By Ed Graney
November 11, 2005
Leon Cross played football at Oklahoma many years ago, back when freshmen were ineligible and watched home games from the stands. This is what he remembers from a certain November day in 1957: The final seconds had ticked away and a sense of shock slowly seeped into the souls of more than 50,000. The silence was deafening. It was as if Armageddon had arrived in Norman, Okla., wearing gold helmets. Cross first thought about standing, walking to his dormitory, packing his belongings and going home for good. "I thought it was all over," he says now, "that the world had come to an end." Nah. Just the greatest winning streak in major college football history. Oklahoma lost that day to Notre Dame, to a 19-point underdog it had thrashed 40-0 the previous season. Oklahoma lost 7-0, and so ended a 47-game win streak that stretched over five seasons and still stands as the sport's apex for unremitting success. No one has come close to matching 47 straight. Not even the great USC. Not yet, anyway.
The Trojans have won 31 straight dating to Sept. 27, 2003, to a raucous atmosphere in Berkeley, to the day Cal unofficially began its resurgence under coach Jeff Tedford. The Bears beat USC 34-31 in triple overtime, ending an 11-game win streak. Think about it: Had the Trojans also won that day, their current streak might be 43 and closing fast on Oklahoma's seemingly untouchable record. Instead, top-ranked USC returns to Memorial Stadium tomorrow afternoon for the first time since Cal fans stormed the field once Tyler Fredrickson's 38-yard field goal was signaled good. Returns with the realization that three more victories will assure the Trojans a spot in the BCS championship game and leave them 60 minutes from a third straight national title. Returns with the knowledge that no team has played USC tougher the past three years than the one from Strawberry Canyon. Returns to the turf where it last tasted defeat. Would anyone have ever believed what has transpired since? "I would have," said Tedford, whose team enters 6-3 and has lost three of its past four. "I wouldn't have doubted they could win (31 straight) because they're so talented and well-coached. It doesn't surprise me they have had this kind of success." Which puts Oklahoma's streak in perspective. As dominant as USC has been since losing at Cal, it would need to remain undefeated through next year's BCS championship game to pass the Sooners. "It's hard to look past anything but this weekend," said Trojans coach Pete Carroll. "But, yeah, I hold any (streak) like this in high regard. How long it goes, I don't know. It doesn't seem like it has been an overwhelming thing at this point. But it's history and we respect that. We also know there's a long way to go before we get to where (Oklahoma) went." To where Jimmy Harris was a hero before he began drilling for oil. Bud Wilkinson once said this: "If you have the will to prepare, things will usually work out quite well and the will to win will take care of itself." Oklahoma must have had some kind of will back then. Wilkinson – the coach who from 1947-63 won nearly 83 percent of his games and three national championships, the one whose split-T offense split everyone in half – put Oklahoma football squarely on the map of collegiate powers.
Harris was his brash, ultraquick quarterback during the streak. Teammate Kurt Burris once said of Harris: "If Jimmy don't stop struttin' so much, he's gonna dislocate a hip." Harris still has a little of it in him. "Don't get me wrong," he said recently. "I still have the ego to believe I could go play. I was 6-foot-1, 185 pounds and ran a 4.5 in the 40. That's still pretty good. I'm an extreme optimist, but also a realist. "What USC has done is really something. I think it would be harder now than it was then, although what we did wasn't easy. As it is, (31) straight in today's game is a hell of an accomplishment. But they have great coaching, a great quarterback in (Matt Leinart) and all that talent around him." Harris landed in the oil business and has offices in Dallas and Louisiana. His company has hit on 25 straight wells in an Alabama field and it's his goal to make it 47 straight, equaling the other streak he once directed. "I've been pretty successful, but why the hell does it have to happen when I'm 70?" he said. "The bright side is, I can finally afford my wife. I just hope to live long enough to enjoy all the crap we (buy) . . . But the oil business has been a lot like those Oklahoma teams and USC of today – a lot of perseverance and hard work and taking nothing for granted. That's what makes a winner." So does attitude.
Bill Krisher was a two-time All-American at Oklahoma during the streak and wants you to know it's impossible to compare this era to his, when the best players went both ways. He is also convinced USC has the same kind of secure approach that defined his Sooners. "Psychology, when you win and win and win, you often have the other team beat before the game starts," said Krisher. "You can win a lot by just believing you're better than the other guy is. I hope USC beats our record. That's what records are meant for. I wish them the best. "Still, I'm not sure it can be done." Neither are those who play for Cal. In 2002, the Bears led USC 21-3 at halftime in Los Angeles before losing 30-28. In 2003, the triple-overtime upset cost the Trojans a spot in the BCS championship game. Last season, Cal failed to score after gaining first-and-goal from the 9 with 1:47 remaining at the L.A. Coliseum and fell 23-17. But the Cal that has played so well against USC in recent meetings had far more experience than this version. The Bears are not in the Top 25 for the first time since 2003 and are 18-point underdogs tomorrow. And there is this: USC is 14-0 under Carroll in November games.
"We're not afraid of the myth surrounding USC," said Cal senior defensive back Harrison Smith, who blocked a punt in the 2003 game. "We're not nervous. We're not scared. I wouldn't have thought they would win 31 straight because I would have thought we would beat them last year. But it's impressive. It's a big challenge for us." Leon Cross remembers something else about that November day in 1957: Once the game ended and several minutes passed and the shock began to wear off and people began to mill about, the public-address announcer's voice began booming down on them. "He said, 'Ladies and gentlemen, I think we should give a round of applause to the Notre Dame team that stopped this winning streak,' " said Cross. "And then he said, 'And now, let's give a round of applause for this Sooners team that has given us so many great Saturday afternoon memories.' I think people cheered for more than five minutes straight . . . It still feels like yesterday." The world didn't end. Just a winning streak. But what a remarkable one.
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