Oklahoma Sooners Football: Remembering All 30 of OU’s College GameDay Battles

This weekend’s game against Ohio State marks Oklahoma football’s 31st overall College GameDay appearance, and the Sooners are 21-9 in previous GameDay clashes. Before watching the Sooners play in Columbus, we thought we’d take a trip down memory lane and revisit every previous GameDay matchup in order.

Note: We used AP rankings for early-season games and BCS/CFP rankings for late-season games (usually past mid-October).

1995 Season

September 30th, 1995
#4 Colorado at #10 Oklahoma
Score: Colorado 38-17

The 1995 squad, led by Howard Schnellenberger, went 3-0 and earned their spot in the top 10, but this game was the turning point, and they ended up going 5-5-1. The Sooners would not appear again until Bob Stoops showed up.

2000 Season

October 14th, 2000
#8 Oklahoma at #2 Kansas State
Score: Oklahoma 41-31

After a 1999 season in which the Sooners went 7-5, this was the first the first GameDay to feature a Bob Stoops-coached team. OU came into Manhattan and pulled off the upset by making big play after big play.

October 28th, 2000
#1 Nebraska at #2 Oklahoma
Score: Oklahoma 31-14

The saddest part of Nebraska moving to the Big 10 was losing this storied rivalry, which included this game. Nebraska scored all 14 of their points in the first quarter before getting stomped, and OU fans would end up storming the field — something that hasn’t happened in Norman since.

November 11th, 2000
#1 Oklahoma at #23 Texas A&M
Score: Oklahoma 35-31

The Sooners were finally ranked No. 1 in this game, but A&M kept it fiercely competitive, heading into the fourth quarter up 24-13 before allowing Oklahoma to outscore them 22-7 in the final period. Torrance Marshall played the role of Hero in this one.

December 2nd, 2000
#9 Kansas State vs. #1 Oklahoma
Score: Oklahoma 27-24

This rematch lived up to the hype and was tied at halftime. The Sooners took the lead and the win in the fourth quarter and would advance to the national championship at the Orange Bowl a month later.

January 2nd, 2001
#2 Florida State vs. #1 Oklahoma
Score: Oklahoma 13-2

Although it’s sort of a technicality that GameDay covers the national championship (since there’s only one game on TV), it still counts in the tally. Oklahoma spent all season scoring points in bunches but it was the defense that dominated in Bob Stoops’ ascension to legend status.

2001 Season

September 29th, 2001
#11 Kansas State at #3 Oklahoma
Score: Oklahoma 38-37

You know that Kansas State wanted this one bad after losing twice to the Sooners when they were on the cusp of winning the conference themselves. In the end, OU was triumphant by a mere point to spoil the Wildcats’ revenge game.

October 6th, 2001
#5 Texas vs. #3 Oklahoma
Score: Oklahoma 14-3

The first Red River Shootout covered by College GameDay was not really a shootout at all, but was a Sooner victory nonetheless. Roy Williams was already the best safety in the land before that day, but he would etch his name in history with one of the most spectacular plays we’ve ever seen.

October 27th, 2001
#1 Oklahoma at #2 Nebraska
Score: Nebraska 20-10

Nebraska took down the Sooners in Bob Stoops’ first-ever GameDay loss to end Oklahoma’s 20-game winning streak.

2002 Season

October 12th, 2002
#2 Oklahoma vs. #3 Texas
Score: Oklahoma 35-24

The second Red River GameDay and only Oklahoma appearance in the 2002 season included more scoring but the same results: another OU victory.

2003 Season

September 6th, 2003
#1 Oklahoma at Alabama
Score: Oklahoma 20-13

In a rare GameDay which included the top-ranked team playing an unranked Alabama (also an oxymoron nowadays), OU took the victory in Tuscaloosa with the help of two Jason White bombs and a fake punt.

November 1st, 2003
#14 Oklahoma State at #1 Oklahoma
Score: Oklahoma 52-9

Not much had changed in Norman since the September GameDay in Tuscaloosa other than Oklahoma’s record, which still had a zero in the loss column. The inaugural GameDay Bedlam battle was a bit more meaningful for OU than most games due to the fact that Oklahoma State had defeated them in the two previous meetings. Rarely have OU fans been as elated about a performance as they were that day.

January 4th, 2004
#1 Oklahoma vs. #2 LSU
Score: LSU 21-14

Bob Stoops’ second GameDay loss came at an extremely inopportune time in a game I am sure we’d all like to forget, the national championship and Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.

2004 Season

October 30th, 2004
#2 Oklahoma at #19 Oklahoma State
Score: Oklahoma 38-35

It was much closer, but Oklahoma State’s pursuit of revenge of the previous year’s embarrassing GameDay loss ultimately came up short when Jason Ricks missed a 49-yard FG that would’ve sent it to OT.

January 4th, 2005
#2 Oklahoma vs. #1 USC
Score: USC 55-19

As unpleasant as it is to discuss the 2003 season’s national championship loss to LSU, it’s a walk in the park compared to remembering this tough loss to the juggernaut Trojan squad led by Pete Carroll, Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush.

