1977 Oklahoma Sooners football team

The 1977 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. Oklahoma was a member of the Big Eight Conference and played its home games in Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, where it has played its home games since 1923.[1] The team posted a 10–2 overall record and a 7–0 conference record to earn the Conference title under head coach Barry Switzer who took the helm in 1973.[2][3] This was Switzer's fifth conference title and third undefeated conference record in five seasons.[2]

1977 Oklahoma Sooners football
Big Eight champion
Orange Bowl, L 6–31 vs. Arkansas
Conference	Big 8 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 7
AP	No. 6
1977 record	10–2 (7–0 Big 8)
Head coach	Barry Switzer (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Galen Hall (5th season)
Offensive scheme	Wishbone
Defensive coordinator	Larry Lacewell (8th season)
Base defense	5–2
Home stadium	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 71,187)

1977 Big Eight Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 7 Oklahoma $	7	–	0	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
Iowa State	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
No. 12 Nebraska	5	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Colorado	3	–	3	–	1			7	–	3	–	1
Missouri	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Kansas	2	–	4	–	1			4	–	6	–	1
Oklahoma State	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Kansas State	0	–	7	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The team was led by All-Americans George Cumby,[4] Daryl Hunt,[5] Reggie Kinlaw,[6] and Zac Henderson[7] Cumby was named Big Eight Defensive Player of the Year.[4] After winning the conference title outright, it earned a trip to the Orange Bowl where it lost to Arkansas Razorbacks.[3] During the season, it faced five ranked opponents (In order, #4 Ohio State, #5 Texas, #16 Iowa State, #11 Nebraska, and #6 Arkansas). Four of its opponents ended the season ranked. It endured its only regular season defeat in the Red River Shootout against Texas.[3] The Sooners started the season with a four consecutive wins before losing to Texas and then won the next six before their unsuccessful bowl game.[3]

Elvis Peacock led the team in rushing with 812 yards, Dean Blevins led the team in passing with 385 yards, Steve Rhodes led the team in receiving with 272 yards, Uwe von Schamann led the team in scoring with 89 points, Hunt led the team in tackles with 159 tackles and Henderson posted 7 interceptions.[8]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 10	Vanderbilt*	No. 1	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK		W 25–23	71,184
September 17	Utah*	No. 5	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK		W 62–24	71,184
September 24	at No. 4 Ohio State*	No. 3	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	ABC	W 29–28	88,119
October 1	Kansas	No. 1	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK		W 24–9	71,184
October 8	vs. No. 5 Texas*	No. 2	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Red River Shootout)		L 6–13	72,032
October 15	at Missouri	No. 7	Faurot Field Columbia, MO (rivalry)		W 21–17	63,774
October 22	No. 16 Iowa State	No. 6	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK		W 35–16	71,184
October 29	at Kansas State	No. 4	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS		W 42–7	25,600
November 5	at Oklahoma State	No. 3	Lewis Field Stillwater, OK (Bedlam Series)		W 61–28	50,088
November 12	Colorado	No. 3	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	ABC	W 52–14	71,184
November 25	No. 11 Nebraska	No. 3	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK (rivalry)	ABC	W 38–7	71,184
January 1, 1978	vs. No. 6 Arkansas	No. 2	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL (Orange Bowl)	NBC	L 6–31	60,987
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[3]

Roster

1977 Oklahoma Sooners football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class HB Vickey Ray Anderson Jr OL 67 Karl Baldischwiler Sr QB 2 Dean Blevins Sr OL 63 Sam Claphan Sr TE 80 Victor Hicks Jr QB 15 Jay Jimerson Fr SE 21 Bobby Kimball Jr FB 30 Kenny King Jr QB 6 Thomas Lott Jr TE 86 Reggie Mathis Sr HB 4 Elvis Peacock Sr HB 20 Billy Sims So C 51 Mike Spencer Sr OL 61 Jeff Ward Jr QB 1 J.C. Watts So	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 28 George Cumby So DL 72 John Goodman So DE 90 Rusty Griffis Jr S 19 Zac Henderson Sr DL 70 Dave Hudgens Sr LB 85 Daryl Hunt Jr DE 83 Mike Joyce So DB 3 Darrol Ray So DL 74 Phil Tabor Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 10 Uwe von Schamann Jr	Head coach Barry Switzer Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Game summaries

Vanderbilt

1 2 3 4 Total Vanderbilt 5 10 0 8 23 • Oklahoma 0 11 0 14 25 Date: September 10 Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Game attendance: 71,184

Utah

1 2 3 4 Total Utah 0 17 0 7 24 • Oklahoma 31 10 7 14 62 Date: September 17 Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Game attendance: 71,184

Ohio State

1 2 3 4 Total • Oklahoma 17 3 0 9 29 Ohio St 0 14 14 0 28 Date: September 24 Location: Ohio Stadium Game attendance: 88,119

"The Kick" by Uwe von Schamann

Kansas

1 2 3 4 Total Kansas 0 0 0 9 9 • Oklahoma 0 7 17 0 24 Date: October 1 Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Game attendance: 71,184

[9]

Texas

1 2 3 4 Total Oklahoma 3 0 3 0 6 • Texas 0 10 0 3 13 Date: October 8 Location: Cotton Bowl Game attendance: 72,032

Missouri

1 2 3 4 Total • Oklahoma 0 7 14 0 21 Missouri 0 10 0 7 17 Date: October 15 Location: Faurot Field Game attendance: 63,774

