1953 Oklahoma Sooners football | |
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National champion (B(QPRS), CFRA) Big 7 champion Orange Bowl champion | |
Orange Bowl, W 7–0 vs. Maryland | |
Conference | Big Seven Conference |
Ranking | |
Coaches | No. 5 |
AP | No. 4 |
Record | 9–1–1 (6–0 Big 7) |
Head coach |
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Captains |
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Home stadium | Oklahoma Memorial Stadium |
Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 4 Oklahoma $ | 6 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 1 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Missouri | 4 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kansas State | 4 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 3 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Colorado | 2 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nebraska | 2 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 6 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kansas | 2 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 8 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Iowa State | 1 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1953 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma during the 1953 college football season. Led by seventh-year head coach Bud Wilkinson, they played their home games at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma, and were members of the Big Seven Conference.
The Sooners dropped their opener at home to top-ranked Notre Dame, [1] tied at Pittsburgh, [2] then won nine straight, concluding with a 7–0 shutout of #1 Maryland in the Orange Bowl in Miami on New Year's Day. [3] [4] The final polls were released in late November, prior to the bowl games. [5] [6]
Oklahoma's initial win of the 1953 season, over Texas in Dallas on October 10, was the start of their record 47-game winning streak that extended more than four years, until November 1957. [7]
Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | Result | Attendance | Source |
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September 26 | No. 1 Notre Dame * | No. 6 | L 21–28 | 59,461 | ||
October 3 | at Pittsburgh * | No. 8 | T 7–7 | 28,152 | ||
October 10 | vs. No. 15 Texas * | No. 16 | W 19–14 | 75,504 | [8] | |
October 17 | Kansas | No. 12 |
| W 45–0 | 45,862 | |
October 24 | Colorado | No. 9 |
| W 27–20 | 36,565 | |
October 31 | at Kansas State | No. 9 |
| W 34–0 | 23,822 | |
November 7 | at Missouri | No. 8 | W 14–7 | 30,020 | ||
November 14 | Iowa State | No. 6 |
| W 47–0 | 43,713 | |
November 21 | at Nebraska | No. 4 | W 30–7 | 31,551 | ||
November 28 | Oklahoma A&M * | No. 4 |
| W 42–7 | 50,524 | |
January 1, 1954 | vs. No. 1 Maryland * | No. 4 | W 7–0 | 68,640–68,718 | [9] | |
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Week | |||||||||||
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Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Final |
AP | 6 (3) | 8 | 16 | 12 (1) | 9 | 9 (1) | 8 (1) | 6 (1) | 4 (3) | 4 (9) | 4 (10) |
The following players were drafted into the National Football League following the season. [11]
Round | Pick | Player | Position | NFL Team |
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2 | 16 | Larry Grigg | Back | Baltimore Colts |
10 | 116 | Merrill Green | Back | Washington Redskins |
14 | 164 | Roger Nelson | Tackle | Washington Redskins |
17 | 195 | J. D. Roberts | Guard | Green Bay Packers |
30 | 355 | Juel Sweatte | Back | Pittsburgh Steelers |
The split-T is an offensive formation in American football that was popular in the 1940s and 1950s. Developed by Missouri Tigers head coach Don Faurot as a variation on the T formation, the split-T was first used in the 1941 season and allowed the Tigers to win all but their season-opening match against the Ohio State Buckeyes and the 1942 Sugar Bowl versus Fordham. Jim Tatum and Bud Wilkinson, who coached under Faurot with the Iowa Pre-Flight Seahawks during World War II, brought the split-T to the Oklahoma Sooners in 1946. After Tatum left for Maryland in 1947, Wilkinson became the head coach and went on to win a record-setting 47 straight games and two national titles between 1953 and 1957.
The Oklahoma Sooners football team represents the University of Oklahoma in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level in the Big 12 Conference. The program began in 1895 and is one of the most successful in history, having won 944 games and possessing a .725 winning percentage, both sixth all-time. Oklahoma has appeared in the AP poll 897 times, including 101 No. 1 rankings, both third all-time. The program claims seven national championships, 50 conference championships, 167 first-team All-Americans, and a record-tying seven Heisman Trophy winners. The school has had 29 former players and coaches inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and holds the record for the longest winning streak in Division I history with 47 straight victories. Oklahoma is also the only program with which four coaches have won more than 100 games each.
Gerald J. Tubbs was an American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys. He was selected by Chicago Cardinals in the first round of the 1957 NFL Draft. After his retirement, he stayed with the Cowboys as an assistant coach for 22 years. He played college football at the University of Oklahoma.
The 1975 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 1975 NCAA Division I football season. The team was helmed by Barry Switzer in his third season as head coach. After sailing through their first eight games, Oklahoma suffered a surprising home loss to Kansas, which snapped a 28-game winning streak. With only two regular season games and a bowl trip left, any hopes for a repeat national championship looked slim.
