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. 

October 10, 1900: The 1st Red River Showdown

October 10, 1900: The University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma play each other in football for the 1st time, on the Texas campus in Austin. This was 7 years before Oklahoma gained Statehood. Texas wins, 28-2.

The game became an institution, and has several nicknames: The Red River Showdown (the Red River separates the States), the Red River Rivalry, the Red River Classic and the Red River Shootout. It was played in Austin from 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1907, 1909, 1910, 1911 and 1923; Norman in 1901, 1903 (played twice in those seasons), 1908 and 1922; Oklahoma City in 1905 and 1906; Houston in 1913; and in Dallas every other time, including every season since 1929. A deal has been made to keep the game at the Cotton Bowl through at least 2025.

The fact that it's played in Texas would seem to give the Longhorns an unfair advantage. However, each school gets half the tickets, and it's actually closer to the OU campus in Norman (190 miles) than it is to the UT campus in Austin (197 miles).

As of the 2022 game, Texas' 49-0 win, the biggest blowout in the rivalry's history, Texas leads the rivalry 63-50-5. Oklahoma beat Texas in the 2018 Big 12 Conference Championship Game, which was also played in the Dallas area, but at the Cowboys' new AT&T Stadium in suburban Arlington.

A running joke is that, unlike the Longhorns' rivalries with Texas A&M and Arkansas, and the Sooners' with Oklahoma State and Nebraska, this is a rivalry not for the people but the rich, and that millionaires have bet ranches and oil wells on the outcome, many regretting it.

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October 10, 1900 was a Wednesday, not a Saturday as is the case for most college football games today. There were other games played that day:

* Columbia and Williams College played to a 0-0 tie at Columbia Field in Manhattan.

* Manhattan College lost to Lafayette College, 11-0 at March Field in Easton, Pennsylvania.

* Princeton beat Penn State, 26-0 at Osborne Field in Princeton, New Jersey.

* Bowdoin College beat Colby College, 68-0 in Brunswick, Maine.

* Harvard beat cross-State Amherst, 18-0 at Soldiers' Field in Boston.

* Yale beat Bates College, 50-0 at Yale Field in New Haven, Connecticut.

* The University of Pennsylvania beat Dickinson College, 35-0 at the original Franklin Field in Philadelphia.

* And Illinois beat Chicago Physicians and Surgeons College, 6-0 at Illinois Field in Champaign, Illinois. CPSC is now part of the University of Illinois system, the University of Illinois College of Medicine.

And there was 1 baseball game played: The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Boston Beaneaters, 5-2 at National League Park in Philadelphia. In 1912, the Boston team of the National League, having gone through several names, settled on "Braves." The following season, the Phillies' ballpark was renamed Baker Bowl.

This was also the birthdate of actress Helen Hayes, known as "The First Lady of the American Theater."