Clash of Titans

At that point, Wilkinson decided to make a bold prediction. On his Sunday television show, after discussing the previous day's loss to Colorado, Bud turned his attention to the five remaining games on the schedule. He shocked the show's host and the tv audience by declaring that his Sooners would win all five of their remaining games.

But Bud, always upbeat, never down, knew that if his team could eliminate the mental errors that had plagued them in the first five games, they could win. He told the team the same thing, giving the players a terrific burst of confidence. By making the declaration publicly, he had also put his own reputation on the line as a gesture of that confidence.

The week of the Missouri game, the practices were just a comedy of errors for the alternate starting unit. It was so bad that on Thursday, Coach Wilkinson stopped practice and demoted our alternate starting unit to last team, and we had about fourteen different teams. Then he dismissed the rest of the squad and kept the alternates out late to work with the last unit. He'd never done this before. So after we'd gone through practice with the last team again, he called us together and told us how disappointed he was in us because we were making so many mistakes, and he was right. There were fumbles, guys jumping offsides, center snaps on the wrong snap count, receivers dropping passes, backs hitting the wrong holes... you name it. He even said that if there was any way that he could have left us behind for the trip to Columbia, he would have. When we met the bus to take us to Max Westheimer Field for the flight to Columbia the next day, (Assistant Coach) Gomer (Jones) wouldn't let our unit board the starters' bus. He stopped me as I was starting to board the bus and said, "Johnny, Coach Wilkinson wants you on that other bus... he doesn't want you around the starting team." So we got on the other bus and when we got to the airport, we had to fly on the second airplane. In Columbia, he had us staying in a different wing of the hotel, and we weren't even allowed to eat with the starters. He totally segregated us because we'd been screwing up so badly.

Oklahoma won the toss and elected to receive on the rain-washed field before a record crowd of 44,000. Needing to get off to a good start, the Sooners did just the opposite as senior QB Bob Page's pass intended for HB Jimmy Carpenter skidded through the receiver's hands and into the waiting arms of Tiger LB Jim Vermillion at the OU 43.

Tatum: "Bud called the alternates over, and he told us in no uncertain terms that it was our fault that Missouri was moving the ball on the other team because of our poor practicing habits the prior week. Then he told us that we had to get out on the field and that if Missouri was going to score, they could score on us. When we went into the game, I swear, the Green Bay Packers couldn't have scored on us. We held them on downs and took over."

When play resumed, Missouri attacked inside twice and outside twice. But the coaches guessed correctly on all four defensive calls to stuff each Tiger thrust and take over on downs. On the fourth down play from the one, OU T Dennis Ward, playing in place of injured team captain Billy White, tripped HB Vince Turner at the line of scrimmage, and he fell 1' short of the goal line.

Oklahoma broke the scoring ice in the second quarter. The march started when C Wayne Lee recovered QB Bill Tobin's fumble on the Mizzou 43. Sophomore FB Dick Beattie, a workhorse on offense and defense, gained 3y before RHB Mike "Roadrunner" McClellan bolted for 5y. Two short gains moved the ball to the 28. Sophomore QB Bill Van Burkleo came into the game for one play and tossed a pass to LHB Paul Lea to the 14. The Tigers then stopped McClellan for no gain on a pitchout.

At that point, Oklahoma dipped into its stockpile of plays and chose a maneuver that had brought it great success in the golden days of the 1946-59 era. Page lateralled to LHB Carpenter, who started around right end. But he threw a wobbly pass to McClellan, who hauled in the ball, slipped past a defender, and beat S Jim Johnson to the goal line. George Jarman booted the PAT. Oklahoma 7 Missouri 0 with 7:24 left in the first half.

Carpenter recalled the touchdown play: "On our touchdown, we were on their 15-yard line when Bob Page called an option play to the right and pitched it out to me. Just as I caught the ball, I got drilled right in the center of my chest by a Missouri lineman and as I was going down, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed my roommate, Mike McClellan, skirting the right side, so I flipped out to him, and he scored. We called him 'Iron Hands,' but he had no trouble handling that pitchout."

The Tigers rallied late in the half. Taylor completed two straight passes, first to Hitchler for 9y to the Missouri 37, then to FB Andy Russell (future All-Pro linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers) for 10 more. The drive continued when an interference penalty placed the pigskin on the OU 17 with 25 seconds left in the half.

Missouri took the second half kickoff in the rain and drove from their 38 to the OU eight. Two reverses by gritty HB Norm Beal gained 10y and a first down at the 48. After Russell bulled for 5y, Taylor pitched the ball on an option play to Tobin for nine more yards as the rain stopped.

Not taking any chances, the Sooners ran the ball three times to face a fourth-down punting situation. Wilkinson had instructed his players on what to do next. C Tatum did not snap the ball and took a 5y delay-of-game penalty. The rules at that time called for the clock to be restarted after the penalty was marked off. So Tatum took another delay-of-game markoff and another until the clock ran out.

Dan Devine told reporters: "We played as well as we know how. Our problem was failure to capitalize on our scoring opportunities. They just happened to cash in on the opportunity they got. We've lacked a scoring punch all year. And we get scoring opportunities only once or twice a game." He said that Oklahoma's defensive strategy was an important factor in the victory. "In passing situations, they rushed from the offside on our rollouts, and most teams don't rush that way. We weren't looking for it."