The top-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers, defending national champions with a 20-game winning streak (and 29 without a loss), traveled south to play the second-ranked Oklahoma Sooners.
The Husker "Blackshirts" defense included seven first-team All-Big Eight selections, four players who would earn consensus All-America recognition during their careers and two Outland Trophy winners: tackle Larry Jacobson and middle guard Rich Glover.
The Sooners' record-setting wishbone attack was led by All-American QB Jack Mildren who rushed for over 1,000 yards, but was also a very good passer.
His weapons were Heisman candidate HB Greg Pruitt, who averaged a stunning 9.5 yards per carry and speedy split end Jon Harrison.
Chris Schenkel did the play-by-play, color analysis was provided by Oklahoma's legendary former coach, Bud Wilkinson, with Bill Flemming reporting from the sidelines.
They came to their feet with admiration for the Minnesota-born coach who had guided the Sooners to prominence with three national championships and an NCAA record 47-game winning streak in the 1950s.
Two days after Thanksgiving, #5 Auburn (9–0) with Heisman Trophy winner Pat Sullivan at quarterback, faced #3 Alabama (10–0) at Birmingham for the SEC title, the two opponents that Oklahoma and Nebraska would play.
On a play starting from the Oklahoma 48, Husker quarterback Jerry Tagge threw to Rodgers, who broke tackles and ran all the way to the 15.
Nebraska then traveled southeast to the Orange Bowl in Miami and soundly defeated the #2 Alabama Crimson Tide 38–6 on New Year's Day night for consecutive national titles.
Pruitt did not win the Heisman, which went to quarterback Pat Sullivan of Auburn; the announcement came only hours after the conclusion of the Nebraska-Oklahoma game.
Head coach Chuck Fairbanks left the Sooners after the 1972 season for the NFL's New England Patriots, and offensive coordinator Barry Switzer was promoted.
That coincided with the rise of the football program at Colorado, which replaced Oklahoma as Nebraska's Thanksgiving Friday opponent in 1996 due to the formation of the Big 12 conference (leading to the end of the annual Nebraska-Oklahoma matchup as the two were placed in opposite divisions).
Since one of those four was Texas, already a major non-conference rival with Oklahoma, the UT-OU rivalry game in Dallas grew in importance as they became division foes.
The Sooners continued their dominance under Lincoln Riley, winning the Big 12 championship in each of his first four seasons until finishing third behind Baylor and Oklahoma State in 2021.
The Cornhuskers endured their worst season in six decades in 2021, going 3-9 overall and 1-8 in conference play under coach Scott Frost, the starting quarterback for Nebraska's most recent national championship team in 1997.