The 1955 Oklahoma Sooners football team was an American football team that represented the University of Oklahoma in the Big Seven Conference during the 1955 college football season. Led by ninth-year head coach Bud Wilkinson, the Sooners compiled an 11–0 record, outscored opponents by a total of 385 to 60, won the Big 7 and national championships, and defeated No. 3 Maryland, 20–6, in the 1956 Orange Bowl. In the Orange Bowl, Oklahoma trailed by six at halftime, and then outscored Maryland, 20–0, in the second half. Oklahoma's 1955 season was the school's tenth consecutive conference championship and part of a record-setting 47-game winning streak that lasted from October 10, 1953, through November 9, 1957.
The 1954 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 1954 college football season, the sixtieth season of Sooner football. Led by eighth-year head coach Bud Wilkinson, they played their home games at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma, and were members of the Big Seven Conference.
The 1950 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 1950 college football season, the 56th season of Sooner football. Led by fourth-year head coach Bud Wilkinson, they played their home games at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, and competed in the Big Seven Conference.
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The 1958 NCAA University Division football season was notable in that it was the first to feature the two-point conversion. On January 13, 1958, the eleven-man NCAA Rules Committee unanimously approved a resolution to allow teams to choose between kicking an extra point after a touchdown, or running or passing from the three-yard line for two points. University of Michigan athletic director Fritz Crisler said at the meeting in Fort Lauderdale, "It's a progressive step which will make football more interesting for the spectators," adding that the rule "will add drama to what has been the dullest, most stupid play in the game."
The 1957 NCAA University Division football season saw two different national champions. Auburn was ranked first in the AP writers' poll taken at season's end, while Ohio State was first in the UPI coaches' poll. Auburn was ineligible for a bowl game, however, having been placed on probation indefinitely by the Southeastern Conference, after having paid two high school players $500 apiece.
The 1976 NCAA Division I football season ended with a championship for the Panthers of the University of Pittsburgh. Led by head coach Johnny Majors, the Pitt Panthers brought a college football championship to the home of the defending pro football champions, the Steelers. Pitt also had the Heisman Trophy winner, Tony Dorsett; the Panthers had been ranked ninth in the preseason AP poll.
The 1955 Sugar Bowl was an American college football bowl game played on January 1, 1955 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans. The game featured the fifth-ranked Navy Midshipmen and the sixth-ranked Ole Miss Rebels.
The 1955 college football season saw the Oklahoma Sooners win the national championship after going 10–0–0. Although the final poll was taken before the postseason bowl games, Oklahoma played against the nation's other unbeaten and untied (10–0–0) team, the Maryland Terrapins, at the Orange Bowl in Miami, and won 20–6.
The 1954 college football season saw three teams finish unbeaten and untied, with Ohio State Buckeyes and the UCLA Bruins sharing the national championship as the No. 1 picks of the AP Poll and the UPI Poll, respectively. Although the winners of the Big Ten and the Pacific conferences normally met in the Rose Bowl, a "no repeat" rule prevented the two champions from meeting. UCLA, which had been in the Rose Bowl earlier in the year, was replaced by conference runner-up USC.
The 1953 college football season finished with the Maryland Terrapins capturing the AP, INS, and UPI national championship after Notre Dame held the top spot for the first nine weeks. The No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners defeated Maryland in the Orange Bowl, but there was no further polling after the November 30 results were released. However, Notre Dame was selected as the National Champions by 10 other polls and the Oklahoma Sooners received first in two polls. However, despite the team receiving National Championship rings, the University of Notre Dame does not recognize this title due to their policy of only recognizing AP or coaches' poll titles during the polling era (1936–present). Maryland was also the first champion of the Atlantic Coast Conference, which had been formed earlier in 1953 by seven colleges formerly with the Southern Conference. The year 1953 also saw the Michigan State Spartans, previously an independent, join the Big Nine Conference, which then became the Big Ten; MSU won the conference title in that first year and was the conference representative to the Rose Bowl, which it won 28–20 over UCLA.
The 1952 college football season ended with the unbeaten Michigan State Spartans (9–0) and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (12–0) each claiming a national championship from different polls. Michigan State finished first according to two of the "wire service" polls, which both placed Georgia Tech second. Georgia Tech was first in the International News Service poll. UP and INS merged in 1958 to form UPI.
The 1985 Orange Bowl was the 51st edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Tuesday, January 1. Part of the 1984–85 bowl game season, it matched the fourth-ranked Washington Huskies of the Pacific-10 Conference and the #2 Oklahoma Sooners of the Big Eight Conference. Underdog Washington rallied to win 28–17.
The 1957 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma during the 1957 NCAA University Division football season. They played their home games at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma, and were members of the Big Seven Conference. They were two-time defending national champions, led by head coach Bud Wilkinson, in his eleventh season.
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The 1956 Orange Bowl was a college football bowl game between the Oklahoma Sooners and the Maryland Terrapins. It was played on January 2, because New Year's Day was a Sunday.