Sooner Magic is a phrase that was born far from Owen Field. In November 1976, on the frozen artificial turf of Nebraska's Memorial Stadium, the Sooners rallied from a 10-point deficit and beat the Cornhuskers 21-17, in a game OU had no business winning.

Then-OU safety Scott Hill famously asked "please, Lord, don't let the best team win" in a pregame prayer that cracked up the Sooner locker room, setting the stage for Woody Shepard's cross-country halfback pass and the Dean Blevins-to-Steve Rhodes-to-Elvis Peacock hook-and-lateral that kept the Cornhuskers out of the Orange Bowl.

Soon enough, "Sooner Magic" was coined to explain that victory and OU's other subsequent Houdini acts, many of them in Lincoln, Nebraska. But make no mistake, Sooner Magic existed before Elvis Peacock and Scott Hill's pipeline to Heaven.

As OU celebrates the 100th season of Owen Field, we acknowledge that the stadium is a little bit cursed. The Sooners' greatest rival, Texas, never darkens the doors of Norman. OU's in-state rival, Oklahoma State, only in recent decades has become a threat to Sooner dominance. So magic moments can be somewhat limited on home turf. OU has been so dominant, dramatics and theatrics mostly are not needed.

But still, a stadium lives to be 100, and from the shadows and the echoes come a battalion of memorable moments. Glorious victories that seemed improbable until they weren't. Some were the result of heroes proved, some just dumb luck. Some have been cast to the corners of history and seldom recalled.

That's why we're here. To borrow a phrase from Notre Dame, which certainly has borrowed a phrase from the Sooners (Play Like A Champion Today, anyone?), let's wake up the echoes of Sooner Magic on Owen Field.

Here are 10 memorable moments:

Sooner Magic

#10

1975 Colorado

The Sooners had designs on a repeat national championship, but on Oct. 5, Colorado came to town and played OU tough. The Buffaloes, trailing 21-14, drove 68 yards in 15 plays, and Billy Waddy caught an 8-yard touchdown pass with 1:10 left to get Colorado within a point.

But Colorado coach Bill Mallory decided to play for a tie, an amazing decision in those pre-overtime times. The Sooner crowd first was stunned, then elated. CU kicker Tom Mackenzie hooked his extra-point kick wide left, and the Sooners had a 21-20 win. And eventually another national championship.

#9

1997 Syracuse

OU has played 130 football seasons. Only once have the Sooners blocked three kicks in a single game. It occurred on Sept. 6, 1997, against Syracuse.

Travian Smith blocked two Orange punts, the last of which was returned by Sedric Jones for a touchdown that gave the Sooners a 36-28 lead. But Syracuse, led by Donovan McNabb, got within 36-34 and drove into field-goal range in the final seconds. Nate Trout came on to attempt a 44-yard field goal, but OU's Corey L. Ivy blocked the kick, and Sooner fans stormed the field.

#8

2012 Bedlam

On Nov. 24, OU trailed OSU 45-38 when the Sooners took the field with 6:14 left, 86 yards from the end zone. Landry Jones led a time-consuming drive that included a 3rd-and-8 completion to Jalen Saunders for 10 yards.

With 10 seconds left in the game, OSU broke up a 3rd-and-1 pass, leaving the Sooners with a do-or-die snap from the Cowboy 4-yard line. Bob Stoops took out Jones and went with the Belldozer, backup quarterback Blake Bell, who on fourth down took a direct snap and bulled into the end zone for a touchdown.

In overtime, the Sooners held OSU to a field goal, then tailback Brennan Clay dashed 18 yards for a touchdown to create a 51-48 epic victory.

Lead, Clay 2012 Bedlam

#7

1957 Colorado

On Oct. 26, a Big Seven record crowd of 61,624 turned out to watch the top-ranked Sooners play the unbeaten Buffaloes. Three weeks later, Notre Dame would end OU's historic winning streak at 47 games. But the streak almost ended at 44.

