Alan Bowman's sisters played soccer at OU, but 'family comes first' in Bedlam football

STILLWATER — Emily Zander always found it easy to dislike Oklahoma State, an ire that grew even stronger after one particular match late in her four-year career as an OU soccer player.

Playing with a broken nose, she wore a protective mask on her face during a Bedlam game at OSU.

“Their fans called me ‘Clarice’ the whole time,” Zander said of the OSU fans’ heckles referencing the character of the same name in the film “The Silence of the Lambs.”

Tori Jackson’s distaste for OSU started early in her Sooner soccer career. Her first game as a freshman in 2014 was against the Cowgirls.

“We actually ended up winning that game, and it was such a cool way to start my collegiate career,” Jackson said. “You were never more excited to play than when you played against OSU.

“For OU soccer, Bedlam is the game you want to win.”

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All together, Zander and Jackson played in 16 Bedlam games, including two together as teammates, and their crimson passion runs deep.

Sisters separated by three years in age, Zander and Jackson had the same last name when they played at OU: Bowman.

On Saturday, their little brother, Alan, will represent the Cowboys on the other side of Bedlam, quarterbacking Oklahoma State against 10th-ranked Oklahoma in the final football edition of the rivalry for the foreseeable future, a 2:30 p.m. kickoff at Boone Pickens Stadium.

“I think they’ve dropped their loyalty and moved on to Oklahoma State,” said Alan, the 23-year-old former Texas Tech and Michigan player now in his sixth year of college football.

And he’s right about his sisters. For now.

“After he’s done playing, we’ll continue rooting for OU, but while he’s there, family comes first and we’re gonna root for him,” Jackson said.

“It was a lot easier when he was playing at Tech and I was rooting for Tech every week instead of OSU. Even back then, when they would play OU, I’d be cheering for Tech, and it was definitely a little weird.”

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Their parents, Kirk and Nancy Bowman, likely still have some crimson and cream gear if they dig far enough back in the closet, but for 10 months now, the family has been focused on orange and black.

For a family from Grapevine, Texas, the Bowmans have an abundance of Bedlam connections.

Zander, the oldest who is now 30 with a nearly 1-year-old son, stayed at OU after her soccer career to attend medical school. That’s where she met her now-husband, Tyler Zander — an Enid native and rabid Cowboy fan who completed his undergraduate work at OSU.

“He and his whole family are huge Cowboy fans, so this has been really funny,” said Emily, who lives in Tampa, Florida. “Tyler’s parents’ house is decked out in orange. When we moved into Tyler’s house, it was all orange accents. They bleed orange, that’s for sure.”

Jackson, 27, also met her husband at OU, but Davis Jackson has been on the Sooner side of the rivalry the whole time while growing up in Oklahoma City.

So the family faced some difficulties in January when Bowman chose the Pokes for his final season of college football.

“When he committed to OSU, I was feeling a lot of emotions,” said Tori, who now lives in OKC. “I was super-excited, because he was gonna be so geographically close to me, which was nice, because he had just come from Michigan, and Texas Tech prior to that.

“But I was like, of all schools. But honestly, I’m so excited for him. OSU is a great school to play for and I’m really excited for the upcoming game.”

Fitting into OSU’s sea of orange hasn’t always been the easiest part for the sisters.

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“At first, I told Alan I’d never wear orange, and I’d only ever wear black, but I’ve had to warm up a little bit on that, because there’s really not a lot of all-black options,” Emily said with a laugh. “They incorporate orange into everything they have. So I’ve gotten over that a little bit.

“But I’ve always been such a fan of my brother that it was easy to leave OU in the dust at this point. When I root for my brother, it’s easy to not care about my allegiance to OU, because I’m his biggest fan.”

The entire family will be in the stadium for Saturday’s game, waiting to see if Bowman can keep the Cowboys rolling on their recent four-game win streak or if the Sooners will bounce back from their first loss of the year.

“I’m as excited as ever,” said Bowman, who is averaging nearly 270 passing yards over the last five games. “Just blessed to be a part of it. Can’t wait to get out there.”

And his sisters are excited, too, even with the challenges of crossing Bedlam battle lines.

“I have been wearing black, so that counts, right?” Tori said. “And it’s the last Bedlam, too. For him to get to play in that is huge.

“Those are the moments you live for as a player, big games like this. I’m really pumped for him to get the opportunity to play in a game on such a scale.”

Scott Wright covers Oklahoma State athletics for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Scott? He can be reached at swright@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @ScottWrightOK. Sign up for the Oklahoma State Cowboys newsletter to access more OSU coverage. Support Scott’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com or by using the link at the top of this page.

Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State

KICKOFF: 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater (ABC)

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Why OU football vs Oklahoma State will not divide Alan Bowman's family