Even although the 2022 model of Bedlam doesn’t carry the nationwide highlight of years previous, it’s nonetheless a wealthy, historic rivalry within the state of Oklahoma. Anything can occur.
OU-OSU will mockingly air in ABC’s primetime spot at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, however that is about the one factor including anticipation to this 12 months’s matchup. The Sooners sit at a disappointing 5-5, whereas the No. 24 Cowboys are limping in direction of the end line with a 7-3 file. The significance of the matchup goes past simply this season, although.
While the all-time file is probably the most lopsided of any in-state or long-time rivalry (90-19-7, Oklahoma leads), the final 20 years have produced some extremely entertaining contests. The Sooners had beforehand received six straight matchups earlier than Oklahoma State’s last-second win in Stillwater a season in the past.
Last season’s Bedlam loss was proper across the time issues began going dangerous for Oklahoma. The Bedlam loss meant OU missed out on a Big 12 Championship look, and the following day, Lincoln Riley was heading to USC.
Now, a 12 months later, the Sooners have to discover that very same motivation to play, however for various causes. The stakes aren’t almost as excessive as final 12 months’s prime 10 matchup, the place every crew had only one loss. The stakes are excessive due to the importance of the matchup and the timing of convention realignment. Every matchup between the 2 colleges is one nearer to the ultimate one.
After Riley’s transfer and Brent Venables’ arrival, Oklahoma’s roster overhaul was considerably unfathomable. Heading into the annual in-state rivalry this weekend, many Sooner stars don’t have any tie to the Bedlam matchup, and for a number of, it’ll be a first-time prevalence.
“For some it’ll mean a little more because maybe they did grow up in this state,” Venables stated Tuesday. “And we’ve got a lot of guys that have never played in this game. A bunch. But it is your rival. We’ve been talking about — it’s been brought up in the media because we’re still going to the SEC, right, in a few years.
”It’s been talked about a bit bit, so our guys are actually conscious that we solely might play a few extra occasions. But I do assume that the juice and the sting and understanding what’s at stake right here on this state. A protracted historical past and collection and the custom. Again, yearly is a bit bit completely different, proper?”
On a crew stuffed with transfers and freshmen, Bedlam is only a story to a superb portion of this OU crew. Certain gamers which have grown up rooted within the rivalry, although, like Drake Stoops, can remind the present Sooners of Bedlam’s significance.
“Bedlam’s loopy,” Stoops stated. “I remember growing up watching it. Getting to go to a few. It’s always this time of year. Freezing weather. Fans going crazy. But to play in a few has been a blessing and being on the right side of it couple of times. Last year they got us. It’s definitely been a rivalry I’ll remember.
”It was very comparable to OU-Texas. Maybe not the identical magnitude. But it is the in-state rivalry. So it is a massive deal to lots of people. I do know it is a massive deal to me and a giant deal to this crew. So we’re gonna put our greatest foot ahead.”
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Over the final decade, Bedlam has produced a number of the most inconceivable finishes and factors that lit up the scoreboard. With Bob Stoops being Oklahoma’s head coach for 18 years, and the whole thing of 2000s, Drake has seen almost each end within the e-book: blowout wins, stunning upsets, heartbreaking losses and every part in between.
“I don’t remember the exact first one,” Drake Stoops said. “I’ve been to pretty much all of them since I could walk.”
Though he couldn’t quite remember his first ever Bedlam experience, it wasn’t hard to recall his favorite.
“The one there where Blake Bell threw the touchdown pass to Jalen Saunders. That one — or the one here with overtime, when Brennan Clay broke a couple of tackles to score and win the game. That one was pretty cool for sure. Those two are my favorites.”
While the game carries less national implication than years past, the tradition and history behind Bedlam is enough to make each matchup meaningful — especially if the series is nearing its last days. As Stoops recalled heroes of Bedlam past, there’s still a few more matchups for legends to be born on both sides.
For Oklahoma State, it means keeping an outside chance at the conference championship game alive and beating the Sooners in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2001-02. For Oklahoma, it would mean clinching a bowl berth and adding a top-25 rivalry win to a season with very few positives. It would finally be momentum to build off of.
“It’s really important,” Stoops stated. “I imply, simply getting within the win column normally is essential. And I feel that is our emphasis, simply placing our greatest foot ahead and going on the market and dealing our hardest to get that win. And then particularly being Bedlam, in-state rivalry, it is a massive deal to lots of people. So it is undoubtedly essential that we go on the market and attempt to win.”
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