1980 Oklahoma Sooners football team

The 1980 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season. Oklahoma was a member of the Big Eight Conference and played its home games in Gaylord Family 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 outright under head coach Barry Switzer who took the helm in 1973.[2][3] This was Switzer's eighth conference title and fifth undefeated conference record in eight seasons.[2]

1980 Oklahoma Sooners football
Big Eight champion Orange Bowl champion
Orange Bowl, W 18–17 vs. Florida State
Conference	Big 8 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 3
AP	No. 3
1980 record	10–2 (7–0 Big 8)
Head coach	Barry Switzer (8th season)
Offensive coordinator	Galen Hall (8th season)
Offensive scheme	Wishbone
Defensive coordinator	Rex Norris (3rd season)
Captain	Steve Rhodes Richard Turner J.C. Watts
Home stadium	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 75,008)

1980 Big Eight Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 3 Oklahoma $	7	–	0	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 7 Nebraska	6	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
Missouri	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Iowa State	3	–	4	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Oklahoma State	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Kansas State	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Kansas	1	–	6	–	0			2	–	8	–	1
Colorado	1	–	6	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The team was led by All-Americans Terry Crouch,[4] and Louis Oubre,[5] After winning the conference title outright, it earned a trip to the Orange Bowl for a rematch with Florida State.[3] During the season, it faced four ranked opponents (In order, #3 Texas, #6 North Carolina, #4 Nebraska and #2 Florida State). The last three of these opponents finished the season ranked. It endured two early season losses against Stanford and Texas in the Red River Shootout.[3] The Sooners finished the season with an eight consecutive wins.[3]

David Overstreet led the team in rushing with 720 yards, J.C. Watts led the team in passing with 1037 yards, Bobby Grayson led the team in receiving with 389 yards, Watts led the team in scoring with 108 points, Mike Coats led the team with 126 tackles and Gary Lowell posted 4 interceptions.[6] The team set the current school records of 82 points and 875 total yards against Colorado.[7]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 13	12:30 p.m.	Kentucky*	No. 4	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK		W 29–7	75,668[8]
September 27	1:30 p.m.	Stanford*	No. 4	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK		L 14–31	75,811[8]
October 4	3:00 p.m.	at Colorado	No. 12	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	ESPN	W 82–42	46,980[8]
October 11	11:30 a.m.	vs. No. 3 Texas*	No. 12	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Red River Shootout)	ABC	L 13–20	72,032[8]
October 18	1:30 p.m.	Kansas State	No. 17	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK		W 35–21	74,638[8]
October 25	1:30 p.m.	at Iowa State	No. 17	Cyclone Stadium Ames, IA		W 42–7	50,978[8]
November 1	1:30 p.m.	No. 6 North Carolina*	No. 16	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	ESPN	W 41–7	75,738[8]
November 8	1:30 p.m.	at Kansas	No. 11	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS		W 21–19	40,150[8]
November 15	1:30 p.m.	Missouri	No. 10	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK (rivalry)	SNI	W 17–7	75,325[8]
November 22	11:30 a.m.	at No. 4 Nebraska	No. 9	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)	ABC	W 21–17	74,684[8]
November 29	1:30 p.m.	Oklahoma State	No. 6	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK (Bedlam Series)		W 63–14	75,681[8]
January 1, 1981	7:00 p.m.	vs. No. 2 Florida State	No. 4	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL (Orange Bowl)	NBC	W 18–17	71,043[8]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Roster

1980 Oklahoma Sooners football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class T 79 Lyndle Byford Jr G 69 Jim Carner Sr G 75 Terry Crouch Jr T 66 Louis Oubre Sr HB 22 David Overstreet Sr WR 24 Steve Rhodes Sr QB 8 Darrell Shepard Jr QB 1 J. C. Watts Sr FB 32 Stanley Wilson So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 31 Allen Anderson Fr DT 67 Keith Angel Sr DB 17 Basil Banks Sr LB 38 Thomas Benson Fr NG 90 John Blake So LB 47 Sherdeill Breathett Jr DT 78 Scott Dawson Jr DT 92 Keith Gary Sr LB 49 Jackie Shipp Fr DT 96 Richard Turner Sr DE 88 Mike Weddington So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 9 John Hoge So	Head coach Barry Switzer Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Forrest Valora 82 TE

Game summaries

Kentucky

1 2 3 4 Total Kentucky 7 0 0 0 7 • Oklahoma 0 0 7 22 29 Date: September 13 Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman, Oklahoma Game attendance: 74,852

Scoring summary 1 KEN Campbell 8 yard pass from Henry (Griggs kick) Kentucky 7–0 3 OKLA Winters 13 yard run (Keeling kick) Tie 7–7 4 OKLA Overstreet 3 yard run (Keeling kick) Oklahoma 14–7 4 OKLA Safety, intentional grounding in end zone Oklahoma 16–7 4 OKLA Watts 12 yard run (kick failed) Oklahoma 22–7 4 OKLA Grayson 74 yard pass from Watts (Keeling kick) Oklahoma 29–7

[9]

at Nebraska

#9 Oklahoma at #4 Nebraska

1 2 3 4 Total • #9 Oklahoma 0 14 0 7 21 #4 Nebraska 10 0 0 7 17 Date: November 22 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 76,322

Oklahoma State

See also: Bedlam Series

Oklahoma State Cowboys at #6 Oklahoma Sooners

1 2 3 4 Total Oklahoma State 0 7 7 0 14 • #6 Oklahoma 14 14 21 14 63 Date: Saturday, November 29 Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman, Oklahoma

Scoring summary 1 OU Rhymes 66-yard run (Keeling kick) OU 7-0 1 OU Watts 22-yard run (Keeling kick) OU 14-0 2 OU Watts 5-yard run (Keeling kick) OU 21-0 2 OU Watts 5-yard run (Keeling kick) OU 28-0 2 OSU Spencer recovered blocked punt in end zone (Ankerson kick) OU 28-7 3 OU Watts 15-yard run (Keeling kick) OU 35-7 3 OU Shepard 1-yard run (Keeling kick) OU 42-7 3 OSU Campbell 11-yard pass from Treber (Ankerson kick) OU 42-14 3 OU J. Ledbetter 95-yard kickoff return (Keeling kick) OU 49-14 4 OU J. Ledbetter 1-yard run (Keeling kick) OU 56-14 4 OU J. Ledbetter 24-yard run (Keeling kick) OU 63-14

[10]

Awards and honors

• All-American: Terry Crouch,[4] and Louis Oubre,[5]

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. "1980 Football Season". SoonerStats.com. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
4. "All-American: Terry Crouch". CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 25, 2010. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
5. "All-American: Louis Oubre". CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 25, 2010. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
6. "2009 Football Record Book" (PDF). Big12sports.com. p. 175. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
7. "2009 Football Record Book" (PDF). Big12sports.com. p. 164. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
8. http://www.soonerstats.com/football/seasons/schedule.cfm?seasonid=1980
9. "Oklahoma Sluggish, But Beats Kentucky." Palm Beach Post. 1980 Sept 14.
10. "Watts Runs Oklahoma Into the Orange Bowl". The Register-Guard. Eugene. November 30, 1980. p. 3B.

External links

• 1980 season at SoonerStats.com