Surf Wiki
Save to docs
sports

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

1972 Oklahoma Sooners football team

American college football season

American college football season

FieldValue
year1972
teamOklahoma Sooners
sportfootball
imageOklahoma Sooners Logo 1966-79.png
conferenceBig Eight Conference
short_confBig 8
CoachRank2
APRank2
record11–1
conf_record6–1 or 3–4
head_coachChuck Fairbanks
hc_year6th
off_coachBarry Switzer
oc_year7th
off_schemeWishbone
def_coachLarry Lacewell
dc_year3rd
def_scheme[5–2](5-2-defense)
captainTom Brahaney
captain2Greg Pruitt
stadiumOklahoma Memorial Stadium
championBig 8 co-champion
Sugar Bowl champion
bowl[Sugar Bowl](1972-sugar-bowl-december)
bowl_resultW 14–0 vs. [Penn State](1972-penn-state-nittany-lions-football-team)

Sugar Bowl champion

The 1972 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 1972 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 overall record and were 6–1 in conference, later changed to 8–4 and 3–4. This was Chuck Fairbanks' last season as Sooner head coach; he left for the New England Patriots of the NFL.

The Sooners' 1972 record is marred by the use of an ineligible player. In self-reporting the violations to the NCAA, Oklahoma voluntarily forfeited eight games. The NCAA later penalized the program by reducing scholarships, TV appearances and bowl appearances. In 2008 a blogger for Washington, DC TV station WJLA stated, "The NCAA claims that according to a now-retired statistician of the era, and a review of its database (which the NCAA admits might not be totally complete) that forfeits were NOT part of the NCAA sanctions levied against the Sooners." A commenter stated, "The 1972 forfeits by Oklahoma were sanctioned by The Big Eight. As such Oklahoma's conference record was adjusted, while their overall record was not. In older Oklahoma media guide ... Oklahoma would show their record as 11–1 with a 3–4 conference record (reflecting 3 forfeits, despite the original 7 or 8 forfeited. ...) Also, if you check the media guides of the teams Oklahoma "forfeited" to, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma State, you'll not[e] similar adjustments. Each team didn't change their overall record, but changed their conference record." Oklahoma had used players (including Kerry Jackson, the team's first black quarterback) with falsified transcripts and on April 18, 1973, voluntarily forfeited eight games. Eventually, the Big Eight sanctioned the forfeit of three conference victories (Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma State), but Oklahoma now recognizes these as wins and claims the 1972 conference title.

Oklahoma was led by four All-Americans: Rod Shoate (OU's second three-time All-American), anchored the defensive line. The Sooners played seven ranked opponents (In order, #10 Texas, #9 Colorado, #14 Iowa State, #14 Missouri, #5 Nebraska, #20 Oklahoma State, and #5 Penn State), and four of these opponents finished the season ranked. Oklahoma's only loss on the field was in the fifth game against Colorado. The team concluded its season with a 14–0 victory over Penn State in the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Eve.

Pruitt led the Sooners in rushing with 1024 yards, Dave Robertson led in passing with 1136 yards, and Tinker Owens led in receiving (for the first of four consecutive seasons) with 430 yards. Pruitt led in scoring with 86 points, Shoate in tackles with 145, and Dan Ruster in interceptions with seven.

The 1972 Sooners twice posted 37 first downs, which was a school record that stood for 16 seasons.

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 = l |{{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 || seasonsource =

Game summaries

Utah State

  • Kerry Jackson 10 Rush, 109 Yds

Oregon

  • Greg Pruitt 11 Rush, 103 Yds, TD

Clemson

  • Tim Welch 24 Rush, 158 Yds

Vs. Texas

At Colorado

Kansas State

At Iowa State

Missouri

At Kansas

At Nebraska

Oklahoma State

  • Joe Washington 21 Rush, 109 Yds, 2 TD
  • Leon Crosswhite 27 Rush, 106 Yds

Sugar Bowl (vs Penn State)

Main article: 1972 Sugar Bowl (December)

  • Attendance: 84,031 (Tulane Stadium)
  • OU Owens 27 yd pass from Robertson (Fulcher kick)
  • OU Crosswhite 1 yd run (Fulcher kick)
  • Passing: OU Robertson 3/6, 88 Yds, TD, PSU Hufnagel 12/31, 147 Yds, INT
  • Rushing: OU Pruitt 21/86, PSU Nagle 10/22
  • Receiving: OU Owens 5/132, TD, PSU Scott 3/59

Rankings

Roster

  • Warren Harper (LB)
  • Gene Hochevar
  • Jimmy Johnson (DL)
  • Larry Lacewell (DC)
  • Bill Michael (OL)
  • Wendell Mosley (RB)
  • Jerry Pettibone
  • Barry Switzer (OC)

Awards and honors

  • All-American: Greg Pruitt, Rod Shoate, Tom Brahaney and Derland Moore

After the season

NFL draft

The following players were drafted into the National Football League following the season.

