American college football season
The 1977 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 1977 NCAA Division I 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.[ 1] The team posted a 10–2 overall record and a 7–0 conference record to earn the Conference title under head coach Barry Switzer who took the helm in 1973.[ 2] [ 3] This was Switzer's fifth conference title and third undefeated conference record in five seasons.[ 2]
The team was led by All-Americans George Cumby ,[ 4] Daryl Hunt ,[ 5] Reggie Kinlaw ,[ 6] and Zac Henderson [ 7] Cumby was named Big Eight Defensive Player of the Year.[ 4] After winning the conference title outright, it earned a trip to the Orange Bowl where it lost to Arkansas Razorbacks .[ 3] During the season, it faced five ranked opponents (In order, No. 4 Ohio State , No. 5 Texas , No. 16 Iowa State , No. 11 Nebraska , and No. 6 Arkansas). Four of its opponents ended the season ranked. It endured its only regular season defeat in the Red River Shootout against Texas.[ 3] The Sooners started the season with a four consecutive wins before losing to Texas and then won the next six before their unsuccessful bowl game.[ 3]
Elvis Peacock led the team in rushing with 812 yards, Dean Blevins led the team in passing with 385 yards, Steve Rhodes led the team in receiving with 272 yards, Uwe von Schamann led the team in scoring with 89 points, Hunt led the team in tackles with 159 tackles and Henderson posted 7 interceptions .[ 8]
Date Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance September 10 Vanderbilt * No. 1 W 25–2371,184 September 17 Utah * No. 5 Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK W 62–2471,184 September 24 at No. 4 Ohio State * No. 3 ABC W 29–28 88,119 October 1 Kansas No. 1 Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK W 24–971,184–72,331 October 8 vs. No. 5 Texas * No. 2 L 6–1372,032 October 15 at Missouri No. 7 W 21–1763,774 October 22 No. 16 Iowa State No. 6 Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK W 35–1671,184 October 29 at Kansas State No. 4 W 42–725,600 November 5 at Oklahoma State No. 3 W 61–2850,088 November 12 Colorado No. 3 Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK ABC W 52–1471,184 November 25 No. 11 Nebraska No. 3 Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK (rivalry ) ABC W 38–771,184 January 1, 1978 vs. No. 6 Arkansas * No. 2 NBC L 6–3160,987 *Non-conference game HomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
[ 3]
1977 Oklahoma Sooners football team roster Players Coaches Offense Defense Special teams Head coach Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster
1 2 3 4 Total Vanderbilt 5 10 0 8 23 • Oklahoma 0 11 0 14 25
1 2 3 4 Total Utah 0 17 0 7 24 • Oklahoma 31 10 7 14 62
Date: September 17Location: Oklahoma Memorial StadiumGame attendance: 71,184
Game information First quarter
OKLA – Elvis Peacock 33-yard run (Uwe von Schamann kick), 11:59. Oklahoma 7–0. Drive: 6 plays, 61 yards, 2:09. OKLA – Billy Sims 14-yard run (Uwe von Schamann kick), 11:05. Oklahoma 14–0. Drive: 2 plays, 16 yards, 0:45. OKLA – Uwe von Schamann 23-yard field goal, 3:29. Oklahoma 17–0. Drive: 12 plays, 60 yards, 6:08. Second quarter
