Former teammate Leo Higbie recalled, "Lynn Waldorf got OCU's football program really going in 1927 when he brought the great Ace Gutowsky of Kingfisher to the school.

[6] Playing for the Portsmouth Spartans in 1932, Gutowsky was tripped by coaching legend George Halas in a championship game against the Chicago Bears.

With the Bears leading and four minutes left in the game, Gutowsky took a kickoff and began returning the ball along the sideline.

"[7] The officials didn't notice, but Portsmouth coach Potsy Clark "went off like a roman candle" and told Halas he was playing the game under protest.

"[8] While Clark was considered the "flashier" back, Gutowsky was regarded as the "workhorse" and "the one they turned to when the ball was near the goal line.

[8] Gutowsky led the NFL that year with 857 yards from scrimmage, ranking ahead of teammate Dutch Clark and future Hall of Fame inductees Bronko Nagurski and Don Hutson.

On October 22, 1939, in a 23–14 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, Gutowsky broke Cliff Battles' NFL career rushing record.

[8] When he concluded his career in the NFL, Gutowsky, Clarke Hinkle and Bronko Nagurski were rated as "the greatest fullbacks ever to play professional football.

[22][23] By 1944, Time magazine called the West Edmond field the "greatest concentration of rotary drilling rigs in the world.