October 20, 1923: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Opens

October 20, 1923: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium opens on the campus of the University of Oklahoma in Norman, 20 miles south of Oklahoma City. The Sooners defeat Washington University of St. Louis 62-7. Just 7 days earlier, Oklahoma had visited Nebraska, which would become their arch-rivals in the Conference alternately known as the Big Six, the Big Seven, the Big Eight and the Big Twelve, for the opening of their Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, and lost.

Originally, the stadium seated 16,000. It was expanded to 32,000 in 1929, 55,000 in 1949, 61,000 in 1957, 71,000 in 1975, 75,000 in 1980, 81,000 in 2003, and 86,000 in 2016, before a seat-widening reduced capacity to 80,126 in 2019.

Since 1905, the Sooners had played at Boyd Field. Bennie Owen, head football coach from 1905 to 1926, basketball coach from 1908 to 1921, baseball coach from 1906 to 1922, and athletic director from 1907 to 1934, directed its replacement's construction. In his honor, the playing surface was named Owen Field. That surface was artificial from 1970 to 1993, but has been natural grass again since then.

In 2002, after a gift from the Gaylord family, publishers of the State's largest newspaper, the Daily Oklahoman, the structure was renamed Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

Since moving into "The Palace On the Prairie," the Sooners have claimed 47 Conference Championships: 1938, '43, '44, '46, '47, '48, '49, '50, '51, '52, '53, '54, '55, '56, '57, '58, '59, '62, '67, '68, '72, '73, '74, '75, '76, '77, '78, '79, '80, '84, '85, '86, '87, 2000, '02, '04, '06, '07, '08, '10, '12, '15, '16, '17, '18, '19 and '20. And they claim 7 National Championships: 1950, 1955 and 1956 under head coach Bud Wilkinson; 1974, 1975 and 1985 under Barry Switzer; and 2000 under Bob Stoops.

They have had 7 players win the Heisman Trophy: Running backs Billy Vessels in 1952, Steve Owens in 1969, and Billy Sims in 1978; and quarterbacks Jason White in 2003, Sam Bradford in 2008, Baker Mayfield in 2017 and Kyler Murray in 2018. Their legendary players have also included 1950s receiver Tommy McDonald, 1950s linebacker Jerry Tubbs, 1970s running backs Greg Pruitt and Joe Washington, 1970s defensive end Lee Roy Selmon, 1980s defensive tackle Tony Casillas, 1980s linebacker Brian Bosworth, and 2000 quarterback Josh Heupel.

Unfortunately for Oklahoma, the stadium's most famous game was one they lost: The 1971 "Game of the Century," in which they came in at Number 2 and Nebraska at Number 1, and Nebraska won, to win the Big Eight title, and go on to the National Championship.

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October 20, 1923 was a Saturday. These other notable college football games were played that day:

* In an unusual North vs. South matchup, Army beat Auburn, 28-6 on The Plain at West Point, New York.

* Navy lost to Penn State, 21-3 at Beaver Field (not to be confused with the later Beaver Stadium) in State College, Pennsylvania.

* Fordham lost to Lehigh, 7-0 at Taylor Stadium in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

* Columbia lost to the University of Pennsylvania, 19-7 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. This was only the 4th game at the new Franklin Field, which had replaced the one that had stood there since 1895.

* Rutgers beat New York University (NYU), 7-3 at Neilson Field in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

* Princeton lost to Notre Dame, 25-2 at Palmer Stadium in Princeton.

* Syracuse beat the University of Pittsburgh, 3-0 at Yankee Stadium. It was the 1st college football game played there.

* Harvard beat Holy Cross, 6-0 at Harvard Stadium in Boston.

* In what would later become an arch-rivalry, Michigan beat Ohio State, 23-0 at Ferry Field in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

* The University of Chicago beat nearby Northwester University, 13-0 at Stagg Field in Chicago.

* The University of Missouri and Saint Louis University played to a 0-0 tie at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.

This was also the day that Zev, America's leading thoroughbred racehorse, beat Papyrus, Britain's leading thoroughbred, in a match race at Belmont Park. I have a separate entry for that event.

Also on this day, "Beat Generation" writer Philip Whalen was born.