 "Photo: N/A")
 "Photo: N/A")
After the smoked ham begins to digest and the pecan pie slowly disappears from the refrigerator, Oklahomans have always had something to look forward to post-turkey day — Bedlam.
The annual clash of the Cowboys and Sooners will commence in its 104th installment on Saturday in Norman, but in the Gundy household, Bedlam begins two days earlier when OSU coach Mike Gundy sits across the ample holiday feast in Midwest City from his brother, and OU running backs coach, Cale Gundy.
However, it has never been an issue through the years because of one simple rule laid down by their mother, Judy Gundy.
“Oh, we don’t talk about football,” Mike Gundy said.
Mike Gundy said it’s easy for football discussions to be avoided because they rarely get to speak to one another because of their rigorous schedules, but as he outlined the reasons in Monday’s press conference, he received an unexpected phone call.
“Cale, I’m at my press conference, you’re like my wife, what’s up?” Mike Gundy said.
After hanging up the phone after roughly a minute, Gundy joked, “That’s the first time he’s called me in six months.”
Such is the life of two brothers, two football coaches and two native Oklahomans divided by one of the nation’s fiercest in-state rivalries, a rivalry that is always at the forefront of any red dirt native’s mind come late November.
“[Bedlam is] just a special game because you just feel like no matter if one team seems overmatched, that there’s always a chance because of the fact that it’s a huge rivalry,” senior offensive lineman Noah Franklin, a Vinita native, said. “It comes down to who wants it more and talent or depth or whatever just kind of goes out the window.”
The 2009 edition of the Bedlam Series is taking on a different theme from year’s past as the No. 12 Cowboys head 90 miles south with BCS dreams and a chance for their first 10-win season in 21 years. The Sooners, on the other hand, need a victory to stay above .500 and avoid their worst record since 1998.
Despite the Sooners’ 6-5 record coming off a 41-13 meltdown loss at Texas Tech, OU has a 5-0 mark at home, a place OU has dominated the Cowboys since OSU’s surprising 16-13 victory in 2001.
Since that upset, the Sooners have shellacked the Cowboys by a combined 143-40 points in three meetings.
The Cowboys should have the added bonus of the return of quarterback Zac Robinson, who did not play in the Cowboys’ 31-28 victory against Colorado on Thursday after sustaining a brutal hit from Texas Tech’s Jamar Wall on Nov. 14.
The Cowboys enter Norman with a four-game, road-winning streak and a chance to complete a perfect mark away from Stillwater for the first time since 1945. OSU has never won five-straight conference road games.
“We’re pretty successful on the road, but at the same time, A&M and OU are, I consider, the two loudest places to play,” center Andrew Lewis said. “[OU] defense, I think, is still one of the best in the nation, so it’s going to be a tough challenge down there."
OSU junior fullback Bryant Ward, a Stillwater native, said he remembers the 2001 game fondly and hopes they will be able to emulate that performance to best a team no current Cowboy player has defeated.
“They’ve got some pretty spirited fans down at OU, they make me angry,” Ward said. “Maybe it’s because they have the bragging rights, some are more arrogant toward OSU. Historically, they are the better team so they have more fans. Beating them would mean a lot to me.”
5 comments