{"id":7115,"date":"2019-09-20T19:42:14","date_gmt":"2019-09-21T00:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=7115"},"modified":"2019-09-20T20:35:39","modified_gmt":"2019-09-21T01:35:39","slug":"ou-usc-1973-in-la-the-dynasty-begins-as-the-sooners-tie-the-trojans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=7115","title":{"rendered":"OU\/USC 1973 in LA…..the dynasty begins as the Sooners tie the Trojans….."},"content":{"rendered":"

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OU dominates USC but tie 7-<\/strong>7<\/span><\/h2>\n

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The second game of the season for the Oklahoma Sooners in 1973 would be historic for all involved, including the new head coach, Barry Switzer, and one of the greatest players in OU history, \u201cLittle\u201d Joe Washington.\u00a0 The game would set in motion the Sooners as the dominate college football program of the 1970\u2019s. With the next game for OU a week later,\u00a0 a 28 game winning streak for quarterback Steve Davis and the Sooners would begin.<\/p>\n

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As Oklahoma had \u201crun\u201d over the Baylor Bears two weeks earlier in Waco, the Sooner wishbone had performed as some expected gaining close to 500 yards in a 42-14 blowout on that hot Saturday night in early September.\u00a0 As sophomore quarterback Steve Davis executed the \u2018bone in a very good way (as Bob Stoops would say), the \u201cone game under the belt\u201d signal caller had an extra week to prepare for the USC Trojans in a night game in the massive Coliseum in Los Angeles.\u00a0 Not only against a great power in USC did this quarterback and young football team had to meet on the rather high cut natural grass, the Trojans were the defending National Champions with a roster loaded of future All-Americans.\u00a0 Add the future Hall-0f-Fame coach John McKay walking the sidelines for the men of Troy, USC was loaded for a massive effort against a Sooner team that was working on finding a way to stay in this game, let alone win it.<\/p>\n

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John McKay understood that OU was not chicken salad.\u00a0 He was aware that Barry Switzer and his staff were efficient and tough coaches \u00a0 He understood that the Sooners would test his defending National Camps. But he also believed his team was better.\u00a0 He respected OU, but he did under-estimate them, especially their talent level on that particular night.\u00a0 Added that the Sooners, like the Trojans, recruited the best talent in the country.<\/p>\n

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Both teams were full of outstanding players dotting their depth charts. McKay was smart enough to know that when all things were equal except experience, his Trojans should take the evening. USC had the experience and nobody had to tell them they were on top of the college football pecking order. \u00a0 But it would not be easy as McKay also knew that the Sooners, young but equally talented,\u00a0 would not just lay down and allow his team to push them around. He understood that when two great programs play, the team that won usually would make less mistakes, take advantage of breaks, and in the finality of the game, want it (to win) more.\u00a0 McKay learned a lot that evening playing OU and in fact, all things were not equal.\u00a0 The better team did not win nor lose on that field. And that OU was , in fact, the better of the two teams.<\/p>\n

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The whole of the LA sports scene did not understand the psyche of OU for this game.\u00a0 The west coast media said that because the Sooners would not be able play a season ending bowl as of probation, this tussle with USC would be their \u201cbowl game\u201d.<\/p>\n

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For the Sooners, as expresses by sophomore wide receiver Tinker Owens, he pooed that thought.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHeck, this isn\u2019t a bowl game to us.\u00a0 We\u2019re always playing big games, and this is just another big game,\u201d the elusive pass catcher said,\u00a0 putting the LA newspaper man straight.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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With 80,000 fans in attendance, almost 8,500 from Oklahoma via charter flights from Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City, the game was a mismatch in everything but the final score.\u00a0 Oklahoma kicked the Trojans up one side of the field and down the other.\u00a0 The younger and less experienced Sooners did everything but win the game.\u00a0 With a 7-7 tie, Oklahoma had proved that the 1973 season would be one of more than \u201chold your own\u201d and wait until 1974.<\/p>\n

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I could retell the game, blow by blow, but that is distent memory and really not of much significance.\u00a0 What is important to remember is that the defending national champions had met a team better than them.\u00a0 It is also important to remember that the best players on the grass that night wore the white with red trim and not the USC cardinal and gold.<\/p>\n

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John McKay also found out that for him to chalk up another natty, at least for the next couple of seasons, the\u00a0 title path ran through Norman, and Los Angeles, as both would be crowned the best in the following year, 1974.\u00a0 The Sooners had arrived and would not taste defeat until the following season of 1975 and OU had ascended to the top of the sport with the tie.\u00a0 The dominate Sooners did not have to give USC their due after this game, as OU proved the better team.<\/p>\n

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OU\u2019s national ranking jumped up that next Sunday and stayed close to the top or at the top for many Saturdays upcoming. The rankings on Sunday pointed this out.<\/p>\n

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Joe Washington was the star of the night and we all know why. His punt return (below) is one of the most exciting plays in college football history and the silver shod star was the best player on the field that night.<\/p>\n

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