The Oklahoma Sooners Struggled in 1900

The Rough Riders had seemingly overcome the sting of the first loss to Texas with a victory, but the season wasn't over yet. Following the Indians Oklahoma welcomed a group of soldiers from Fort Reno to Norman to play another integral game. The soldiers never appeared to care much for the game as much as they did to come on the trip. According to Harold Keith the visitors attended chapel services and even gave a solid exhibition of their formations and plans in front of fans before the game.

The University boys ran roughshod over the soldiers, who it was said ran the fastest they had all day when they ran for a smoke break at the end of the half. OU won the game by the widest margin in their six year football history, 79-0. Not only was it the highest scoring game yet in Oklahoma history but the school record would not be matched for another decade. It was more than Oklahoma had scored in any one full season combined in the Rough Riders six year history.

Oklahoma traveled to Kingfisher in the next contest and met a club that was more than prepared to face Parrington's intricate blocking schemes. Lloyd Stahl was the Kingfisher coach, and a very important player, who learned much from his time at famed Washburn College. Stahl brought the most successful period to Kingfisher College's history and this day meant a great deal to that growth. His boys couldn't do any more offensively than Oklahoma and the game ended in a 0-0 deadlock.

It was the first time since the opening game in the illustrious program's history that the Rough Riders were shutout. The good news for the Varsity boys was it was the third consecutive shutout by the defense since the Texas debacle. The bad news was, of course the loss, and the next week brought a return match with the first team to ever defeat a Vernon Parrington coached squad, the Arkansas City Railroaders.

Harold Keith tells the story:
The final game was a Thanksgiving afternoon clash with the Arkansas City Town Team at Arkansas City, rubber contest of a three-year series that ended that year. Remembering their rough treatment at the hands of Norman spectators in '99, the Railroaders were out for revenge. Before the game began they insisted on shortened halves, realizing they were not a physical match for the varsity. After a hot dispute they force Professor Parrington to accept their terms by the popular device of the times of threatening to withhold the financial guarantee and cancel the game, an action the impoverished Oklahomans could not have afforded.

The varsity must have had its dander up after that altercation. Winning the toss and receiving the kickoff, Parrington's team swept the gridiron's length to a touchdown in eight crushing plays, Lum Roberts scoring on an eight-yard buck. The Railroaders replied with brilliant subterfuge. On the second play of the last half they hid one of their ends onside in their crowd and quarterback-kicked to him as he slipped undetected down the sideline, gaining 30 yards, but the varsity held for downs. It was a play that could be used only on the home field and was the forerunner of what would later be the old forward pass "hide out" play. However in 1900 the forward pass hadn't then been heard of and wouldn't be for six more years. Later Lum Roberts authored a second touchdown and the varsity won, 10-0.

Again, the season ended with a win on the field, but a couple of losses after it. Perhaps the most inconsistent aspect of the game in the early years was the uncertainty involved in scheduling. Oklahoma was scheduled to play the Razorbacks in Arkansas to repay the earlier game, but they disbanded before the game could go on.

The next game was to be between OU and the Kansas City Medics, fresh off their own beating at the hands of the mighty Texas Longhorns. The Medics waited so long to send their notice of cancellation that fans were actually in the stands ready for play before the game was officially cancelled. Parrington vented about this in the Umpire, "Missed connections, team crippled, can't come, probably the worst mixed-up contradictory mess of excuses ever put up by a football manager, especially when 'missed connections' meant to miss three trains while 'can't come' meant they had to go out of their way to go around us."

It is entirely possible that the team did miss their transportation or that they really didn't have enough healthy players after the Texas flogging, but it is more likely that they didn't want to go up against another team that was tough as nails. Oklahoma had scored on Texas, tied Kingfisher, and routed everyone else. Why follow one embarrassing rout with another? They didn't, they quit before they could even get started.

Sources

1. Oklahoma Kickoff by Harold Keith
2. The Daily Oklahoman Archives
3. Rites of Autumn: The Story of College Football by Richard Whittingham