17424Larry RoachDefensive backChicago Bears

References

References

  1. "Memorial Stadium". [[CBS Interactive]].
  2. "OU Football Tradition – 42 Conference Titles". [[CBS Interactive]].
  3. "1972 Football Season". SoonerStats.com.
  4. White, Gordon S. Jr.. (19 April 1973). "OKLAHOMA AGREES TO FORFEIT GAMES Gives Up Eight Victories in Football in Case Involving Player's Altered Record". New York Times.
  5. (2017). "Touchdown: An American Obsession". Berkshire Publishing Group.
  6. Dozier, Ray. (2013). "The Oklahoma Football Encyclopedia: 2nd Edition". Simon and Schuster.
  7. Brant, Tim. (January 11, 2008). "After Further Review...The NCAA Weighs In". [[WJLA]]/NewsChannel 8.
  8. Cronley, Jay. (April 30, 1973). "Oklahoma Penalty: Illegal Procedure: Admitting that Quarterback Kerry Jackson's high school transcript was altered, the Sooners forfeited eight of their 1972 wins".
  9. Edwards, Mark. (June 13, 2009). "Forfeits, Voids, Vacations Make Mess of Records". [[Decatur Daily]].
  10. "1972 season". Sooner Sports Properties.
  11. "OU Football Tradition – All-Americans". [[CBS Interactive]].
  12. "2009 Football Record Book". Big12sports.com.
  13. "2009 Football Record Book". Big 12 Conference.
  14. (September 17, 1972). "Sooners rout Utah State". The Palm Beach Post-Times.
  15. Cawood, Neil. (September 24, 1972). "Big Green suffers its blackest day". Eugene Register-Guard.
  16. (September 24, 1972). "Sooners explode for over 700 yards in 68-3 win over Ducks". Lewiston Morning Tribune.
  17. . (1973). ["Clemson Football Media Guide - 1973"](https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/fball_media/63/). *[[Clemson University]]*.
  18. (October 15, 1972). "OU defense throttles Longhorns, 27–0". The Odessa American.
  19. (October 22, 1972). "Interceptions key in Colorado's win". The Billings Gazette.
  20. (October 29, 1972). "Sooners dump Kansas State". Longview Morning Journal.
  21. (November 5, 1972). "ISU's Majors impressed by Oklahoma; Fears NU most". Lincoln Journal Star.
  22. (November 12, 1972). "Defense! Sooner vise chokes Missouri". The Commercial Appeal.
  23. (November 19, 1972). "Sooners rip Kansas, 31–7". The San Francisco Examiner.
  24. (November 24, 1972). "Oklahoma spoils Devaney's party". Wisconsin State Journal.
  25. (December 3, 1972). "Sooners drop Okla. St. 38–15". Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
  26. (January 1, 1973). "Sooners 'Tinker' with Penn State Lions 14–0". Chicago Tribune.
  27. "1972 OU Football Season Schedule - SoonerStats - Historical scores, records, and stats for Oklahoma Sooners football, basketball, baseball, and softball".
  28. . ["Schedule/Results (1972 Oklahoma)"](https://stats.ncaa.org/teams/251685). *[[National Collegiate Athletic Association]]*.
  29. Palm Beach Post. 17 Sep 1972. Retrieved 2017-Jul-15.
  30. "Sooners again." ''Eugene Register-Guard''. October 1, 1972
  31. Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 November 19.
  32. [http://www.soonersports.com/fls/31000/pdfs/18fb_media_guide.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=31000 2018 Oklahoma football media guide]. Retrieved 2019-Jan-15.
  33. "All-American: Greg Pruitt". [[CBS Interactive]].
  34. "All-American: Rod Shoate". [[CBS Interactive]].
  35. "All-American: Tom Brahaney". [[CBS Interactive]].
  36. "All-American: Derland Moore". [[CBS Interactive]].
  37. "1973 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.

1972-big-eight-conference-football-season oklahoma-sooners-football-seasons sugar-bowl-champion-seasons 1972-in-sports-in-oklahoma
Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 1972 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