Folsom's Greatest Games #21 - Colorado vs. Oklahoma 1952

September 27, 1952 Colorado 21, #4 Oklahoma 21

Bud Wilkinson’s Oklahoma teams of the 1950s were among the most dominant in the history of college football. Between 1948 and 1958, the Sooners had a conference record of 64-0-1. The lone blemish came in their 1952 season opener before an overflow crowd of 30,500 at Folsom Field. The Buffaloes gave them everything they could handle on that day; forcing a 21-21 tie that had the jam-packed throng in hysterics. It was the first game in stadium history where both sides scored more than 20 points. 

CU suffered several heartbreakingly close losses to the Sooners in the 1950s, and even this heroic draw had a bittersweet twinge. Simply put, the Buffs should have won. After tailback Zack Jordan scored his third touchdown of the day with 11 minutes remaining, Colorado held a 21-14 lead, and they had the ball deep in Sooner territory later in the fourth before an untimely interception gave the ball back to Oklahoma. The Sooners, with future CU head coach Eddie Crowder at quarterback, drove 78 yards in 13 plays to tie the game in its dying moments.

Jack Carberry of the Denver Post reported that there were bowed heads and tears in the locker room amongst what he called “the greatest fighting team ever to wear the colors of the Thundering Herd,” but they had still achieved something remarkable. Before that afternoon in Boulder, Oklahoma had won 26 consecutive conference games. After it, they would win 38 more. 

Here is a short highlight video of the game with some explanatory voiceover: