Skelly Stadium, the home for University of Tulsa football, celebrates its 75th anniversary today -- Tuesday, October 4.

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Tulsa's Skelly Stadium celebrates 75th Anniversary Today

Hurricane opened Skelly Field on Oct. 4, 1930

Oct. 4, 2005

Tulsa, Oklahoma - Skelly Stadium, the home for University of Tulsa football, celebrates its 75th anniversary today -- Tuesday, October 4. Not only has Skelly Stadium been the home to Tulsa football, but has also hosted University soccer games in the past as well as numerous other events.

Some of college football's greatest stars have graced the Skelly Stadium field -- Sammy Baugh, Ollie Matson, Bob Fenimore, Walt Garrison and Heisman Trophy winners Gino Toretta of Miami (Fla.) and Oklahoma's Jason White.

Tulsa's own All-American Glennn Dobbs in the 1940s, the passing combination of Heisman Trophy runners-up Jerry Rhome (1964) and Howard Twilley (1965) in the 1960s, future All-Pro receivers Steve Largent and Drew Pearson in the `70s, the 1980's Palomino Express of Michael Gunter and Ken Lacy and the stars from the 1991 Freedom Bowl Championship team have all thrilled Hurricane fans through the years. In 2003, Tulsa's Humanitarian Bowl team excited fans by averaging over 37 points in six home games.

Skelly Stadium was named after oilman William Skelly, a long-time friend of The University of Tulsa who gave $125,000 to the Stadium Fund Drive in the spring of 1930. The remaining $175,000 was raised by Tulsa businessmen who organized the Stadium Corporation of Tulsa

Before Tulsa played its home games in Skelly Stadium the Golden Hurricane used McNulty Park, the minor league stadium that was the forerunner of Oiler Park. McNulty was located near the corner of 11th street and Elgin.

Skelly Field was the original name, but changed in 1947 to "Stadium" when the north end zone seats were added.

In the first game of Skelly Field, the Hurricane defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks 26-6 on October 4, 1930.

Skelly Stadium has hosted a Reverend Billy Graham one-night rally in 1956, a Pittsburgh Steelers-Chicago bears exhibition game in 1953, and an AFL exhibition game between the Houston Oilers and Dallas Texans in 1960, and in 1966 the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team played an exhibition game against its AAA Farm Team, the Tulsa Oilers. The NASL's Tulsa Roughnecks began calling Skelly Stadium its home in 1978, and in 1980 hosted the New York Cosmos in front of 30,381 fans.

No. 1 ranked Oklahoma visited Skelly Stadium in 1987 and 2002, while #2 Miami came to Tulsa for a game in Skelly Stadium in 1991.

Tulsa's 50th win came against St. Louis University, 33-7, on October 18, 1941, and the 100th victory came against Kansas State, 42-26, on Nov. 10, 1951. Tulsa's 200th career victory came against Wichita State on Nov. 3, 1979 with a 28-26 victory.

Tulsa captured its 275th career victory at Skelly Stadium with Head Coach Steve Kragthorpe's second career victory in the 2003 season. In that game, Tulsa defeated Arkansas State, 54-7, on September 20, 2003.

In the 75th year of Skelly Stadium, Tulsa has posted 66 shutout victories and 21 undefeated seasons, while compiling a 283-133-14 record.

Below is a handful of memorable TU football games at Skelly Stadium:

Tulsa 26, Arkansas 6 (October 4, 1930) Skelly Field opened on October 4, 1930 as Tulsa hosted Arkansas. After Johnny Potts recovered an Arkansas fumble on the opening kickoff, Billy Boehm scored on the first play from scrimmage for the first touchdown in the north end zone of the stadium. Chet Benefiel scored the first touchdown in the south end zone. Tulsa went on for a 26-6 victory.