Colorado took a 13-7 fourth-quarter lead, and fourth-quarter comebacks were not common in the '50s. But Sooner star Clendon Thomas returned the kickoff 30 yards to the OU 45-yard line. Quarterback Carl Dodd kept the drive alive with an 11-yard sweep on a 4th-and-1 play, courtesy of Doyle Jennings' block. Thomas' 8-yard touchdown run in the final minutes, and Dodd's extra point, gave OU the victory.

Credit the victory to more blocked kicks. Bill Krisher blocked a Colorado extra point, and Thomas blocked a field-goal attempt.

#6

2015 TCU

TCU, ranked 11th, came to Norman on Nov. 21 without its quarterback, Trevone Boykin, but the seventh-ranked Sooners played the second half without quarterback Baker Mayfield, who suffered a concussion. And the Horned Frogs rallied from a 30-13 deficit.

Backup quarterback Bram Kohlhausen directed 16 straight TCU points, the last on a 14-yard touchdown pass to Emanuel Porter with 51 seconds left, and TCU coach Gary Patterson dismissed overtime and went with a 2-point conversion.

Kohlhausen was flushed from the pocket and rolled right. OU safety Steven Parker was put in no-man's land, having to either stay on receiver Shaun Nixon or attack Kohlhausen. Parker chose the latter, which of course prompted Kohlhausen to loft a pass toward Nixon.

But Parker soared and batted down the pass. "It looked like [he] could've dunked it on a 12-foot rim," Bob Stoops said. "He was way up there. A great play. A huge play."

The Sooners went on to make the College Football Playoff.

Lead, Steven Parker TCU 2015

#5

1966 Nebraska

The fourth-ranked Cornhuskers came into Thanksgiving Day unbeaten and having won 35 of their previous 38 games. The Sooners were a mediocre 5-3 and would lose Bedlam the next week. But OU played Nebraska tight and trailed just 9-7 in the fourth quarter. Then Mike Vachon missed a 23-yard field-goal attempt.

The Sooners looked dead, because their offense was not high-powered, but they got one final drive, starting from their 24-yard line. And sophomore quarterback Bobby Warmack began making huge plays.
A 10-yard scramble on 3rd-and-8. An option pitch to Jim Jackson for 18 yards. A 12-yard completion to Ben Hart on a 3rd-and-7.

Finally, OU crossed up Nebraska, with a counter handoff to seldom-run fullback Gary Harper, who had only 11 carries all season. Harper rambled 20 yards to the Husker 10-yard line.

With 48 seconds left, Vachon lined up for a 21-yard field goal. Field goals were harrowing in those days, but Vachon made this one. The valiant Huskers made their own comeback attempt, but Rodney Crosswhite's interception at the 10-yard line in the final seconds preserved a 10-9 OU win.

#4

1967 Kansas

On Nov. 18, in what was the de facto Big Eight championship game, the Sooners trailed 10-7 in the fourth quarter and were pinned at their 4-yard line.

But Warmack directed another legendary drive. And with 1:02 remaining, he tossed a 30-yard touchdown pass to tight end Steve Zabel, who was running a post pattern. Zabel caught the ball in stride in the end zone, with the ball descending right over his shoulder.

"I think that was the only spiral I threw my whole career," Warmack joked.

The Sooners celebrated with glee and oranges pelted the field as an Orange Bowl berth seemed imminent and was.

#3

2002 Alabama

On Sept. 7, the Sooners dominated the Crimson Tide in Bama's historic first trip to Owen Field. The Sooners had a 23-3 halftime lead and were coasting.

But Alabama staged a big comeback, and a touchdown off a fake field goal with 10 minutes left gave the Tide a 24-23 lead. Alabama added a field goal later, and the Sooners looked cooked.

Then backup quarterback Nate Hybl, who replaced the injured Jason White in the first quarter, flipped a couple of shovel passes to tailback Renaldo Works, who played Pac-man with the Bama defense for gains of 23 and 39 yards, setting up Kejuan Jones' 8-yard touchdown run with 2:11 left.

