Stories from the Stands

C orbin Bigheart was headed to class in spring 2012, his senior year at OU. Like many students and campus workers in those days, Bigheart would use Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium as a shortcut, taking the walkway in the south stands.

Getting on Owen Field was a huge no-no, and students generally respected those boundaries. Bigheart wasn't tempted by the grass. But he felt the call of the stadium seats. This was near the end of the semester, and Bigheart was in a melancholy mood.

He decided to sit down.

"I spent roughly two hours having the stadium to myself," Bigheart said. "Reflecting on my time spent at OU as a student, all of the life-shaping experiences I had, trying to catalog every game in my mind that I had been to up to that point."

Bigheart grew up in Enid, and one of his best friends both in high school and college was Austin Box, a Sooner linebacker who died tragically the year before.

Bigheart figures he became fairly emotional, sitting in the stadium that spring day.

He never made it to class.

Stadiums are many things to many people. Owen Field is many things to even one person. As OU celebrates the 100th season of the stadium envisioned and built by Bennie Owen a century ago, we continue a 10-part series of the grand gridiron and the cathedral that surrounds it, with memories from those who hold Oklahoma football dear. The fans who for decade after decade, from expansion through expansion, have filled the stadium to the brim and been rewarded with memories to last a lifetime.

Here are their memories.

LANCE WARD, 57, Edmond

"1974 OU-OSU. I was in first or second grade. The day was brutally cold, and I sat with my parents on the east side. The south end zone was still wooden bleachers, and the upper deck and "new" press box were still a season away. In spite of the bitter cold, Joe Washington's historic punt return reeled me in as an OU fan, and I've never looked back. Funny thing was, I missed the whole thing because I was just a kid. Just as the return began, all the adults stood up, cheered, then started to sit back down. Then they stood up again, as Little Joe broke free from the pile and scored! In those days, there was no Jumbotron. So this turned out to be a play I was present for, but actually did not see until later that night on the news. I was just too short. I don't know how many times I've dialed up that return on YouTube."

JON WHITE, 54, Atlanta

"The most venom I think I ever felt in the stadium was the 2003 Bedlam 'Let 'Er Rip' game. Growing up in Oklahoma and with a decent amount of family members that went to or cheered for OSU, I would always cheer for OSU in any games that they weren't playing OU. However, Les Miles changed all of that. In 2001, I sat there literally stunned by OU's loss to a not very good OSU team. In 2002, I went to Stillwater and was mortified how badly OSU beat OU that day. So come 2003, OU fans had grown very tired of Les and how he amplified the Bedlam rivalry. Owen Field had basically turned into the Roman Coliseum that game, and we wanted Les fed to the lions. Thankfully OU obliged, and it was telling how badly the football coaches wanted to win that game when Mike Stoops stood across the field pointing at Les with the 'Want any more?' taunts. I would say that Bedlam has not been quite the same since that game."

BRAD NEAL, 49, Beggs

"2008 Texas Tech. We had gotten beaten by Texas, then Tech beat Texas. It was a cold Saturday night. I had tickets for myself and three of my four kids. The crowd was rowdy from the start, but as we scored multiple times, the crowd was getting rowdier and rowdier, then Travis Lewis intercepts it. I think he actually scored as well, and then the "Jump Around" song came on and even the normal quiet fans joined in and began to jump. You could feel the stadium shaking. My kids were screaming and hollering. Something they will never forget and something extremely cool to share with your kids."

STEVE SEABROOK, 57, Wichita, Kan.

"My first OU game when I was 10 years old. OU vs Iowa State (1979). Not much of a game, but I'll always remember seeing Billy Sims in person pop an 80-yard TD run very early in the game. The crowd went bananas and I was hooked. Have been to this day. I didn't get many opportunities to go to games, so we grew up (in Edmond) listening to them on the radio. We spent every Thursday night watching the Barry Switzer show with paper and pencil in hand, drawing wishbone plays. My brothers and I would often act out those plays in the backyard. So the first time I walked into Owen Field was that Iowa State game in 1979 and Billy Sims was bigger than life. I was amazed at how big the stadium was and how exciting the crowd was."

