No, it’s not just a chance to get back on the field and win their season opener but also an opportunity to join the list of some of the most prestigious college football programs at the 800-win barrier.
“It’d be great,” said OU head coach Bob Stoops. “You know, it’d be special. This is, again, everyone recognizes one of the more special schools in college football.”
And it’s been that way for awhile.
“You look at are tradition and history, and you go back not just a few years,” Stoops said. “You go back decades. There’s not many like it, so we’re, you know, excited to be here and a team and proud to be a part of that history and tradition and hopefully we’ll keep adding to it.”
So what exactly would No. 800 mean?
“It just shows how much tradition we have here and all of the hard work and the blood, sweat and tears that the past players have put into this,” said running back DeMarco Murray. “We’re trying to continue that tradition. It’s Oklahoma, and we expect to win a lot of games here.”
If OU gets the job done tonight--and there’s absolutely no reason to think the contest will be close--they will join an exclusive list that includes only six other schools: Michigan (877), Texas (845), Notre Dame (837), Nebraska (827), Ohio State (820) and Penn State (812).
OU, coming off a disappointing 8-5 season that did, however, finish with a bowl win against Stanford, has the most wins since World War II at 560 and will try to pad that one more this evening.
But they must get past a Utah State team that figures to be much better than the 4-8 record they posted a season ago.
“We just have to prepare for them, and they’re going to be a really solid test for us for our first game,” said OU quarterback Landry Jones.
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