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From Barry Switzer sewage lagoon to Dallas Athletic Club, OU and BYU share weird history

joe mussatto, the oklahoman
·5 min read

OU and BYU share a brief but bizarre football history. A history that includes a sewage treatment plant named after Barry Switzer, and a history that has BYU on an exclusive list of programs unbeaten by the Sooners.

The Sooners and Cougars will kick off at 11 a.m. Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah. It will be OU’s first game in the state of Utah, and its earliest kickoff (10 a.m. local) since the 2002 Cotton Bowl against Arkansas.

OU (8-2, 5-2 Big 12), in its last Big 12 season, is playing to keep its conference championship hopes alive. Meanwhile, BYU (5-5, 2-5 Big 12), in its first Big 12 season, is fighting for bowl eligibility.

Speaking of bowls …

More: How many states has OU football played in? Utah gets added to the list this weekend

Utah sewage lagoon named after Barry Switzer

Barry Switzer’s resume includes three national championships, a Super Bowl and The Barry Switzer Bowl — a sewage lagoon named after the Sooner coach at the South Valley Water Reclamation Facility in central Utah, between Salt Lake City and Provo.

BYU was crowned national champions in 1984 after beating Michigan in the Holiday Bowl to finish 13-0. It was the first and last national championship in BYU football history.

But Switzer, whose Sooners lost to Washington in the Orange Bowl that season, questioned the Cougars’ legitimacy given their relatively soft schedule.

“I know one thing,” Switzer said after the Orange Bowl loss. “Washington is No. 1.”

The Michigan team BYU beat in the Holiday Bowl finished 6-6.

“BYU beat its schedule,” Switzer said at the time, “but it didn’t beat the world.”

BYU fans took umbrage at Switzer’s skepticism. So, naturally, the Salt Lake County Council of Governments approved for a sewage lagoon to be named The Barry Switzer Bowl.

According to a report, then-West Valley City Mayor Gerald Maloney questioned the decision: “Don’t you think he got beat bad enough the other night?”

More: OU football doesn't have much history with BYU, but Dillon Gabriel definitely does

What do BYU and the Dallas Athletic Club have in common?

Thought you’d never ask.

BYU, and yes, the Dallas Athletic Club, are two of 13 teams that OU has played but never beaten.

Brace yourself for some of these names …

  • BYU: 0-2 (2009, 1994)

  • George Washington: 0-1-1 (1934 L, 1932 T,)

  • Arizona State: 0-1 (1982)

  • Boise State 0-1 (2006)

  • Camp Doniphan: 0-1 (1917)

  • Dallas Athletic Club: 0-1 (1902)

  • Georgia: 0-1 (2017)

  • Honolulu: 0-1 (1931)

  • Illinois: 0-1 (1917)

  • Indiana: 0-1 (1928)

  • Ole Miss: 0-1 (1999)

  • Navy: 0-1 (1965)

  • Pawhuska: 0-0-1 (1906)

One name, BYU, could be removed from the list by end of day Saturday. And OU will have chances to beat Ole Miss and Georgia as it moves to the SEC.

But unfortunately for the Sooners, some of these losses will never be avenged.

George Washington hasn’t played football since 1966.

Camp Doniphan was a World War I artillery base next to Fort Sill in Lawton. Apparently the troops played some ball. They beat Bennie Owen’s Sooners 21-7.

The Dallas Athletic Club had a heck of a squad in 1902, beating OU 11-6 on that unforgettable Oct. 15 day.

OU lost to Honolulu, the Townies as they were known, on Christmas Day 1931.

Don Watson, sports editor of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin wrote of that game: “It was a mean way to treat visitors on Christmas Day, but what are you going to do when the visiting lads insist on throwing forward passes in their own territory while leading, trying to run kickoffs back from deep in their own end zone, and choose to kickoff instead of receive at a point in the last quarter when the score was tied?

Not sure what OU coach Adrian Lindsey was thinking on that last one.

And then there’s the 1906 OU game against the Pawhuska Town Team, which ended in a thrilling 0-0 tie. Two weeks later, against Washburn, OU had another 0-0 tie.

Defenses were stout in those days.

More: Can OU football earn its first-ever win over BYU? Gavin Sawchuk and Danny Stutsman are key

OU vs. BYU history

Notice that BYU is the only team OU has ever gone 0-2 against.

1994 Copper Bowl: BYU 31, OU 6

2009 (Arlington, Texas): BYU 14, OU 13

The 2009 game was the first college football game played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

The Sooners not only lost the game, but also lost reigning Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford to a shoulder injury in the second quarter.

The 1994 Copper Bowl was Gary Gibbs’ last game as Sooner head coach. OU quarterback Garrick McGee was out due to spinal meningitis.

Perhaps OU quarterback Dillon Gabriel will have better luck against BYU than did Bradford and McGee.

More: OU football vs. BYU: Our score predictions are in for Sooners-Cougars Big 12 game

Brent Venables vs. BYU

Venables was OU’s defensive coordinator the last time the Sooners played BYU.

“That was kind of a year where we had to overcome a lot, but our guys fought,” Venables said. “That’s what I remember about that (2009) team. And they had fun fighting, and they grew. There are two different ways to look at it. A man goes behind bars and some see mud and some see the stars.”

Venables also coached against BYU when he was at Kansas State. The Cougars beat the Wildcats 19-15 in the 1997 Cotton Bowl.

Venables, like the Sooners, will be making his first trip to Provo.

“If you like college football, there’s a picture of their stadium nestled down in the mountains and the valley there,” he said. “Looks pretty cool. It will be fun to go compete.”

Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football history with BYU includes a Barry Switzer sewage plant