Surf Wiki
Save to docs
sports

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

1971 Oklahoma Sooners football team

American college football season

American college football season

FieldValue
year1971
teamOklahoma Sooners
sportfootball
imageOklahoma Sooners Logo 1966-79.png
conferenceBig Eight Conference
short_confBig 8
CoachRank3
APRank2
record11–1
conf_record6–1
head_coachChuck Fairbanks
hc_year5th
off_coachBarry Switzer
oc_year6th
off_schemeWishbone
def_coachLarry Lacewell
dc_year2nd
def_scheme[4–3](4-3-defense)
captainSteve Aycock
captain2Glenn King
captain3Jack Mildren
stadiumOklahoma Memorial Stadium
championSugar Bowl champion
bowl[Sugar Bowl](1972-sugar-bowl-january)
bowl_resultW 40–22 vs. [Auburn](1971-auburn-tigers-football-team)

The 1971 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 1971 NCAA University Division 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. The team posted an 11–1 and 6–1 conference record under head coach Chuck Fairbanks. The Sooners finished the season ranked #2, losing only once, 35–31 to eventual national champion Nebraska in the 1971 Nebraska vs. Oklahoma football game, which has become known as Game of the Century.

In 1971, offensive coordinator Barry Switzer perfected the wishbone offense as it led the nation in both scoring (45 points average) and total yards (563 total yards average), and set an NCAA record by averaging over 472.4 (5196 in 11 games) rushing yards in a season. The team holds the current school record with 7.07 yards per rushing attempt and 7.6 yards per play as well as the records for 469.6 rushing yards (5635 in 12 games counting bowl game) and 566.83 yards of total offense per game. The team also holds the single-season rushing touchdowns record of 62 and rushing touchdowns per game record of 5.17. The team's records of 711 single-game rushing yards and 785 total yards stood for nine seasons. Jack Mildren's single-season record for yards rushing by a quarterback of 1140 would be broken three seasons later by Freddie Solomon.

Greg Pruitt set the current national single-season record with 8.98 yards per attempt, His 2066 single-season all-purpose yards record stood until Quentin Griffin broke it in 2002. Joe Wylie's kickoff return average record of 28.5 stood for 27 years.

The team was led by three All-Americans: Pruitt, Tom Brahaney and Jack Mildren. The team won its first nine games on a schedule that included five ranked opponents (In order, #17 USC, #3 Texas, #6 Colorado, #1 Nebraska and #5 Auburn). All five of these opponents finished the season ranked. The only loss was to Nebraska. They played Auburn in the Sugar Bowl and won 40–22.

The top three teams in the final AP poll for the 1971 season were from the Big Eight: Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Colorado. The top two teams had never been from the same conference, and this year had three.

Pruitt led the team in rushing with 1760 yards, Mildren led the team in passing yards for the third straight season with 889 yards and also in scoring with 120 points, Harrison led the team in receiving with 494 yards, Mark Driscoll led the team in tackles with 134, and John Shelly led the team in interceptions with 5.

Schedule

|{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = l |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w

Game summaries

SMU

Pittsburgh

USC

Texas

Colorado

Kansas State

Iowa State

Missouri

Kansas

Nebraska

Main article: 1971 Nebraska vs. Oklahoma football game

and Bill Flemming (sideline) Oklahoma and Nebraska battled back and forth in the Game of the Century in front of a sold-out crowd in Norman and over 55 million viewers on ABC on Thanksgiving Day. Nebraska struck first with a 72-yard Johnny Rodgers punt return, but Oklahoma pulled ahead by 3 by halftime. The Cornhuskers came back strong in the third quarter with two more touchdowns, but the Sooners responded with two of their own to retake the lead with only 7:10 remaining. Down by 3 points, the Huskers went on a final drive and with only 1:38 remaining, Jeff Kinney scored his fourth touchdown of the day for the lead and the win.

Oklahoma State

Frustrated from their painful loss to Nebraska, the Sooners showed their in-state archrival no mercy in the final game for Cowboys coach Floyd Gass, as well as the last game at Lewis Field (now Boone Pickens Stadium) before a massive renovation which expanded the stadium's capacity, removed the cinder track around the field, and replaced the grass surface with artificial turf. {{AFB game box start

Sugar Bowl

  • Passing: AUB Sullivan 20/44, 250 Yds, TD, INT, OU Mildren 1/4, 11 Yds
  • Rushing: AUB Unger 6 Rush, 38 Yds, 2 TD, OU Mildren 30 Rush, 149 Yds, 3 TD
  • Receiving: AUB Beasley 6 Rec, 117 Yds, OU Chandler 1 Rec, 11 Yds
  • OU Crosswhite 4 yd run (kick failed)
  • OU Mildren 5 yd run (Carroll kick)
  • OU Mildren 4 yd run (kick failed)
  • OU Mildren 7 yd run (kick failed)
  • OU Wylie 71 yd punt return (kick failed)
  • AUB Unger 1 yd run (Jett kick)
  • OU Caroll 53 yd FG
  • AUB Unger 1 yd run (Jett kick)
  • OU Pruitt 2 yd run (kick failed)
  • AUB Cannon 11 yd pass from Sullivan (run good)

