“This is gonna hit home.”
That’s what Brent Venables told linebacker Rufus Alexander and the rest of his OU defense in the week of practice before an October 2005, trip to Lincoln for a showdown with Nebraska.
The then Oklahoma-defensive coordinator’s preparation was intense as ever as he toyed with an even front and a new play to use against a historic rival.
Venables was maintaining razor focus and a stiff upper lip those days as he looked to get a retooling 4-3 team back to form in the latter part of its season, even as he dealt with personal grief off the field that had hit him at home.
Three days before the contest, his mother, Nancy Schumaker, died following a battle with lung cancer. Since, he has chronicled how as he grew up in Salina, Kansas, she did her best to provide for their family amid a series of subpar stepfathers.
Earlier this week, as OU prepared to face the Huskers in Lincoln on Saturday, the Sooners’ head coach became emotional while reflecting on several Nebraska matchups, including that 31-24 victory at Memorial Stadium 17 years ago.
Then, he began to smile as he recalled the dominant defensive performance Alexander and others put on that day, producing 13 tackles for loss, nine sacks and two turnovers while allowing just 16 measly rushing yards.
“We knew he was obviously hurting and grieving and going through a really tough time,” said Dusty Dvoracek, who played on the OU defensive line from 2003-05. “And the only way we can really be there for him is to obviously be there, but to go out and perform and give everything that we can on the field, and that's exactly what we did.
“It’s definitely something that as a captain on that team, we spoke about, we talked about leading up to it. We just wanted to go out there and leave it on the field for coach, knowing that he was going through a really difficult time, yet still there with us.”
While OU’s defenders studied Nebraska film, they identified a Huskers guard who had a tell in his stance that often gave away the play.
That led to Dvoracek calling out “Red!” for a run or “Green!” for a pass to his teammates as they looked to get a leg up on quarterback Zac Taylor, a Norman native, and the Nebraska offense.
“Not that it was 100 percent,” Dvoracek said. “But it seemed to have worked out pretty well for us to get at least a decent jump, a decent idea of when they might be setting back to throw as compared to turning around and handing the ball off.”
Before 77,438 fans, defensive lineman Calvin Thibodeaux sacked Taylor on the first play and set the tone for a physical game.
Coming off an ankle injury that sidelined him for four games, star running back Adrian Peterson rushed for two first half touchdowns and finished with 148 yards on 24 carries while wearing a backstrap that read “I’m…Baaack.”
A 62-yard touchdown interception by defensive back Chijioke Onyenegecha gave OU a 21-3 lead at halftime. In the second half, pressure started to mount against Taylor, the son of former Sooners defensive back Sherwood Taylor.
On the Cornhuskers’ first drive, one of his passes was deflected at the Huskers’ 35-yard line and caught by Dvoracek for his first career interception.
“I remember thinking on the field, ‘man, I'm gonna score’ and thinking when I got tackled, like, ‘Gosh, if I’d just made the one guy miss, I was gonna score,’” Dvoracek said. “And then when you go back and watch it on film, it wasn't nearly as close to me scoring as I thought, but that was a cool moment to be there.”
After Dvoracek’s pick led to a Sooners field goal, Taylor and the Huskers finally got their offense going with back to back touchdown drives that cut the deficit to 24-17.
But Oklahoma extended its lead to 31-17 with 10:58 remaining on Kejuan Jones 17-yard rushing touchdown, and the defense shut down Nebraska on two of its last three possessions to seal the victory.
Alexander picked up his team-leading third sack in the final quarter. On the last drive, Dvoracek got to Taylor in the backfield, and three plays later, linebacker Clint Ingram sacked him again to force a turnover on downs and end the game.
Oklahoma’s defensive production was ultimately reflective of Venables’ unwavering preparation not only in the week before the contest, but in practices and games long before. As he battled personal trials, the Sooners hit home on the Huskers.
“He's always wanted the expectation to always remain there,” said Alexander, now a defensive analyst on OU’s support staff. “No matter what goes on around, the expectation is still to be great. … That just bled over into, whenever somebody's down, everybody else can lift that person up and make their job that much more easier because you always prepared for that situation, always prepared for something like that possibly happening in somebody's life.
“Everybody goes through something, and the team is only good as their bad moments and who can help that other person on their team, lift them up and be better, because at some point on the team, somebody's going to have to carry somebody. And we were able that day to carry Coach V because of how he helped us prepare for a long period of time.”
Head Coach Brent Vevables during game two against Kent State on Sep. 10.
Classy Nebraska fans had clapped for the Sooners as they took the field initially, Dvoracek said, and as they left it, OU received a standing ovation from the home crowd, with several calling out to Dvoracek individually after one of the best games of his college career.
Now an ESPN analyst who will call Mississippi-Georgia Tech this weekend while his alma mater battles the Cornhuskers, Dvoracek hopes to see the rival program reascend to greatness with interim Mickey Joseph or another coach after four dismal seasons under Scott Frost.
Venables, meanwhile, was swarmed by reporters on the field as his wife, Julie, waited for him in the tunnel after the momentous win. He was quick to express gratitude for the ways the program supported him after his mother’s death and his defense’s performance in a crucial game.
“He took it on, on his own, and you just didn’t really didn't know because of how intense he was, and just his love for us and being great at what he does,” Alexander said. “But at the end of the game, you can feel just a sense of a lot of pressure kind of released at the end of that game, as far as the emotional pressure and what he was feeling at that point in time.
“For us, as a team, we just wanted to perform well for him. And it didn't change from any game to another because of how he approached the game and how we had to approach it. But I mean, for that game, it just kind of felt a little bit more of an emotional sense for him. And as players, we went out there and just performed and did what he wanted us to do.”
OU went on to win three of its next four games, capping the 8-4 season with a Holiday Bowl victory over Oregon. The stout finish set the stage for the Sooners to waltz through Big 12 play in 2006, finishing with one loss in conference play and defeating Nebraska again in the title game.
As Oklahoma heads to Lincoln for the first time with Venables as head coach, his steady provision and his defense’s monstrous performance in support of their beloved coach remains a vivid impression of his tenures in Norman.
“It's incredible, honestly, and something that's probably difficult for anybody to do their job at a high level, when you're dealing with that kind of emotional stress and that type of emotional situation in your life,” Dvoracek said. “It’s special. It speaks to how special a coach really is, and I’m just glad that we were able to pay it off, and perform and get a win.”