JOSH MATTOX, 41, Moore

"Best OU football Owen Field memory is actually from 1997, in a giant loss to Texas A&M. Sounds weird, but we were the only fans in the north end zone. Cold, might've been raining, and empty. It was more about family and a core memory. We all talk about it still. There were about eight of us, all family, and we brought in tons of snacks, caramel corn, homemade deer jerky, hot chocolate thermos and other stuff for teenagers. Six teenagers and two adults essentially having a tailgate in the stands. I'm not sure they checked tickets or anything we brought in. The football was the worst ever, but we stuck it out until the end. I remember dad saying as we left, 'Doesn't get much worse than that. One day, you'll get to tell everyone you were at rock bottom and the top when we win championships.'"

TIM EDWARDS, 47, Tulsa

"1999 Texas A&M. I have a hatred of Texas. Healthy, rivalry-style hatred. I have contempt for the Aggies. In the Blake years, they also beat our ass, and man it made me angry. Stoops' rookie year had that promising but rough start. You could see the improvement and were waiting for the breakout. We curbstomped the Aggies. Seth Littrell had a first down on a fake punt. I think the infamous Mike Leach ninja formation made its debut. It was a night game and was just so much fun. And we all knew we had our guy."

NORMAN ARNOLD, 58, Carrollton, Texas

"My first memory and first OU game was the '75 OU-Nebraska game. Nebraska had quarterback Vince Ferragamo, and I recall the old south end zone scoreboard flashed 'Don't Horace around with Ivory' and 'Don't Tinker with Owens.' I was nine years old and attended the game with my grandfather. I just remember a perfect fall day and seeing Steve Davis run the wishbone in person for the first time. I watched Ivory, Elvis Peacock and Billy Sims all score touchdowns. Oh, and the oranges. In the stands and after the game, I recall a bunch of oranges!"

TOBY ROSS, 55, Ada

"The first thing that came to mind was a beautiful fall afternoon in 1978. I'm not certain of the opponent. Missouri, maybe? I remember watching Billy Sims defy the laws of physics. With more grace and elegance than Dorothy Hamill on ice, more power than a bull in the PBR, more precision than a laser, and evidently less gravitational pull than most humans contend with, he danced his way through defenders and made it look easy. That's when I realized OU football was a significant emotional investment with tons of dividends and a few heartbreaks along the way." Lead, Billy Sims

ERIC WITHROW, 43, Tulsa

"Another amazing game was 2001 Kansas State. First home game after 9/11. Lot of feelings and emotions I've never felt before or since! But we won 38-37. For as good as the game was, I remember very little about it. It was the first time back in a large crowd, so a little nervous, but mostly an overwhelming sense of unity amongst every person there. We weren't fans that day, we were Americans and we weren't going to stay at home and hide. The national anthem meant more than the game that day."

CHAUNCEY FISHER, 59, Huntington Beach, Calif.

"Even this past weekend walking through the south oval past the old majestic buildings before the game, I'm reminded of how lucky I was as a young kid. I was fortunate to have some friends that donated enough that we parked in the practice field (currently the Switzer Center). My friend's dad would start us off with two end-zone seats. We would swap and sell our way to better seats plus a profit. Once inside we would witness (Troy) Aikman, (Brian) Bosworth, Buster (Rhymes), Jamelle (Holieway), Marcus (Dupree), Lydell (Carr), Keith (Jackson) and so many others. Like Scott Hill's sideways, vertical tackle of Tony (Dorsett, Pittsburgh). I remember him being sideways in the air, head high, and basically stopped all of Tony's momentum, even knocking him back. I suppose you could gain that kind of momentum because he was running downhill on the crown of the field. Crowd erupted."

JEFF UNRAU, 48, Inola

"1985 Nebraska. My mom had me dressed as if we were going to be stranded in Siberia. I remember my buddy's dad not letting me and his son hold our own tickets walking to the stadium; he said they were way too valuable for us to lose. I also remember the adults talking about how young we were in the backfield with just freshmen and sophomores. However, as a 10-year-old, I felt OU was invincible, and after Keith Jackson scored on the second drive — No. 88 for the 88-yard TD run — and the defense got a first-and-goal stop, my thoughts were cemented. I also remember thinking it was funny that OU would run the tight-end reverse two more times."