Rankings

Roster

  • Galen Hall (WR)
  • Warren Harper (LB)
  • Gene Hochevar
  • Jimmy Johnson (DL)
  • Larry Lacewell (DC)
  • Bill Michael (OL)
  • Barry Switzer (OC)

Depth chart

| LDE_SchoolName

Awards and honors

  • All-American: Greg Pruitt, Tom Brahaney and Jack Mildren
  • Academic All-American: Mildren

After the season

NFL draft

The following players were selected in the National Football League draft following the season.

17417John ShelleyDefensive backBuffalo Bills

References

References

  1. "Memorial Stadium". [[CBS Interactive]].
  2. "OU Football Tradition – 42 Conference Titles". [[CBS Interactive]].
  3. "1971 Football Season". SoonerStats.com.
  4. "Football Bowl Subdivision Records". [[National Collegiate Athletic Association]].
  5. "2009 Football Record Book". Big 12 Conference.
  6. "2009 Division I Football Records Book: Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Records". [[National Collegiate Athletic Association]].
  7. "2009 Football Record Book". Big 12 Conference.
  8. "2009 Football Record Book". Big 12 Conference.
  9. (January 4, 1972). "Huskers solid No. 1". Reading Eagle.
  10. "2009 Football Record Book". Big 12 Conference.
  11. (September 19, 1971). "Sooners pin 30–0 defeat on Mustangs". The Austin American-Statesman.
  12. (September 26, 1971). "Oklahoma wallops Pitt as Wylie stars". The Houston Chronicle.
  13. (October 3, 1971). "Swift Sooners trample Trojans". Independent Press-Telegram.
  14. (October 10, 1971). "Sooners vanquish Longhorns, 48–27". The Arizona Republic.
  15. (October 17, 1971). "Awesome Sooners rip Colorado, 45 to 17". The Knoxville News-Sentinel.
  16. (October 24, 1971). "Not Vegas, but Sooners roll 711". Independent Press-Telegram.
  17. (October 31, 1971). "Sooners roll again as Mildren frolics". Omaha World-Herald.
  18. (November 7, 1971). "Missouri overcome, 20–3, after pinching Oklahoma's wishbone". The Des Moines Register.
  19. (November 14, 1971). "Sooners shell Kansas, 56–10". The Houston Chronicle.
  20. (November 26, 1971). "Kinney, 'Huskers knock stuffing out of Sooners". The Duluth News Tribune.
  21. (December 5, 1971). "Sooners bounce back, rip rival 'Pokes". The Hutchinson News.
  22. (January 2, 1972). "Sooners smack Auburn in Sugar Bowl matchup". The Daily Advertiser.
  23. (2008). "1971 Oklahoma Sooners Schedule". Soonerstats.com.
  24. . ["Schedule/Results (1971 Oklahoma)"](https://stats.ncaa.org/teams/130876). *[[National Collegiate Athletic Association]]*.
  25. "Sooners thunder past favored Longhorns, 48-27." ''Eugene Register-Guard''. October 10, 1971
  26. [http://soonerstats.com/football/games/recap.cfm?GameID=684 1971 Oklahoma vs. Texas recap - SoonerStats.com]
  27. "Oklahoma Routs Buffs." Palm Beach Post. October 17, 1971
  28. [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WUUyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XbYFAAAAIBAJ&pg=830%2C4416035 "Sooners Romp, 75-28." Palm Beach Post. 1971 Oct 24.]
  29. (November 26, 1971). "'Huskers dump Sooners". Eugene Register-Guard.
  30. (November 26, 1971). "Kinney leads Nebraska triumph". Spokesman-Review.
  31. Jenkins, Dan. (December 6, 1971). "Nebraska rides high".
  32. "Oklahoma Ropes Cowboys, 58-14." Palm Beach Post. December 5, 1971
  33. [http://www.soonersports.com/fls/31000/pdfs/18fb_media_guide.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=31000 2018 Oklahoma football media guide]. Retrieved 2019-Jan-15.
  34. "All-American: Greg Pruitt". [[CBS Interactive]].
  35. "All-American: Tom Brahaney". [[CBS Interactive]].
  36. "All-American: Jack Mildren". [[CBS Interactive]].
  37. "1972 NFL Draft Listing".
  38. "Oklahoma Drafted Players/Alumni".
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

1971-big-eight-conference-football-season oklahoma-sooners-football-seasons sugar-bowl-champion-seasons 1971-in-sports-in-oklahoma
Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 1971 Oklahoma Sooners football team — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report