OKLA – Uwe von Schamann 33-yard field goal, 12:58. Oklahoma 20–0. Drive: 9 plays, 45 yards, 3:31. OSU – Ron Springs 30-yard run (Vlade Janakievski kick), 10:32. Oklahoma 20–7. Drive: 7 plays, 80 yards, 2:23. OSU – Rod Gerald 19-yard run (Vlade Janakievski kick), 9:46. Oklahoma 20–14. Drive: 1 play, 19 yards, 0:06. Third quarter
OSU – Joel Payton 1-yard run (Vlade Janakievski kick), 8:04. Ohio State 21–20. Drive: 7 plays, 48 yards, 3:51. OSU – Jimmy Moore 16-yard pass from Greg Castignola (Vlade Janakievski kick), 4:44. Ohio State 28–20. Drive: 5 plays, 33 yards, 2:01. Fourth quarter
OKLA – Elvis Peacock 1-yard run (run failed), 1:29. Ohio State 28–26. Drive: 12 plays, 57 yards, 4:55. OKLA – Uwe von Schamann 41-yard field goal, 0:03. Oklahoma 29–28. Drive: 5 plays, 50 yards, 1:18. Top passers OKLA – Dean Blevins – 3/5, 44 yards, 2 INT OSU – Greg Castignola – 2/2, 29 yards, TD Top rushers Top receivers OKLA – Steve Rhodes – 3 receptions, 44 yards OSU – Jimmy Moore – 1 reception, 16 yards, TD
"The Kick" - Uwe von Schamann pretended to conduct the crowd as they chanted prior to his field goal attempt
1 2 3 4 Total Kansas 0 0 0 9 9 • Oklahoma 0 7 17 0 24
Date: October 1Location: Oklahoma Memorial StadiumGame attendance: 71,184
[ 9]
1 2 3 4 Total Oklahoma 3 0 3 0 6 • Texas 0 10 0 3 13
Date: October 8Location: Cotton Bowl Game attendance: 72,032
1 2 3 4 Total • Oklahoma 0 7 14 0 21 Missouri 0 10 0 7 17
Date: October 15Location: Faurot Field Game attendance: 63,774 Scoring summary Q2 MU Bess 16 yard interception return (Brockhaus kick) MU 7–0 Q2 MU Brockhaus 36 yard field goal MU 10–0 Q2 OU Hicks 14 yard pass from Lott (von Schamann kick) MU 10–7 Q3 OU Peacock 35 yard run (von Schamann kick) OU 14–10 Q3 OU Lott 1 yard run (von Schamann kick) OU 21–10 Q4 MU Winslow 2 yard pass from Woods (Brockhaus kick) OU 21–17
[ 10]
1 2 3 4 Total Iowa St 9 0 7 0 16 • Oklahoma 7 7 7 14 35
Date: October 22Location: Oklahoma Memorial StadiumGame attendance: 71,184
1 2 3 4 Total • Oklahoma 14 7 14 7 42 Kansas St 0 0 0 7 7
Date: October 29Location: KSU Stadium Game attendance: 25,600
1 2 3 4 Total • Oklahoma 10 11 24 16 61 Oklahoma St 14 0 14 0 28
Date: November 5Location: Lewis Field Game attendance: 50,088 Scoring summary 1 OKST Miller 2 yard run (Ankerson kick) Okla St 7–0 1 OKLA Peacock 48 yard pass from Lott (von Schamann kick) Tie 7–7 1 OKST Miller 71 yard run (Ankerson kick) Okla St 14–7 1 OKLA von Schamann 58 yard field goal Okla St 14–10 2 OKLA von Schamann 22 yard field goal Okla St 14–13 2 OKLA Overstreet 1 yard run (Lott run) Oklahoma 21–14 3 OKST Bailey 1 yard run (Ankerson kick) Tie 21–21 3 OKST Miller 3 yard run (Ankerson kick) Okla St 28–21 3 OKLA Lott 80 yard run (von Schamann kick) Tie 28–28 3 OKLA Overstreet 43 yard run (von Schamann kick) Oklahoma 35–28 3 OKLA Hicks 10 yard pass from Blevins (von Schamann kick) Oklahoma 42–28 3 OKLA von Schamann 19 yard field goal Oklahoma 45–28 4 OKLA Peacock 57 yard run (von Schamann kick) Oklahoma 52–28 4 OKLA Nixon 3 yard run (von Schamann kick) Oklahoma 59–28 4 OKLA Safety, Scott tackled in end zone Oklahoma 61–28