2006 Season

November 4th
#18 Oklahoma at #21 Texas A&M
Score: Oklahoma 17-16

It was a close call in College Station, but the Sooners ultimately came away with the win. Paul Thompson helped give the Sooners an early cushion, but he would need a late fourth-down conversion on a QB sneak to seal the deal in front of a hostile crowd.

2007 Season

October 13th, 2007
#11 Missouri at #6 Oklahoma
Score: Oklahoma 41-31

This was a wild year for the Big 12 as both Missouri and Kansas fought all season for the top place in the Northern Division of the conference. At this time, the two teams were at the top of their divisions and it did not disappoint. There were over 800 yards of total offense and a total of six turnovers in this Sooner victory.

December 1st, 2007
#9 Oklahoma vs. #1 Missouri
Score: Oklahoma 38-17

The tables had truly turned for this Big 12 championship game and rematch. The Tigers just needed this win to gain a national championship berth but the Sooners stopped that pretty quickly. Fun fact: this GameDay was also hosted in front of the Alamo, as the game was in San Antonio.

2008 Season

October 11th, 2008
#5 Texas vs. #1 Oklahoma
Score: Texas 45-35

Everyone wants to see a good, high-scoring game when these two teams match up, but it’s less fun when the Sooners lose. Colt McCoy and his squad scored 15 unanswered points in the fourth quarter and it was the highest scoring event in the rivalry’s history. The game also set the record for highest attendance at the stadium.

November 22nd, 2008
#2 Texas Tech at #5 Oklahoma
Score: Oklahoma 65-21

Thanks to the infamous Michael Crabtree catch and score in Lubbock a week prior to this one to help the Red Raiders defeat Texas, Oklahoma was back in the hunt for the Big 12 title. And they leaped on the opportunity. By halftime, the stadium was literally jumping and it was already over.

November 29th, 2008
#3 Oklahoma at #12 Oklahoma State
Score: Oklahoma 61-41

In a star-studded GameDay matchup including Sam Bradford, DeMarco Murray, Jermaine Gresham, Dez Bryant and Dan Bailey, the two teams combined for the most total points in any Bedlam game.

January 8th, 2009
#2 Oklahoma vs. #1 Florida
Score: Florida 24-14

It’s still hard to talk about, but the Sooners finished one of their best and most memorable seasons – in which they set the record for most total points scored – with a loss to the Florida Gators, led by Urban Meyer and Tim Tebow.

2009 Season

October 17th, 2009
#20 Oklahoma vs. #3 Texas
Score: Texas 16-13

In a relatively down season for the Sooners in which they infamously lost to BYU in the season opener, they kept it admirably close in a game against a Longhorn team that would eventually go on to lose the national championship to Alabama.

2010

October 23rd, 2010
#1 Oklahoma at #11 Missouri
Score: Missouri 36-27

Missouri was the underdog and they pulled off the upset in Columbia, taking down the highly-touted Sooners.

November 27th, 2010
#13 Oklahoma at #9 Oklahoma State
Score: Oklahoma 47-41

Another GameDay, another Bedlam, another fast-paced, high-scoring rivalry game and ultimately, another Sooner victory. Nothing to see here.

2011 Season

September 17th
#1 Oklahoma at #5 Florida State
Score: Oklahoma 23-13

The Seminoles kept it close until the fourth quarter, when Stoops and the Sooners took over and took down Jimbo Fisher’s FSU squad, who were not yet the championship caliber team they would become a few years down the road. However, the Noles had quite a bit of talent, and The Doak was bananas that night.

October 8th
#11 Texas vs. #3 Oklahoma
Score: Oklahoma 55-17

The 2000’s were, for the most part, a real blast for Oklahoma fans during Red River Shootout games and this one followed the same script. Texas was no match for OU’s firepower.

2012 Season

October 27th, 2012
#5 Notre Dame at #8 Oklahoma
Score: Notre Dame 30-13

There are certain games that stick in many fans’ minds and this is one of them. Notre Dame came to Norman ready to play and defeated the Sooners pretty soundly, though they did score 20 of their points in the fourth quarter.

2015 Season

November 14th, 2015
#12 Oklahoma at #6 Baylor
Score: Oklahoma 44-34

Thus far in that season, despite having gone to Knoxville and defeated Tennessee in spectacular, double-overtime fashion, the Sooners under new walk-on Baker Mayfield were relatively untested outside of a head-scratching loss to Texas. Baylor had been dominant several times in the years leading up to this matchup, but Oklahoma was ready, taking the lead in the second quarter and never looking back.

November 28th, 2015
#3 Oklahoma at #11 Oklahoma State
Score: Oklahoma 55-23

After defeating TCU in Norman, all OU needed to do to gain a berth in the first-ever College Football Playoffs was take down the rival Cowboys in Stillwater. They did not disappoint at all, destroying Oklahoma State in typical fashion with plenty of big plays along the way.

2017 Season

September 9th, 2017
#7 Oklahoma at #2 Ohio State

2016’s matchup of these two teams was ugly for the Sooners, who lost 45-24, but both teams have changed tremendously in the year between the games. In only a few (long) days, we’ll know how this one stacks up against the other 30 GameDay appearances for the Sooners.