2020 Oklahoma Sooners Football Countdown to Kickoff | 76 Days!

Happy Father’s Day, folks! Welcome back to another amazing edition in our 2020 Countdown to Kickoff series. As of this Sunday, there are 76 days remaining until the Oklahoma Sooners are set to begin the upcoming college football season. Before OU opens up the next decade of gridiron glory, let’s jump back to the beginning of the last decade. In the 2010 Bedlam matchup, QB Landry Jones and TE James Hanna connected late on a 76-yard TD to effectively win the Big 12 South division title.

Coming into the night, Bob Stoops and Oklahoma knew a win was needed in order to force a three-way tie atop the division standings in the Big 12 South between the two programs from OK and the Texas A&M Aggies. Meanwhile, the No. 9 Oklahoma State Cowboys were enjoying a fantastic year already, and hosting the in-state rival Sooners was their perfect opportunity to make it one of the most memorable to date.

As Bedlam fell underway, the contest was all knotted up at 24 going into the fourth quarter. Obviously it was anyone’s game at that point, and the fans for the at-home Cowboys were ready to celebrate a rare victory over OU. Three Jimmy Stevens field goals later, Oklahoma started to pull away from its little brother, but that’s when the fireworks really began.

OSU’s Brandon Weeden found Justin Blackmon for a score to close the gap to just two, but OU’s Jones answered with a toss to Cameron Kenney, who housed it 86 yards. The Cowboys had no plans on going down quietly, however, as Justin Gilbert returned the favor on the ensuing kickoff to bring the game back to a two-point margin. It was then Oklahoma’s turn to either respond or falter, so OC Kevin Wilson dialed up a spectacular response. Enjoy.

The play-action pass was not only timely, it was executed to perfection. Jones linked up with the streaking Hanna who was never touched as he raced down the field in Boone Pickens Stadium to silence the crowd and push his Sooners further out in front. The Cowboys would score a field goal minutes later, but that’s all she wrote as Oklahoma walked away victorious in yet another Bedlam classic.

As the story goes, OU would go on to win the Big 12 South tie-breaker, where it would play and defeat the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Arlington. That win sent the Sooners to the Fiesta Bowl to play the Connecticut Huskies, and once again Oklahoma would claim vctory in a championship setting.

Both Landry Jones and James Hanna enjoyed moderately successful pro careers with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys, respectively. After six years in the league, Hanna officially retired in 2018, while Jones wrapped up his seven-year run in the NFL in 2019.

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