Bud's last conference champion was in 1962. Those guys lost games two and three to ND and Texas, but then swept the BIg 8 and played a really good Alabama team with a junior named Lee Roy Jordan at middle linebacker and a soph name Joe Namath at quarterback, back when his knees were still healthy.
Two early Jim Grisham fumbles wrecked OU's best chances, and Bama won 17-0. Lee Roy Jordan set the all time record for tackles by an opponent in one game. He had 31 in a time when teams typically snapped the ball less than 50 or 55 times a game. Clock didn't stop on first downs or even changes of possession. And nobody good threw it much.
That was Bear Bryant over Bud. Bud never beat him in a bowl game. But the other loss was elsewhere. That was Bama's only win over OU ever. The tie was my sophomore year, when we were winding down the first 3/4s of a season of running the wishbone. We were better in the Astro-Bluebonnet bowl, but Bryant out-coached Chuck and Barry and we were lucky to get a tie. 24-24 when the Dome, the first dome, was five years old. Strange feeling ending a season with a tie in a bowl game.
The next season both OU and Bama were 11-1, with each team's loss to Nebraska. We lost 35-31 in the GOTC. The Huskers beat the CT 40-6 in the Orange Bowl. We ended up two in the country and I think Bama was four or five.
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