JEFF O'SHIELDS, 48, Claremore

"Some of my greatest memories of Owen Field were when my dad and both grandfathers would take my two brothers and I to sit and watch morning practices a few days before they played Nebraska in 1985. Back then, the stadium was always open, and we would get there with hot chocolate in our hands, and sit in the bleachers to hear Bobby Proctor coaching his secondary. After about 20 minutes of being there, Coach Switzer came and sat with us in the bleachers and talked to all of us for about 10 minutes. He even autographed the football that we had brought with us. I still have the ball in my office to this day. We would enter through the west side entrance, by the old gift shop. I remember sitting on the west side, and the players would also come over to us and say hello. Brian Bosworth, Sonny Brown, Rickey Dixon, Spencer Tillman, Jamelle Holieway. We stayed for about an hour. It was one of the greatest experiences I had happen at my ripe age of 9 years old."

KYLE LOVELESS, 50, Oklahoma City

"When I was little, it was '87-'88, don't remember which, but went to the game with my grandpa. It was so cold, and since we paid for the tickets, we were staying the entire game, and it was sleeting so bad by the end, when it was time to leave, I was frozen, stuck to my metal seat! He (Grandpa) has to go buy some coffee to pull me up! Years later, 2014, my grandpa was in bad health. He had an oxygen tank and couldn't move well. My boss knew Joe C(astiglione) and asked for two suite tickets for my grandfather's last game. We got three seats in Sherri Coale's suite! My 89-year-old grandpa kept hitting on her. "You are too pretty to be a basketball coach." "Give a dying man a kiss." Anyway, he passed a few weeks later, and it is one of my best memories at Owen Field."

DAVIDE SCHUERMANN, 47, Edmond

"In the late '80s/early '90s, my best friend and I sold sodas at the games. Free entry. Sell a few trays of Pepsi in the first half. Post up somewhere in the stadium and watch the second half with sticky legs and squishy socks and a Jason Belser jersey."

BRAD HOGAN, 45, Oklahoma City

"2019 TCU. TCU scored and kicked the extra point. As always, we OU fans threw the ball out of the stadium. Growing up going to OU games for 40 years, seemed the ball ALWAYS went to the east side to throw out. Only last decade did the ball start going to the west side. Well, this time it went straight to me from a great throw from below, after a TCU fan tried to take it from an OU fan. I caught it, handed it to my 10-year-old nephew and as he threw it out, I just turned and smiled. It was caught on national TV. GameDay made a TikTok that last I saw over social media had over 16 million views. Look it up! You will know which one I am when you watch it. Favorite part of it all, my 6-year-old eating dippin' dots, not really knowing what was happening! Lol. It's in the video too."

ROB REDWINE, 62, Yukon

"A game that I loved that I don't think gets enough attention was 1980 North Carolina. It was on a beautiful November 1st day with temperatures around the mid-70s. North Carolina came in 7-0 and ranked in the top 10. Oklahoma was off to a tough 4-2 start after losing at home to Stanford and John Elway and to Texas. North Carolina had Lawrence Taylor and a great defense. They also had two backs that would rush for over 1,000 yards on the season. OU won 41-7. Crowd was definitely into the total smackdown."

CHUCK SIMMONS, 62, Owasso

"Mine is a little unusual. I was at OU at the best of times and the worst of times during the Switzer years. 1980-85. For those of you old enough to remember, remarkably Switzer was on the hot seat after three seasons of declining performance for Barry's standard. There was talk the game had passed Barry up, and the 'bone was antiquated. When Nebraska came to Norman on November 17, 1983, Owen Field was packed and the student section was packed. In 1983, the stadium had no permanent night lighting. ABC brought in temporary lights that Thursday for a 2:30 kick. But it was completely dark by 5 p.m. It was extremely cold and rainy. It was probably one of the best games I ever attended despite the outcome. Although the fan base was discouraged, the fans came out engaged to the max; 99 percent of fans stayed for the entire game. It was a close game, and with time running down, OU went on a long drive to tie (or win; Switzer would have gone for two). We ended up coming up short. A high school friend of mine, Brent Burks, who had played an excellent game, was called for a false start and knocked us back five yards and Nebraska got the stop. Nevertheless, I can't recall a game that Oklahoma gave more effort or the stadium was more engaged. That showed the best of Oklahoma football even in defeat. P.S. I've watched that replay, and I think it was a bad call. I believe he (Burks) got off the snap so quickly that he was called for a false start."

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