Scoring summary Q2 MU Bess 16 yard interception return (Brockhaus kick) MU 7–0 Q2 MU Brockhaus 36 yard field goal MU 10–0 Q2 OU Hicks 14 yard pass from Lott (von Schamann kick) MU 10–7 Q3 OU Peacock 35 yard run (von Schamann kick) OU 14–10 Q3 OU Lott 1 yard run (von Schamann kick) OU 21–10 Q4 MU Winslow 2 yard pass from Woods (Brockhaus kick) OU 21–17

[10]

Iowa State

1 2 3 4 Total Iowa St 9 0 7 0 16 • Oklahoma 7 7 7 14 35 Date: October 22 Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Game attendance: 71,184

Kansas State

1 2 3 4 Total • Oklahoma 14 7 14 7 42 Kansas St 0 0 0 7 7 Date: October 29 Location: KSU Stadium Game attendance: 25,600

Oklahoma State

1 2 3 4 Total • Oklahoma 10 11 24 16 61 Oklahoma St 14 0 14 0 28 Date: November 5 Location: Lewis Field Game attendance: 50,088

Scoring summary 1 OKST Miller 2 yard run (Ankerson kick) Okla St 7–0 1 OKLA Peacock 48 yard pass from Lott (von Schamann kick) Tie 7–7 1 OKST Miller 71 yard run (Ankerson kick) Okla St 14–7 1 OKLA von Schamann 58 yard field goal Okla St 14–10 2 OKLA von Schamann 22 yard field goal Okla St 14–13 2 OKLA Overstreet 1 yard run (Lott run) Oklahaoma 21–14 3 OKST Bailey 1 yard run (Ankerson kick) Tie 21–21 3 OKST Miller 3 yard run (Ankerson kick) Okla St 28–21 3 OKLA Lott 80 yard run (von Schamann kick) Tie 28–28 3 OKLA Overstreet 43 yard run (von Schamann kick) Oklahoma 35–28 3 OKLA Hicks 10 yard pass from Blevins (von Schamann kick) Oklahoma 42–28 3 OKLA von Schamann 19 yard field goal Oklahoma 45–28 4 OKLA Peacock 57 yard run (von Schamann kick) Oklahoma 52–28 4 OKLA Nixon 3 yard run (von Schamann kick) Oklahoma 59–28 4 OKLA Safety, Scott tackled in end zone Oklahoma 61–28

[11]

Colorado

Colorado at #3 Oklahoma

1 2 3 4 Total Colorado 0 7 0 7 14 • Oklahoma 14 21 10 7 52 Date: November 12 Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Game attendance: 71,184

Scoring summary 1 OU Elvis Peacock 3-yard run (Uwe von Schamann kick) OU 7-0 1 OU Billy Sims 1-yard run (Uwe von Schamann kick) OU 14-0 2 OU Billy Sims 2-yard run (Uwe von Schamann kick) OU 21-0 2 OU Thomas Lott 6-yard run (Uwe von Schamann kick) OU 28-0 2 OU Steve Rhodes 28-yard pass from Thomas Lott (Uwe von Schamann kick) OU 35-0 2 COL James Mayberry 3-yard run (Pete Dadiotis kick) OU 35-7 3 OU Uwe von Schamann 36-yard field goal OU 38-7 3 OU Billy Sims 16-yard run (Uwe von Schamann kick) OU 45-7 4 OU Jeff Williams 15-yard run (Uwe von Schamann kick) OU 52-7 4 COL Bob Humble 1-yard run (Pete Dadiotis kick) OU 52-14

[12]

Nebraska

1 2 3 4 Total Nebraska 0 7 0 0 7 • Oklahoma 0 21 3 14 38 Date: November 25 Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium

Orange Bowl

Main article: 1978 Orange Bowl

1 2 3 4 Total • Arkansas 14 0 10 7 31 Oklahoma 0 0 0 6 6 Date: January 2, 1978 Location: Orange Bowl, Miami Game attendance: 60,987 Referee: R. Pete Williams TV announcers (NBC): Jim Simpson and Merlin Olsen

Scoring summary 1 ARK Sales 1-yard run (Little kick) Arkansas 7–0 1 ARK Calcagni 1-yard run (Little kick) Arkansas 14–0 3 ARK Little 32-yard FG Arkansas 17-0 3 ARK Sales 4-yard run (Little kick) Arkansas 24-0 4 OKLA Hicks 8-yard pass from Blevins (PAT failed) Arkansas 24–6 4 ARK White 20-yard run (Little kick) Arkansas 31–6

[13]

Awards and honors

• All-American: George Cumby,[4] Daryl Hunt,[5] Reggie Kinlaw,[6] and Zac Henderson[7]
• Big 8 Defensive Player of the Year: Cumby[4]

References

1. "Memorial Stadium". CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on June 28, 2010. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
2. "OU Football Tradition – 42 Conference Titles". CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on June 22, 2010. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
3. "1977 Football Season". SoonerStats.com. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
4. "All-American: George Cumby". CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 23, 2010. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
5. "All-American: Daryl Hunt". CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 25, 2010. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
6. "All-American: Reggie Kinlaw". CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 25, 2010. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
7. "All-American: Zac Henderson". CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 25, 2010. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
8. "2009 Football Record Book" (PDF). Big 12 Conference. p. 175. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
9. "Sooners Grind Kansas; Wolverines Chew A&M." Ocala Star-Banner. 1977 Oct 2.
10. Ocala Star-Banner. 1977 Oct 16. Retrieved 2018-Dec-22.
11. "Sooners keep control of State and conference, 61-28." Eugene Register-Guard. 1977 Nov 6.
12. "Sooners run over Colorado and play for the Orange." Eugene Register-Guard. November 13, 1977
13. "http://game.orangebowl.org/orange-bowl-history/the-history-of-the-orange-bowl/1970s/1978/

External links

• 1977 season at SoonerStats.com