Former Oklahoma State football greats, on anniversary of 1983 game, lament loss of Bedlam

Mark Moore can still visualize the bus ride from OSU’s team hotel to Lewis Field before Bedlam 1983, Moore’s freshman season.

“Seeing all the fans, you could sense that something was a little different in the air,” Moore told The Oklahoman.

Moore said he dreamed that day about what it would feel like to beat the Sooners.

“That’s one of the things that eluded me my whole career,” the two-time All-American safety said, “but I really enjoyed playing in Bedlam games.”

OSU’s 1983 team, which lost to OU 21-20 thanks to Tim Lashar’s onside kick and game-winning field goal, will be honored Saturday when OSU hosts OU at 2:30 p.m. in Stillwater.

Forty years since that ‘83 game, and 119 years since Bedlam was first played, Moore has a hard time accepting that Saturday will be the last Bedlam football game for the foreseeable future.

“To think this is the last one, I’m sure it’s going to be emotional for everyone on both sides,” Moore said. “Both fan bases are going to miss it drastically, I think.”

Matt Monger, an All-Big Eight linebacker and another member of the 1983 Cowboys, agreed.

“I think it’s sad,” Monger said. “You’re talking to a come-from-nothing economics kid who couldn’t get a scholarship to college who went to play for the love of the game.

“For me it’s not about business, and it’s a business today. For me it’s about the love of the game, and there’s no bigger game in the state of Oklahoma than that game. Why would you take it away from the fans?”

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Pat Jones: Cowboys 'better off not playing' Sooners

Pat Jones, who was OSU’s defensive coordinator in 1983 before taking over for Jimmy Johnson in 1984 as head coach, looks at the end of Bedlam from a practical perspective.

Jones repeatedly cited these numbers: 91-19-7.

Ninety-one OU wins, 19 OSU wins and seven ties in a series that’s been played consecutively since 1910.

“I personally think Oklahoma State’s better off not playing them,” Jones said. “Because it’s 91-19-7. Is that a series or a rivalry?”

It’s a rivalry, but a lopsided one, to be sure.

With OU and Texas set to join the SEC next season, OSU is well-positioned as one of the premier programs in the new 16-team Big 12. With the bullies from Norman out of their way, the Cowboys should be better positioned to make the College Football Playoff, especially under the 12-team format.

“Depending on how you view the new Big 12, there’s not much difference in any of these guys when you take out OU and Texas,” Jones said. “They could get two teams in that (playoff). Quite honestly, I think it’s a better future for Oklahoma State.”

OSU traditionally schedules one power non-conference opponent each season. Adding the Sooners as a second, or bringing back Bedlam as an annual series once future dates open up, would not be wise from a competitive standpoint. On top of that, OSU doesn’t bear the responsibility for renewing the rivalry when OU is the school that left.

While Jones’ stance is logical, a couple of his former players in Moore and Monger can’t help but take an emotional look at the death of Bedlam as we know it.

“I understand business, sure,” said Monger, a financial advisor, “but at the end of the day, business, America, they all have it wrong. It’s never about what you get or what you have, it’s always about who you become in the process.

“And the reason you don’t take these great rivalries away is because they dictate what this game will become. If it becomes business only, who cares? If it becomes pride and emotion and standing tall for your state and your school, and about competition and developing a hard work ethic in kids, that’s to live for, that’s to die for.”

Monger grew up an OSU Cowboys fan in Miami, Oklahoma. His dad, Doyle, played football at OU before transferring to OSU, where Doyle earned a doctoral degree.

Matt Monger wasn’t recruited, but he joined the Cowboys football team as a walk-on.

“The Oklahoma State coaching staff told me to quit, and I just told them no,” Monger said. “In my opinion, you can’t deny the kid that refuses to be denied. I wasn’t going to quit for anybody.

“I didn’t have the expectation I would have the career I had. My biggest dream was to participate as a Cowboy, and did I ever.”

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'I learned real quick what Bedlam meant'

Moore, meanwhile, grew up in Nacogdoches, Texas, and didn’t have a clue what Bedlam was about.

That changed as OSU prepared to host OU in 1983.

“My freshman year, I learned real quick what Bedlam meant,” Moore said. “I was thinking, man, this is another game. But after going through that week of practice you realize it’s not just a game. It has a lot of meaning behind it.”

The Cowboys led the Sooners 20-3 in 1983 before things got weird in Stillwater.

After OU scored to make it 20-18 with 2:50 left, there was confusion on the Sooners’ sideline whether to kick it deep and rely on the defense to get the ball back, or to attempt an onside kick.

As OU coach Barry Switzer explained after the game, everyone on the Sooner kickoff team thought OU was kicking deep except for Lashar, the kicker. Lashar tried for the onside kick, but he mishit it so badly that it turned out perfect.

“It was a fluke,” Monger said.

The ball came off Lashar’s foot like a one iron. It drilled OSU’s Chris Rockins in the helmet, and bounced right into the arms of OU’s Scott Case for the recovery.

It set up Lasher’s 46-yard, game-winning field goal.

“No one in here wrote the script for this today, did they?” OU coach Barry Switzer asked the press after the game.

Monger didn’t remember all of the details of that 1983 game until he watched clips from it on Thursday morning.

“I got so ticked off,” Monger said, “I’m ready to fight somebody.”

“I say we tee it back up and go again.”

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'It had to be magic'

Pat Jones, whose 62 wins are second most in OSU history, went 0-10-1 against the Sooners.

Mike Gundy, the winningest coach in program history, is 3-15 against OU.

Jones blames former OU coach Bud Wilkinson, who never lost to the Cowboys in his Sooner tenure (1947-63). It was Wilkinson who oversaw OU’s 47-game winning streak from 1953-57.

“It’s Coach Wilkinson’s fault,” Jones said. “I’ve always thought if Oklahoma State could win 47 in a row, it’d be a pretty even deal. That’s being facetious, but it is what it is.”

Moore and Monger, two of the best defensive players in OSU history, are on a long list of Cowboys who, like Jones as head coach, never beat the Sooners.

Ever since that 1983 game, Monger has been a coerced believer in Sooner Magic.

“In that game, it had to be magic, because they got their butts kicked,” Monger said.

Still, Moore cherishes his Bedlam memories, from that first bus ride to his last.

“Even with me losing to them all four years, I wouldn’t change anything about it,” Moore said. It’s good experience, it’s good competition and it makes you that much of a better player.”

Both Moore and Monger said they’re going to miss the rivalry.

And as they’re honored Saturday in Stillwater, both hope this Bedlam won’t be their last.

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: Former OSU greats, on anniversary of 1983 game, lament loss of Bedlam