H.A. Chapman Stadium Through the Decades

Oil man and longtime friend of The University of Tulsa, William Skelly, 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 . Ground-breaking ceremonies were held on May 11 and the season kicked off on October 4, as Tulsa hosted Arkansas in front of a crowd of 13,000 . On the opening kickoff, Arkansas fumbled and Johnny Potts recovered for Tulsa . Billy Boehm scored on the very next play for the first touchdown in the north end of the stadium .

Chet Benefiel scored the first TD in the south end zone and Tulsa went on for a 26-6 victory . The Golden Hurricane won its first six games at the new stadium that year .

A couple years earlier, 1938, the University traded Skelly Field to the Tulsa Public Schools for the Philtower Building lot at 5th and Boston . TU then began to lease the stadium from the board of education .

In the 1940s, Skelly Field was home to some of the best teams in school history . The Hurricane became the first school to play in five straight New Year’s Day Bowl Games and the 1942 team posted a 10-1 record and finished the season ranked fourth in the final Associated Press poll . In 1947, William Skelly turned the first shovel full of dirt at ground-breaking ceremonies for a 5,000seat north end zone expansion and the name changed to Skelly Stadium . The first home game that season saw Tulsa defeat West Texas State 26-13 on September 20 .

The 1950s began with Tulsa going undefeated at Skelly Stadium in the decades first three seasons, posting an 18-0-2 record covering 1950 through 1952 . In 1956, a Billy Graham rally brought a crowd of 28,000 on June 18, 1956 .

The Stadium Corporation was reorganized in 1964 and planned to build two high school stadiums (LaFortune and McLain) in exchange for Skelly Stadium . Skelly would be enlarged to 40,235 seats and the total program would cost $1,250,000 . The track was removed, the field lowered and box seats added . The excavated dirt was used to support the new south end zone stands . Seating was added to the west stands plus a new two story press box, escalator and elevator . The third story photo deck was added the next year . Skelly Stadium was returned to become the property of TU in 1968 .

The 1970s saw numerous players who went on to NFL careers grace the Skelly Stadium turf that decade, including NFL legends Steve Largent and Drew Pearson . The grass field was changed to Tartan Turf in the summer of 1972 . Professional soccer made its debut at Skelly Stadium with a preseason game in 1977, and a year later the Tulsa Roughnecks made Skelly Stadium its home . Tulsa won its 200th game at Skelly Stadium on September 15, 1979 with a 28-20 win over Southwestern Louisiana .

In the spring of 1980, a modern scoreboard and animated message center was installed above the south stands . John Cooper’s 1980 team ushered in the new decade with an 8-3 record, including a 5-0 mark in home games . Tulsa’s 10-1 record in 1982, including a 5-0 home record, was the fourth 10-win season in school history and just the second since Skelly Stadium was built .

Some of the biggest wins in Skelly Stadium history came in the 1990s . The Miracle on 11th Street was just the start on September 21, 1991, when the Hurricane came back from a 24-10 halftime deficit for a thrilling 35-34 victory over #15-ranked Texas A&M . In 1996, Tulsa opened its home season with a 27-20 win over #19 Iowa and two weeks later defeated Colorado State, 20-14, in its debut game of the Western Athletic Conference .

The 2000s began with the installation of a new FieldTurf, a synthetic artificial turf that looked and felt like natural grass . The north end zone stands were demolished in 2005 to make room for the new Case Athletic Complex that opened in 2007 . It was also announced in 2007, that Skelly Stadium would have a new name – H .A . Chapman Stadium and in 2008 the stadium went through a complete renovation . The renovated stadium opened on September 20 with a 56-14 victory over New Mexico .

Three 10-win seasons came in this decade with the first coming in 2010 at 10-3 . In 2012, Tulsa posted an 11-3 record and won the Conference USA Championship on its home turf with a 33-27 overtime win over UCF . Tulsa also claimed a 10-3 record in the 2016 season .