With 24 seconds left, Eric Bassey returned an Alabama fumble 45 yards for a touchdown and an astounding 37-27 victory.

#2

1962 Syracuse

Sooner Magic is the stuff of legends. How else to explain Joe Don Looney?
The transfer from Cameron Junior College was a mercurial personality who ended up leaving OU prematurely. Looney was known more for his antics than his ballplaying. But on Sept. 22, 1962, Looney was an all-time hero.

OU trailed Syracuse 3-0, and the Orange were driving. But with 2:57 left in the game, linebacker Johnny Tatum and safety Paul Lea stopped star tailback Jim Nance on 4th-and-inches.

OU had 73 yards to go for victory. And on the sideline, the precocious Looney, who had not yet played, walked up to the intimidating Bud Wilkinson and told the legendary Sooner coach, "Put me in and I'll score a touchdown for us and win the game."

For reasons that remain unclear, Wilkinson decided to give Looney a chance. With 2:13 left, Looney took a pitch from quarterback Monte Deere as the defense swarmed the OU quarterback.

Ralph Neely got a good block. So did Dennis Ward and John Flynn. Looney hit the sideline and staggered through some tackling attempts, but stayed afoot. He burst down the east sideline for a 60-yard touchdown run.

"Looney walked into our huddle wearing a one-day stubble of beard and with his arms bulging beneath his red jersey sleeves," Deere said. "We called him Bluto (from Popeye). His eyes were glazed. It looked like fire was coming out of them."

Deere said Looney demanded the ball. "I couldn't wait to give it to him," Deere said, and a legend was born.

#1

1950 Texas A&M

Maybe you haven't heard of this game. You certainly didn't experience it. But in the 1980s, OU historian Harold Keith wrote that the Sooner-Aggie game of 1950 is "widely conceded to be the most thrilling football game ever played in Norman."

It was that. With 3:36 left in the game, A&M led 28-27 and had the ball. That was a death sentence in 1950s college football, which was not high-powered or up-tempo.

OU's Jim Weatherall, who would go on to be the 1952 Outland Trophy winner, had missed the tying extra point and was overcome with emotion. The Sooners' 22-game winning streak was in jeopardy.

Weatherall walked off the field after his missed kick clearly dejected. He was sobbing.

But the crowd of 36,586 roared support for Weatherall, and Wilkinson himself later saluted the fans.
A&M's subsequent drive was stopped on 3rd-and-2, and the legendary Yale Lary punted OU back to its 31-yard line. Only 1:46 was left in the game.

Senior quarterback Claude Arnold, in his only year as the Sooner starter, told Wilkinson, "We got 'em, coach. We got 'em."

Said Wilkinson: "I thought he was crazy."

But Arnold, a rare passing phenom for those days, produced one of the most clutch drives in Sooner history.

"With the scoreboard clock ticking away the final precious seconds, his fakes, pitchouts and forward passes in the high wind were perfect at a time when any kind of slip might have been fatal," Keith wrote.

This was a drive worthy of Dillon Gabriel circa 2023. A pass to Billy Vessels in the left flat that went for 30 yards. An out pattern to Tommy Gray for 11 yards. Passes to Leon Heath for 14 yards and to Gray for 10 more.

From the A&M 4-yard line, with 44 seconds left, Arnold faked a handoff inside, then pitched to Heath headed around the left flank. Heath hurled himself into the end zone in the northwest corner of Owen Field, and the Sooners had the lead.

A few moments later, the 34-28 victory was over, and the crowd tossed red, orange and blue seat cushions onto the field.

"I gained a lot of confidence in that game," said Vessels, who two years later would win the Heisman Trophy. "After that, I knew I could play. It was so exciting for a new team to come from behind like that. Before that game, Claude Arnold was almost unknown to me. We were young and new and just didn't know."

But we know it now. The best example of Sooner Magic on Owen Field.

Lead, 1950 Texas A&M

Sooner Magic Made at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium

Sooner Magic