Nebraska 21
Oklahoma 9

Nov. 25, 1965 • 12:45 p.m. Central
Memorial Stadium •Lincoln, NE • NBC
1st2nd3rd4th F 
Oklahoma36009
Nebraska0714021

1965 Nebraska-Oklahoma, Harry Wilson photoHarry Wilson sets sail on his 66-yard TD run · Kansas City Times · Newspapers.com

First quarter
OU: Ron Shotts 21 field goal, 0:22
Second quarter
OU: Larry Brown 3 run (kick failed) 9:59
NU: Charlie Winters 29 run (Larry Wachholtz kick) 6:29 
Third quarter
NU: Harry Wilson 66 run (Wachholtz kick) 10:14 
NU: Wilson 38 pass from Churchich (Wachholtz kick) 4:52 

                         OU       NU
First downs ...........  12       18
Rushing net ........ 58-156   55-334
Passing net ............ 73       77
  Comp-Att-Int ..... 7-15-1   3-13-0
Total offense ...... 73-229   68-411
Fumbles lost ............ 2        3
Punts ................ 8-34     6-37
Yards penalized ........ 33       23

RUSHING
OU: L.Brown 12-36; Hammond 8-32; Crowder 11-26; Kennedy 12-25; Gagle 6-20; Shotts 8-16, Hart 1-1.

NU: Wilson 19-160; Kirkland 15-72; Winters 5-40; Duda 7-22; Churchich 2-16; Tatman 1-13; Solich 4-6; Gregory 1-3; White 1-2

PASSING
OU: Hammond 4-8-0-46; Cagle 3-7-1-27.
NU: Churchich 2-9-0-61; Duda 1-3-0-16; Kirkland 0-1-0-0. 

RECEIVING
OU: G.Brown 6-67; Crowder 1-6.
NU: Wilson 1-38; Tatman 1-23; Jeter 1-16.

Attendance: 52,533

Coverage

Recap

Comeback caps first perfect regular season in 50 years

Some 52,533 Thanksgiving Day dinners were postponed as the Cornhuskers sought a perfect season against the Oklahoma Sooners, spoilers of their 1964 unbeaten hopes in a cold finale at Norman.

It looked to the chilly fans and millions of NBC television viewers like history would repeat as the Cornhuskers fumbled and stumbled during the first quarter – and Oklahoma kicked a field goal to lead, 3-0.

Another fumble in the second quarter set up a Sooner TD and it was 9-0, giving Nebraska its third come-from-behind challenge in its last four games.

Could they do it? Fred Duda was having trouble, so in came Bob Churchich.

The Huskers went to work, first with Harry Wilson piling up 33 yards as the Scarlets drove to the Sooner 29. There it was fourth and two and Nebraska went for the first down – and got a TD as Charlie “Choo Choo” Winters cut inside of right end, broke through a bevy of Sooners into the clear and then ran for his life.

That ensured only a 9-7 halftime deficit and set the stage for Lighthorse Harry to bring home the bacon.

The second time Nebraska had the ball in the third quarter, Wilson broke loose at the NU 34 and went all the way – knocking down tacklers, spinning on his hand after a stumble, cutting, whirling and then opening the throttle – for a 66-yard touchdown, which must rank with all-time best Husker runs.

With a 14-9 lead, Churchich had things well in hand. With 4:52 left in the third quarter, he spotted Wilson in the clear and fired a 38-yard TD strike to ice the game and wrap up Nebraska’s third straight Big Eight title and first perfect season since 1915.

Wilson’s overall performance was tremendous – 160 yards rushing, a brilliant TD run, a TD pass catch and a great day blocking. Churchich, too, responded like a champion after losing his starting role in the third game, and Pete Tatman turned in one of the most devastating blocking performances ever seen at Memorial Stadium.

1965 Nebraska-Oklahoma, Devaney showerBob Devaney gets a victory shower. · Lincoln Journal Star · Newspapers.com

Neb. Sources
Omaha World-Herald
Lincoln Journal & Star
Daily Nebraskan
More Sources
Daily Oklahoman
Des Moines Register
United Press International
Associated Press
Sports Illustrated
Pregame & team info
 
1965 schedule
05/08Reds 33, Whites 27
09/18TCUW 34-14
09/25@ Air ForceW 27-17
10/02Iowa St.W 44-0
10/09WisconsinW 37-0
10/16@ Kansas St.W 41-0
10/23ColoradoW 38-13
10/30@ MissouriW 16-14
11/06KansasW 42-6
11/13@ Oklahoma St.W 21-17
11/25OklahomaW 21-9
01/01AlabamaL 28-39
* Article may require subscription