1966 Oklahoma Sooners football team

1966 Oklahoma Sooners football
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Record	6–4 (4–3 Big 8)
Head coach	Jim Mackenzie (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Barry Switzer (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Chuck Fairbanks (1st season)
Captains	Ed Hall Jim Riley
Home stadium	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
Seasons ←  1965 1967  →

1966 Big Eight Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 6 Nebraska $	6	–	1	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
Colorado	5	–	2	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
Missouri	4	–	2	–	1			6	–	3	–	1
Oklahoma State	4	–	2	–	1			4	–	5	–	1
Oklahoma	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Iowa State	2	–	3	–	2			2	–	6	–	2
Kansas	0	–	6	–	1			2	–	7	–	1
Kansas State	0	–	6	–	1			0	–	9	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1966 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma during the 1966 NCAA University Division football season. Led by first-year head coach Jim Mackenzie, they played their home games at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium and competed as members of the Big Eight Conference.

A longtime assistant at Arkansas, Mackenzie was hired in December 1965. ^[1]

Following one of the worst seasons in program history, the Sooners improved to 6–4, defeated rival Texas for the first time in nine years, ^[2] and upset undefeated rival Nebraska on Thanksgiving, ^{[3] [4]} Mackenzie was named the Coach of the Year in the Big Eight. ^[5]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 17	Oregon *		Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK		W 17–0	48,590	[6] [7]
September 24	at Iowa State		Clyde Williams Field Ames, IA		W 33–11	21,467
October 8	vs. Texas *		Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Red River Shootout)		W 18–9	75,504	[8]
October 15	at Kansas		Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS		W 35–0	37,252
October 22	No. 1 Notre Dame *	No. 10	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK		L 0–38	62,626
October 29	at Colorado		Folsom Field Boulder, CO		L 21–24	35,738
November 5	Kansas State		Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK		W 37–6	44,792
November 12	Missouri		Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK (rivalry)		L 7–10	55,585
November 24	No. 4 Nebraska		Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK (rivalry)	ABC	W 10–9	42,884
December 3	at Oklahoma State		Lewis Field Stillwater, OK (Bedlam Series)		L 14–15	36,581
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[9]

Game summaries

Oregon

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Oregon	0	0	0	0	0
• Oklahoma	0	0	17	0	17

• Date: September 17
• Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
• Game attendance: 48,590

Iowa State

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Oklahoma	14	3	9	7	33
Iowa St	2	9	0	0	11

• Date: September 24
• Location: Clyde Williams Field
• Game attendance: 21,467

Texas

See also: Red River Rivalry

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Texas	3	0	0	6	9
• Oklahoma	6	3	3	6	18

• Date: October 8
• Location: Cotton Bowl
• Game attendance: 75,504

Scoring summary

Q1		TEX	Conway 25 yard field goal	TEX 3-0
Q1		OKLA	Warmack 1 yard run (kick failed)	OKLA 6-3
Q2		OKLA	Vachon 31 yard field goal	OKLA 9-3
Q3		OKLA	Vachon 43 yard field goal	OKLA 12-3
Q4		OKLA	Vachon 20 yard field goal	OKLA 15-3
Q4		TEX	White 2 yard run (pass failed)	OKLA 15-9
Q4	2:19	OKLA	Vachon 41 yard field goal	OKLA 18-9

Source: ^{[2] [10]}

Kansas

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Oklahoma	7	7	14	7	35
Kansas	0	0	0	0	0

• Date: October 15
• Location: Memorial Stadium
• Game attendance: 37,252

Notre Dame

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Notre Dame	0	17	21	0	38
Oklahoma	0	0	0	0	0

• Date: October 22
• Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
• Game attendance: 62,626

See also: 1966 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

Colorado

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Oklahoma	7	0	14	0	21
• Colorado	7	0	10	7	24

• Date: October 29
• Location: Folsom Field
• Game attendance: 35,738

Kansas State

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Kansas St	0	0	0	6	6
• Oklahoma	0	10	13	14	37

• Date: November 5
• Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
• Game attendance: 44,792

Missouri

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Missouri	0	0	10	0	10
Oklahoma	0	0	0	7	7

• Date: November 12
• Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
• Game attendance: 55,585

Nebraska

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Nebraska	0	3	6	0	9
• Oklahoma	0	7	0	3	10

• Date: November 24
• Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
• TV announcers (ABC): Chris Schenkel, Bud Wilkinson

Oklahoma State

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Oklahoma	0	0	8	6	14
• Oklahoma St	0	8	0	7	15

• Date: December 3
• Location: Lewis Field

Rankings

See also: 1966 NCAA University Division football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend:██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	10	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

NFL/AFL draft

The following players were drafted into the National Football League or American Football League following the season. ^[11]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL team
2	29	Jim Riley	Tackle	Miami Dolphins
3	80	Ben Hart	Running back	New Orleans Saints
4	96	James Roy Jackson	Wide receiver	Oakland Raiders
9	236	Eugene Ross	Defensive back	New Orleans Saints
13	292	Tom Stidham	Kicker	New York Giants

References

1. "Mackenzie faces two big problems". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. Kansas. Associated Press. December 23, 1965. p. 10.
2. "Field goals boost OU past Texas". Victoria Advocate. Texas. Associated Press. October 9, 1966. p. 11A.
3. "Sooners upset Nebraska, 10-9". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. Kansas. Associated Press. November 25, 1966. p. 13.
4. "Nebraska loses bid for college crown". The Bulletin. Bend, Oregon. UPI. November 25, 1967. p. 10.
5. Van Valkenberg, Jim (December 1, 1966). "Nebraskans lead All-Big 8 team". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. Kansas. Associated Press. p. 15.
6. Uhrhammer, Jerry (September 18, 1966). "Oregon collegians blanked in openers". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. p. 1B.
7. "Sooners shut out Oregon". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. September 18, 1966. p. 6, sports.
8. "Texas races by Texas Tech". The Daily Oklahoman. September 25, 1966. Retrieved April 30, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
9. "SoonerSports.com". Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
10. "Field Goals Stop Texas." Palm Beach Post. October 9, 1966
11. "1967 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 29, 2020.