Tulsa 14, #10 Arkansas 13 (November 28, 1946) A record crowd of more than 19,000 fans watched Tulsa build a 14-0 lead against the #10-ranked Arkansas, and hold on for a 14-13 victory. The Razorbacks, co-champions of the Southwest Conference and headed for a January 1 date in the Cotton Bowl, came within one point of tying the Hurricane late in the fourth quarter, but Tulsa's Jim Finks blocked the extra point to preserve a one-point Tulsa victory.

Tulsa 22, Houston 21 (Nov. 16, 1963) Jerry Rhome guided Tulsa on an 84-yard touchdown march in the final minutes then passed for the winning two-point conversion to Jeff Jordan as the Hurricane roared from behind, scoring 15 unanswered points in the game's final five minutes. The touchdown pass that brought the Hurricane to within one point was a 42-yard strike from Rhome to Bill Van Burkleo.

Tulsa 61, Oklahoma State 14 (Oct. 31, 1964) The largest crowd in Skelly Stadium history -- an overflow Homecoming throng of 23,731 -- watched Tulsa turn what was billed as a tossup game into an early rout by scoring the first four times it had the ball. Tulsa amassed 671 yards total offense, as quarterback Jerry Rhome made his mightiest bid for All-America by completing 35-of-43 passes for 488 yards and four touchdowns against the nation's second-ranked pass defense. Rhome also gained 16 yards rushing and had two TDs on the ground for a total of 504 yards and six touchdowns.

Tulsa 22, #10 Houston 13 (Nov. 25, 1967) Houston was favored to win in a landslide but the Hurricane defense engulfed Houston's nation-leading offense by forcing six fumbles and two interceptions, while the Tulsa offense scored two quick touchdowns in the fourth quarter. For this game, Tulsa scrapped its 4-4-3 pro-type defense in favor of the 5-3-3 monster defense and moved the star of the game, Al Jenkins, from offensive guard to nose guard. Tulsa took the lead for good, 15-13 with 12:46 remaining, on a one-yard run by quarterback Mike Stripling. The Hurricane scored to take a 22-13 lead on a 33-yard pass from Stripling to Harry Wood.

Tulsa 30, #15 Houston 14 (Nov. 30, 1974) Tulsa took the lead on the opening kickoff as Jimmy Stewart recovered the kickoff in the Houston end zone. When Tulsa quarterback Jeb Blount suffered a broken leg with 5:11 left in the first period, it was the Tulsa defense that forced four Houston fumbles and error-free ball from Tulsa that allowed the Hurricane to post the win over the Astro Bluebonnet Bowl-bound Cougars. Houston ran 90 plays to just 63 for the Hurricane, but the Cougars did not score its second touchdown until the final play of the game.

Tulsa 17, West Texas State 17 (Nov. 27, 1976) Tulsa needed a victory for an outright Missouri Valley Conference Championship, but a 17-17 tie against West Texas State gave the Hurricane a share of the Valley title. On a day that temperatures dipped to 2-degrees below zero, Steve Cox toed a 46-yard field goal with one second left for the tie. Trailing 17-7, Tulsa quarterback Dave Rader led the Hurricane on a nine-play scoring drive with 2:44 left in the game. With 0:54 left, WTSU faked a punt on fourth-and-13, thus with 30-seconds left Tulsa got off eight plays to set-up the game-tying field goal.

Tulsa 37, Northeast Louisiana 35 (Sept. 17, 1977) John Cooper claimed his first career win, while NLU's John David Crows decision not to punt on fourth down gave Steve Cox an opportunity to kick a school record 52-yard field goal. Tulsa scored with 26-seconds left, but still trailed 35-34 after the two-point run failed. NLU recovered the on-side kick, but the Indians deliberately fell on the ball four straight times. TU quickly called a timeout making it possible for Cox's game-winning field goal.

Tulsa 28, North Texas 27 (Oct. 11, 1980) The Hurricane had to score 21 fourth quarter points to claim the home victory. Trailing 27-21 and 20 yards away from the end zone with 0:11 seconds remaining, Tulsa's Kenny Jackson threw a perfect 20-yard spiral to Paul Johns on a fourth-and-goal for the tying touchdown. Stu Crum converted the PAT for the Hurricane victory.

