Today's Tidbit... Oklahoma's Inspirational Coach, Bennie Owen

We all have gaps in our knowledge, even in fields we think we know well. One of my gaps has been a limited knowledge and appreciation for Bennie Owen, the father of Oklahoma's athletic program.

Born in Chicago in 1875, his family moved around the Midwest and West Virginia before settling in Arkansas City, Kansas, four miles north of the Oklahoma border.

Owen enrolled at the University of Kansas hoping to play baseball but did not make the team, so he joined the football team and became their 130-pound starting quarterback in 1898 and 1899. The 1899 team under Fielding Yost went 10-0.

Owen, sitting on the ground to the far right, was a right-handed quarterback before the forward pass entered the game. (1899 Kansas yearbook)

After graduating, he took over Washburn's team in 1900, going 8-2 before joining Fielding Yost as an assistant at Michigan in 1901 when the Wolverines outscored their opponents 550-0, including a win in the first Rose Bowl.