1970 Oklahoma Sooners football team

1970 Oklahoma Sooners football
ConferenceBig Eight Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 15
APNo. 20
Record7–4–1 (5–2 Big 8)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorBarry Switzer (5th season)
Offensive schemeI formation (first 3 games)
Wishbone (final 9 games)
Defensive coordinatorLarry Lacewell (1st season)
Captains
  • Steve Casteel
  • Monty Johnson
Home stadiumOklahoma Memorial Stadium
Seasons
← 1969
1971 →
1970 Big Eight Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Nebraska $ 7 0 0 11 0 1
No. 20 Oklahoma 5 2 0 7 4 1
Kansas State 5 2 0 6 5 0
Missouri 3 4 0 5 6 0
Colorado 3 4 0 6 5 0
Kansas 2 5 0 5 6 0
Oklahoma State 2 5 0 4 7 0
Iowa State 1 6 0 5 6 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1970 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 1970 NCAA University Division football season, the 76th season of Sooner football. The team was led by head coach Chuck Fairbanks in his fourth season as the OU head coach. They played their home games at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. They were a member of the Big Eight Conference.

Conference play began at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado on October 17, with a win over the Colorado Buffaloes, and ended on November 28 at home in Norman with a win over Oklahoma State in the annual Bedlam Series. The Sooners lost their second conference game to Kansas State; the Wildcats' next victory in the series did not occur until 1993.

Following a loss in their third game to Oregon State, the Sooners installed the wishbone offense during the open week prior to the Red River Shootout against Texas. The Sooners ran the wishbone continuously, save for a switch to the I formation in 1982 and 1983, until the early 1990s.

After finishing the regular season with a record of 7–4 (5–2 in Big 8 play), the Sooners were invited to play in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl, where they tied the Alabama Crimson Tide, 24–24.

Following the season, John Watson was selected in the seventh round of the 1971 NFL draft, and Steve Casteel was chosen in the 10th.

Schedule

[edit]
DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 12at SMU*No. T–20W 28–1151,909
September 19Wisconsin*No. 18W 21–758,100
September 26Oregon State*No. 14
  • Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
  • Norman, OK
L 14–2354,700
October 10vs. No. 2 Texas*
ABCL 9–4171,938
October 17at No. 13 ColoradoW 23–1547,700
October 24Kansas State
  • Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
  • Norman, OK
L 14–1960,800
October 31at Iowa StateW 29–2826,672
November 7Missouri
  • Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
  • Norman, OK (rivalry)
W 28–1354,750
November 14at KansasW 28–2436,820
November 21at No. 3 NebraskaL 21–2867,392
November 28Oklahoma State
W 66–660,300
December 31vs. Alabama*No. 24T 24–2453,822[1]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[2]

Rankings

[edit]
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked т = Tied with team above or below
Week
PollPre12345678910111213Final
AP20 т1814202020 т

Roster

[edit]
1970 Oklahoma Sooners football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
HB 35 Roy Bell Jr
FB 17 Leon Crosswhite So
OE 82 Al Chandler So
QB 11 Jack Mildren Jr
SE 83 Greg Pruitt So
QB 15 Dave Robertson So
OT 71 Nelson Todd Jr
OT 76 John Watson Sr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
LB 43 Steve Aycock Jr
WB 37 Gary Jamar Sr
S 25 Monty Johnson Sr
DT 99 John Nicholson Sr
DHB 19 Geoffrey Nordgren Jr
DHB 18 Steve O'Shaughnessy Jr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster

NFL draft

[edit]

The following players were selected into the 1971 NFL draft following the season.[3]

Round Pick Player Position NFL team
7 179 John Watson Tackle San Francisco 49ers
10 258 Steve Casteel Linebacker Cleveland Browns
17 427 Monty Johnson Defensive back Green Bay Packers

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Darling, Ed (January 1, 1971). "Tide–Sooner deadlock some kind of game". The Tuscaloosa News. p. 11. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
  2. ^ 1970 OU Football Season Schedule – SoonerStats – Historical scores, records, and stats for Oklahoma Sooners football, basketball, baseball, and softball
  3. ^ "1971 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 29, 2020.