Tulsa 37, Long Beach State 35 (Oct. 12, 1985) Trailing 35-34 with 17 seconds left in the game, Tulsa took possession at its own seven-yard line with no timeouts. On the first play, quarterback Steve Gage completed a pass to an outstretched Eric Brown at the Long Beach 36 with eight second left. Jason Staurovsky came on the field to attempt a 53-yard field goal but was called back to the sidelines when Long Beach called a timeout. Gage went back in a completed a seven-yard pass to Ronnie Kelley. Back out came Staurovsky, who booted the game-winning 46-yarder as time elapsed.

Tulsa 35, #15 Texas A&M 34 (Sept. 21, 1991) Dubbed the "Miracle on 11th Street", Tulsa overcame a 28-10 halftime deficit only to rally for 19 points in the third quarter. The Hurricane scoring began when Chris Bratcher recovered an A&M fumble to open the second half, as Chris Hughley ran 10 yards on the first play for the Hurricane touchdown. Trailing 34-28 with 3:45 remaining in the game, Tulsa took over at its own four-yard line. T.J. Rubley completed two quick passes to Brian Thompson for 33 yards before finding Chris Penn over the middle for a 63-yard touchdown. Eric Lange's extra point provided the winning margin with 2:47 left.

Tulsa 13, Southern Mississippi 10 (Nov. 2, 1991) On a snowy day, Tulsa used a dramatic last-minute drive to overcome a 10-0 deficit at the start of the fourth quarter. Tulsa tied the score 10-10 with 3:50 left in the game. After a missed Southern Miss field goal, Tulsa took over on its own 20-yard line with 12 seconds left in the game. Quarterback T.J. Rubley lofted a "Hail Mary" pass deep down the Hurricane sideline and the prayer was answered as Chris Penn hauled in the pass for a 65-yard gain. After calling timeout with just one second left, Eric Lange appeared to have missed a game-winning 32-yard field goal, but Southern Mississippi was flagged for having 12 men on the field. Lange's second attempt, this time from 24 yards out, sailed through the uprights as the crowd poured onto the field to celebrate the victory.

Tulsa 24, Oklahoma State 23 (Sept. 9, 1995) Oklahoma State led 23-3 with 10:36 remaining in the game, but Tulsa quarterback Troy DeGar overcame a broken left hand and a brief benching to lead the Hurricane back with three straight scoring drives in the games final minutes. He threw touchdown passes of 25 yards to Jeff Utter at the 5:41 mark, 19 yards to Marshall Gordon at the 4:12 mark following the recovery of an on-side kick, and seven yards with 16 seconds left on the clock. The final score came after Tulsa took the ball at its own 32-yard line with 1:41 remaining. Tulsa's defense forced OSU to punt holding the Cowboys to three-and-out.

Tulsa 27, #19 Iowa 20 (Sept. 21, 1996) It was five years since Tulsa defeated a ranked team. The Hurricane scored 17 points after trailing 17-10 and held on for a 27-20 win against the Big 10 Conference favorite. Quarterback John Fitzgerald completed 22-of-38 passes for 353 yards, while the Hurricane defense made big plays on two four down situations late in the game to preserve the victory. On fourth down-and-five from the Tulsa 10-yard line, Tulsa's Terrance Joseph deflected a pass in the end zone with 7:17 left, then at the 3:11 mark the Hurricane forced an incomplete pass on a fourth down-and-five from the Tulsa nine-yard line.

Tulsa 27, Hawaii 16 (Oct. 4, 2003) Tulsa upended the Western Athletic Conference's preseason favorite Hawaii 27-16. Trailing 16-3, the Hurricane jump-started itself late in the second quarter and went on to outscore Hawaii 17-0 in the second half. It was the biggest come-from-behind victory for the Hurricane since a 14-point comeback on October 14, 1995. Hawaii scored all of its points on their first three possessions, and was held to just 128 yards in the second half by the Hurricane defense.