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This Week's Trip Down Memory Lane - Stanford vs. Oklahoma 1980 - Printable Version

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This Week's Trip Down Memory Lane - Stanford vs. Oklahoma 1980 - martyup - 05-28-2014

While not the biggest upset in Stanford football history, the 1980 win over #4 ranked Oklahoma Sooners on their own field by an unranked Stanford Cardinal was historic.  This was the game that firmly established John Elway's as one of the best QBs in college football history.  This win probably played a large role in his eventual selection for the College Football Hall of Fame.  I had a hard time finding articles about this game.  Perhaps someone else could help out here by posting a more detailed description of this game.

http://newsok.com/john-rohde-john-elway-ruled-on-owen-field-in-1980/article/3427915

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Re: This Week's Trip Down Memory Lane - Stanford vs. Oklahoma 1980 - Nan3cy - 05-28-2014

Since those were the dark ages before the internet, and since I was on vacation in Kauai when that game was played, I didn't find out till the next day who had won the game. There were some guys at the next table at brunch who had a Honolulu Advertiser, and I asked to borrow their sports page. They wanted to know what game I was interested in, and when I told them, I found out they were Stanford fans too.

My favorite quote from the article in the Advertiser was from an OU player who said after the game something to the effect of, "This isn't fair. Those guys aren't supposed to win. They're getting an education and everything. All we've got is football."

Re: This Week's Trip Down Memory Lane - Stanford vs. Oklahoma 1980 - 81alum - 05-29-2014

That year marked the first time I traveled to an away game--my girlfriend and I drove north to see the game at Eugene and visit a friend of hers along the way.  It was a very promising beginning to the season, with a 35-25 win that made it seem as if our offense was unstoppable.  There was a lot of trepidation about the coaching changes--we had lost Bill Walsh two years earlier but then Rod Dowhower, the offensive coordinator, took over and kept the offensive scheme virtually intact for a year, but then he unexpectedly left and Paul Wiggin was the new coach--a former defensive end and NFL defensive coordinator.  As fans we were worried that the last of the Walsh magic would vanish, and games like Oregon and Oklahoma reassured us that our offense would still be powerful.

Well, the season turned out badly.  After Oklahoma we crushed all the bad teams and lost to all the good teams, capping it off with a big game loss.  Our defense was simply not very good.  Even worse, that was Wiggin's best year at 6-5, and we spiraled down through three more bad years, each worse than the last, until we were at 1-10 by the time Wiggin was fired.  I was on the east coast in grad school and almost stopped following Stanford football after the annual beat downs. 

But I will not forget that surprisingly sunny day at Autzen or the splendid news coming from Oklahoma--that was the last really "good" news about Stanford football for half a decade.

Oh, and that girlfriend and I have now been married for 33 years.




Re: This Week's Trip Down Memory Lane - Stanford vs. Oklahoma 1980 - martyup - 05-29-2014

I recall hearing or reading that after that game Barry Switzer was quoted as saying that he was going to tell his A.D. to never schedule Stanford again.

They were ranked #4 at the start of the game, #3 end of season - Mick - 05-29-2014

U of O turned the ball over 7 times in that game (5 fumbles), and Elway threw for 237 yards.  But we ran the ball 56 times for 220 yards, they only gained 153 yards on the ground.  Still my favorite play of Elway's was him sprinting to his left, then throwing cross body about 50-60 yards in the air to either Tyler or Margerum (I think in the right corner of the end zone.  Oklahome DB had given up on the play.  Crazy throw.

One little oddity...Stanford wasn't ranked going into the game (they had been spanked 13-30 by BC), but they were ranked #11 in the prior week's poll, and #15 after the Oklahoma win, same as in the preseason.

I was there - BurgXXIII - 05-30-2014

For my first post: an original comment on this thread. I attended this game taking a road trip from Boulder, CO. Left Friday night, talked my way out of a speeding ticket ("I'm not from around here"), spent two hours in the Boot Hill motel in Dodge City and arrived in Norman shortly before kick-off. Had to park in the (muddy) pay lot next to the stadium (where they demanded my keys). We sat on the sideline low down and there was so much crown on the field that we could only see the tops of the Oklahoma sidelines heads. Darrin Nelson missed the game with injury. The surrounding Sooners fans were solicitous early, no doubt convinced that the outcome was beyond doubt. As the game proceeded the formerly pleasant farmer types actually became quite hostile. The standout play was, of course, the interminable Elway scramble that resulted in a long sideline to sideline pass to Margerum (?) for a big gain. From our vantage point the ball dropped below the horizon and we relied on the fan reaction to realize the play's outcome. We returned to the parking lot rather sodden and very happy. The lot was empty as most fans had cleared out quickly, so our VW was the only car left. The attendant apologetically related that he no longer had our car keys. Some time later a locksmith from VW did fashion a new key and we returned home. Several weeks later our original keys were mailed to us. Apparently they had fallen through the floor of the hut and sunk in the mud.

We actually also attended Oklahoma's next week's game, this time in Boulder. By agreement, no defense was played by either team and the final score was 82-42 Oklahoma. 1200+ yards in total offense.

Re: This Week's Trip Down Memory Lane - Stanford vs. Oklahoma 1980 - Spiny_Norman - 05-30-2014

One of my all time favorite football memories was attending this game.  I grew up in a small town in northeastern Oklahoma as a big Sooner football fan.  As people used to say, in Oklahoma we only have two sports - football and spring football.  And nothing was bigger than the Sooners.  I listened to all of their games on the radio.  Knew the names of all of the players and where they played HS ball.  Celebrated when they won and moped when they lost.  I remember the relief I felt in 1978 as OU intercepted a Steve Dils pass in the end zone at the end of a desperate but just-short comeback effort by Stanford.  OU won that game in Palo Alto 35-29.  By the next fall, my favorite was a team with a different shade of red.

The game in 1980 was played the Saturday before school started.  My roommate that year was a guy from San Antonio.  We arranged to meet in Norman on Friday.  The plan was to watch the game, then drive straight through to Stanford to arrive in time for classes.  We stayed with a buddy of mine at his fraternity house and enjoyed the best entertainment that Norman has to offer.  Which is to say, we enjoyed the 3 for 1 Happy Hour at some bar on Friday night.  I don't remember much else until we got to the stadium.

The game reports will say that it rained throughout the afternoon.  I barely noticed because I was too ecstatic watching Elway, the offensive line and Mike Dotterer dominate the OU defense.  The OU middle linebacker was a guy from my hometown who was a stereotypical cocky football jerk.  I remember him jumping in frustration after dropping a wet bullet from Elway that slipped through his hands.  The OU defense did sack Elway a few times but otherwise they were chasing a ghost.  After the game, Barry Switzer said, "John Elway put on the greatest exhibition of quarterback play and passing I have ever seen on this field."  OU went on to finish 10-2 and win the Orange Bowl.  Stanford went 6-5 with no bowl game in a season when 5 of the Pac 10 teams were on probation and ineligible for bowls.  But on September 27, 1980, the Cardinal reigned.  My OU friends still have not forgotten or forgiven me for that game.

Re: This Week's Trip Down Memory Lane - Stanford vs. Oklahoma 1980 - martyup - 05-30-2014

Great stories BurgXXIII and Spiney.  Dotterer was a fraternity brother of mine and rented a room from me in LA when he was playing for the LA Raiders.  What a character he was.