seconds left in the first half . For the first time all season , the Cornhuskers were trailing in a game . Second half . Relying on a power running game , the Huskers retook the lead and led 28 – 17 going into the fourth quarter . Quarterback Jack Mildren led the Sooners back , and Oklahoma led 31 – 28 with 7 : 05 to play . The Huskers got the ball back on their own 26 - yard line . Getting to the Oklahoma 48 , Husker quarterback Jerry Tagge threw to Rodgers , who broke tackles and ran all the way to the 15 . Tailback Jeff Kinney then carried four times , the last resulting in his fourth touchdown of the game , and Nebraska led 35 – 31 with two minutes to go . Sacks of Mildren on third and fourth down in Sooner territory finished the game off as a Nebraska win . Kinney finished with 171 yards on 31 carries ( 5 . 5 avg . ) . This game , much more than the previous year ' s national championship , made Nebraska a program with a national following . Already having sold every seat available at their Memorial Stadium since coach Bob Devaney arrived in 1962 , they would be a perennial National Championship contender and a frequent presence on national TV , with fans across the country seeing banners at Memorial Stadium reading " Californians for Nebraska " , " Floridians for Nebraska " , and so on . Nebraska native Johnny Carson ( an alumnus of NU ) would often take pride in the Cornhuskers ' accomplishments during his monologue as host of " The Tonight Show " , and fellow Nebraskan Dick Cavett would also mention them on his talk show . Aftermath . The Cornhuskers went on to the 1972 Orange Bowl and soundly defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide , then ranked # 2 , 38 – 6 . This completed the Huskers ' back - to - back national championships . Devaney returned in 1972 hoping to win three consecutive national championships , but was derailed by a season - opening road loss to UCLA . He retired right after defeating Notre Dame in the 1973 Orange Bowl . Continuing as Nebraska ' s athletic director , he handed the reins of the football program over to assistant Tom Osborne , then age 36 . Greg Pruitt did not win the 1971 Heisman , which went to Auburn University quarterback Pat Sullivan . By a coincidence , Auburn was the team Oklahoma would end up playing , in the Sugar Bowl , and the Sooners won , 40 – 22 . ( By another coincidence , these two arch - rivals , Nebraska and Oklahoma , would end up playing each half of another nasty rivalry , Alabama and Auburn , and beat them both . ) Despite the defeat , Oklahoma ' s program was also relaunched by this game , and they would be a perennial national contender throughout the 1970s and much of the 1980s . Oklahoma coach Chuck Fairbanks left the Sooners following the 1972 season for the New England Patriots of the NFL . Offensive coordinator Barry Switzer succeeded Fairbanks and compiled a 157 – 29 – 4 record from 1973 – 88 and guided the Sooners to national championships in 1974 , 1975 , and 1985 . The top three teams in the final AP poll for the 1971 season were from the Big Eight : Nebraska , Oklahoma , and Colorado . Nebraska vs . Oklahoma , considered a minor rivalry before the Game of the Century ( of 1971 ) , became one of the biggest in the country , usually played on the day after Thanksgiving . A scandal caught up with Oklahoma in the late 1980s , sending it into a decline , which coincided with the rise of the football program at Colorado , which eventually replaced Oklahoma as Nebraska ' s biggest rival , with the game reserved for year - end . Oklahoma would rise again in the late 1990s , as the Big Eight added the four most prominent Southwest Conference schools to become the Big 12 Conference in 1996 . But since one of those four schools was Texas , already a major rival with Oklahoma , the UT - OU rivalry grew in importance . Since Oklahoma and Oklahoma State were put in the Big 12 Southern Division , while Nebraska and the other Big Eight teams went into the Big 12 North , NU and OU only played each other twice every four seasons , which significantly diminished the rivalry . Nebraska left the Big 12 at the end of the 2010 - 11 academic year to join the Big Ten Conference . The Sooners and Huskers met in the final Big 12 championship game on December 4 , 2010 , with OU winning 23 - 20 . Both schools reached an agreement on November 29 , 2012 to play a home and home series scheduled for 2021 and 2022 . The 2021 game would be played in Norman to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1971 classic , with the 2022 contest to be played in Lincoln . " The Sporting News " named the 1971 Cornhusker team as the greatest team of the Twentieth Century in 1988 .