The Black and Gold Breakdown talks to Colorado sports information director Dave Plati to ask him about the history of the series between the Buffaloes and Oklahoma.
Why might this be of interest?
Plati not only has watched the games like many of you have, but because of his profession, he chronicles everything.
Everything.
His brain is a computer chip of facts, figures, and analysis and yet he can convey that package of information in a manner that is easy to digest.
O.K., enough of an introduction for Plati. Here is his flashback.
BGB: What are your favorite memories of the OU-CU series, whether it's a certain game, individual performance, or story surrounding the game and why is that memory so strong for you?
Plati: I actually have a lot of memories of this series... the first and only time I have ever been a fan at Folsom Field for a football game was when I was 12--my dad scored tickets to CU's 20-14 win over the No. 2 Sooners in 1972... we left for New York the following week. That forged my bond with CU.
As a freshman in 1978, I remember seeing Billy Sims in person, though now I was on the stat crew in the press box. My seat has moved maybe 10-12 feet from where it was then. Two years later was the 82-42 game, I wish I could forget that. My assignment was to research all the records, and when all was said and done, 63 CU, OU, Big Eight and/or NCAA marks had been broken or tied.
I remember Ken Culbertson's 62-yard field goal attempt to try and tie the game in the final seconds in 1988, and then we finally busted through the next year in Norman, winning 20-3. That was the game that featured Darian Hagan's famous high-arc pitch to J.J. Flannigan and got him on the Heisman map.
Plati: I actually have a lot of memories of this series... the first and only time I have ever been a fan at Folsom Field for a football game was when I was 12--my dad scored tickets to CU's 20-14 win over the No. 2 Sooners in 1972... we left for New York the following week. That forged my bond with CU.
As a freshman in 1978, I remember seeing Billy Sims in person, though now I was on the stat crew in the press box. My seat has moved maybe 10-12 feet from where it was then. Two years later was the 82-42 game, I wish I could forget that. My assignment was to research all the records, and when all was said and done, 63 CU, OU, Big Eight and/or NCAA marks had been broken or tied.
I remember Ken Culbertson's 62-yard field goal attempt to try and tie the game in the final seconds in 1988, and then we finally busted through the next year in Norman, winning 20-3. That was the game that featured Darian Hagan's famous high-arc pitch to J.J. Flannigan and got him on the Heisman map.
Then of course the run of games through 1995; Mitch Berger's 53-yard line driver to tie the '92 game at the gun, the blowout in '94 where it was fun to finally have OU on the other side of a 45-7 score in the series (Rashaan Salaam had something like 174 yards in a half-plus-one series), and one of my favorites in 1995: John Hessler's 5 TD passes to lead CU to a 38-17 win in the asterisk game, shoving the ball right down the throat of OU coach Howard Schnellenberger, who really dissed us in his pregame comments.
Recently, it's been mostly OU, but I think we'll give 'em everything and then some Saturday.
Recently, it's been mostly OU, but I think we'll give 'em everything and then some Saturday.
BGB: What do you think about CU and OU no longer playing annually? Good thing for bad thing, or well, just a thing?
Plati: Oh, I don't know. Not good, not bad, just the way it is. Short of playing 11 league games, we're going to have series on hiatus every two years. In a way, it makes it a little more special when we do play, though OU is closer to Boulder than Missouri and Iowa State. My flight tonight got to OKC in 58 minutes... though United apparently sent my bag to a North Division city.
All I can say is fly Frontier!
BGB: Most memorable Sooners for you?
BGB: Most memorable Sooners for you?
Plati: Billy Sims for certain, Brian Bosworth for all the right reasons--his mouth and antics aside, pound-for-pound one of the best college linebackers I've ever seen in person. Jamelle Holieway, an awesome wishbone quarterback.
And Adrian Peterson; we contained him for a wee-bit in the '04 title game, but next thing you know, he had over 150 yards and finished us off by the end of the first half. It's a shame he is out, because I would have liked to have seen if our run defense could have held him check. But this is OU, they're like a vending machine. Put in another dollar, and whoever backs him up is likely more than capable, just different.
BGB: By the way, the latest from Plati on Thursday evening...the luggage is still missing.
BGB: By the way, the latest from Plati on Thursday evening...the luggage is still missing.
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