[ 11]
Colorado at #3 Oklahoma 1 2 3 4 Total Colorado 0 7 0 7 14 • Oklahoma 14 21 10 7 52
Scoring summary 1 OU Elvis Peacock 3-yard run (Uwe von Schamann kick)OU 7-0 1 OU Billy Sims 1-yard run (Uwe von Schamann kick)OU 14-0 2 OU Billy Sims 2-yard run (Uwe von Schamann kick) OU 21-0 2 OU Thomas Lott 6-yard run (Uwe von Schamann kick) OU 28-0 2 OU Steve Rhodes 28-yard pass from Thomas Lott (Uwe von Schamann kick) OU 35-0 2 COL James Mayberry 3-yard run (Pete Dadiotis kick) OU 35-7 3 OU Uwe von Schamann 36-yard field goal OU 38-7 3 OU Billy Sims 16-yard run (Uwe von Schamann kick) OU 45-7 4 OU Jeff Williams 15-yard run (Uwe von Schamann kick) OU 52-7 4 COL Bob Humble 1-yard run (Pete Dadiotis kick) OU 52-14
[ 12]
1 2 3 4 Total Nebraska 0 7 0 0 7 • Oklahoma 0 21 3 14 38
1 2 3 4 Total • Arkansas 14 0 10 7 31 Oklahoma 0 0 0 6 6
Scoring summary 1 ARK Sales 1-yard run (Little kick) Arkansas 7–0 1 ARK Calcagni 1-yard run (Little kick) Arkansas 14–0 3 ARK Little 32-yard FG Arkansas 17-0 3 ARK Sales 4-yard run (Little kick) Arkansas 24-0 4 OKLA Hicks 8-yard pass from Blevins (PAT failed) Arkansas 24–6 4 ARK White 20-yard run (Little kick) Arkansas 31–6
[ 13]
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking Week Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Final AP 1 5 3 1 2 7 6 4 3 3 3 3 2 7 Coaches Poll Not released 6 4 2 3 6 6 3 3 3 2 2 2 6
The following players were drafted into the National Football League following the season.[ 14]
^ "Memorial Stadium" . CBS Interactive . Archived from the original on June 28, 2010. Retrieved June 30, 2010 . ^ a b "OU Football Tradition – 42 Conference Titles" . CBS Interactive . Archived from the original on June 22, 2010. Retrieved June 30, 2010 . ^ a b c d e "1977 Football Season" . SoonerStats.com. Retrieved June 30, 2010 . ^ a b c d "All-American: George Cumby" . CBS Interactive . Archived from the original on May 23, 2010. Retrieved June 29, 2010 . ^ a b "All-American: Daryl Hunt" . CBS Interactive . Archived from the original on May 25, 2010. Retrieved June 29, 2010 . ^ a b "All-American: Reggie Kinlaw" . CBS Interactive . Archived from the original on May 25, 2010. Retrieved June 29, 2010 . ^ a b "All-American: Zac Henderson" . CBS Interactive . Archived from the original on May 25, 2010. Retrieved June 29, 2010 . ^ "2009 Football Record Book" (PDF) . Big 12 Conference. p. 175. Retrieved June 30, 2010 . ^ "Sooners Grind Kansas; Wolverines Chew A&M." Ocala Star-Banner . 1977 Oct 2. ^ Ocala Star-Banner. 1977 Oct 16. Retrieved 2018-Dec-22. ^ "Sooners keep control of State and conference, 61-28." Eugene Register-Guard . 1977 Nov 6. ^ "Sooners run over Colorado and play for the Orange." Eugene Register-Guard . November 13, 1977 ^ "The 1970s" . Orange Bowl . ^ "1978 NFL Draft Listing" . Pro-Football-Reference.com . Retrieved November 29, 2020 .
Venues Bowls & rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons National championship seasons in bold
MVIAA Big Six Big Seven Big Eight National championships in bold