1977 Oklahoma Sooners Football Team

1977 Oklahoma Sooners football
1977 Oklahoma Sooners football
Big 8 champion
Orange Bowl, L 6–31 vs. Arkansas
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 6
AP	No. 7
Record	10–2 (7–0 Big 8)
Head coach	Barry Switzer (5th season);
Offensive coordinator	Galen Hall (5th season)
Offensive scheme	Wishbone
Defensive coordinator	Larry Lacewell (8th season)
Base defense	5–2
Captains	Karl Baldischwiler; Zac Henderson; Elvis Peacock;
Home stadium	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
	Seasons ← 1976 1978 →

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 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. This was Switzer's fifth conference title and third undefeated conference record in five seasons.

1977 Big Eight Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 7 Oklahoma $	7	–	0	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
Iowa State	5	–	2	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
No. 12 Nebraska	5	–	2	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Colorado	3	–	3	–	1	7	–	3	–	1
Missouri	3	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Kansas	2	–	4	–	1	4	–	6	–	1
Oklahoma State	2	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Kansas State	0	–	7	–	0	2	–	9	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The team was led by All-Americans George Cumby, Daryl Hunt, Reggie Kinlaw, and Zac Henderson Cumby was named Big Eight Defensive Player of the Year. After winning the conference title outright, it earned a trip to the Orange Bowl where it lost to Arkansas Razorbacks. 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. 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.

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.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 10	Vanderbilt*	No. 1	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK		W 25–23	71,184
September 17	Utah*	No. 5	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK		W 62–24	71,184
September 24	at No. 4 Ohio State*	No. 3	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	ABC	W 29–28	88,119
October 1	Kansas	No. 1	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK		W 24–9	71,184–72,331
October 8	vs. No. 5 Texas*	No. 2	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Red River Shootout)		L 6–13	72,032
October 15	at Missouri	No. 7	Faurot Field Columbia, MO (rivalry)		W 21–17	63,774
October 22	No. 16 Iowa State	No. 6	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK		W 35–16	71,184
October 29	at Kansas State	No. 4	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS		W 42–7	25,600
November 5	at Oklahoma State	No. 3	Lewis Field Stillwater, OK (Bedlam Series)		W 61–28	50,088
November 12	Colorado	No. 3	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	ABC	W 52–14	71,184
November 25	No. 11 Nebraska	No. 3	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK (rivalry)	ABC	W 38–7	71,184
January 1, 1978	vs. No. 6 Arkansas*	No. 2	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL (Orange Bowl)	NBC	L 6–31	60,987
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

1977 Oklahoma Sooners football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
HB	`43`	Vickey Ray Anderson	Jr
OT	`67`	Karl Baldischwiler	Sr
QB	`2`	Dean Blevins	Sr
OT	`63`	Sam Claphan	Jr
G	`75`	Terry Crouch	Fr
TE	`80`	Victor Hicks	Jr
WR	`21`	Bobby Kimball	Jr
RB	`30`	Kenny King	Jr
QB	`6`	Thomas Lott	Jr
WR	`11`	Fred Nixon	Fr
OT	`66`	Louis Oubre	So
HB	`22`	David Overstreet	Fr
RB	`4`	Elvis Peacock	Sr
SE	`24`	Steve Rhodes	So
G	`65`	Greg Roberts	Jr
RB	`34`	Jimmy Rogers	Jr
RB	`20`	Billy Sims	So
C	`51`	Mike Spencer	Sr
OT	`73`	Paul Tabor	Jr
OL	`61`	Jeff Ward	Jr
QB	`1`	J. C. Watts	So

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
LB	`28`	George Cumby	So
DT	`72`	John Goodman	Fr
DE	`90`	Rusty Griffis	Jr
DB	`33`	Bud Hebert	Jr
S	`19`	Zac Henderson	Sr
DT	`70`	Dave Hudgens	Sr
LB	`85`	Daryl Hunt	Jr
DE	`83`	Mike Joyce	So
DT	`62`	Reggie Kinlaw	Jr
DE	`58`	Reggie Mathis	Jr
DB	`3`	Darrol Ray	So
DE	`41`	Mike Rilley	Fr
DT	`74`	Phil Tabor	Jr
DT	`96`	Richard Turner	Fr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`10`	Uwe von Schamann	Jr

Head coach

Barry Switzer

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Donnie Duncan
Galen Hall (OC)
Warren Harper (LB)
Gene Hochevar
Larry Lacewell (DC)
Rex Norris (DL)
Gerald O'Dell
Jerry Pettibone
Lucious Selmon (DL)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster

Game summaries

Vanderbilt

	1	2	3	4	Total
Vanderbilt	5	10	0	8	23
• Oklahoma	0	11	0	14	25

Date: September 10
Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
Game attendance: 71,184

Utah

	1	2	3	4	Total
Utah	0	17	0	7	24
• Oklahoma	31	10	7	14	62

Date: September 17
Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
Game attendance: 71,184

At Ohio State

#3 Oklahoma Sooners (2–0) at #4 Ohio State Buckeyes (2–0)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Oklahoma	17	3	0	9	29
Ohio State	0	14	14	0	28

at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

Date: September 29
Game time: 1:55 p.m.
Game weather: Overcast, 78 °F (26 °C)
Game attendance: 88,119
Referee: Gene Calhoun (Big Ten)
TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson and Ara Parseghian
Box Score

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

OKLA – Billy Sims – 11 rushes, 60 yards, TD
OSU – Ron Springs – 14 rushes, 64 yards, TD

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

Kansas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Kansas	0	0	0	9	9
• Oklahoma	0	7	17	0	24

Date: October 1
Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
Game attendance: 71,184

Texas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Oklahoma	3	0	3	0	6
• Texas	0	10	0	3	13

Date: October 8
Location: Cotton Bowl
Game attendance: 72,032

Missouri

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Oklahoma	0	7	14	0	21
Missouri	0	10	0	7	17

Date: October 15
Location: Faurot Field
Game attendance: 63,774

Iowa State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Iowa St	9	0	7	0	16
• Oklahoma	7	7	7	14	35

Date: October 22
Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
Game attendance: 71,184

Kansas State

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Oklahoma	14	7	14	7	42
Kansas St	0	0	0	7	7

Date: October 29
Location: KSU Stadium
Game attendance: 25,600

Oklahoma State

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Oklahoma	10	11	24	16	61
Oklahoma St	14	0	14	0	28

Date: November 5
Location: Lewis Field
Game attendance: 50,088

Colorado

Colorado at #3 Oklahoma

	1	2	3	4	Total
Colorado	0	7	0	7	14
• Oklahoma	14	21	10	7	52

Date: November 12
Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
Game attendance: 71,184
TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson and Frank Broyles

Nebraska

	1	2	3	4	Total
Nebraska	0	7	0	0	7
• Oklahoma	0	21	3	14	38

Date: November 25
Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
Referee: Dan Foley (Big 8)
TV announcers (ABC): Bill Flemming and Rick Forzano

Orange Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Arkansas	14	0	10	7	31
Oklahoma	0	0	0	6	6

Date: January 2, 1978
Location: Orange Bowl, Miami
Game attendance: 60,987
Referee: R. Pete Williams
TV announcers (NBC): Jim Simpson and Merlin Olsen

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ 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

Awards and honors

All-American: George Cumby, Daryl Hunt, Reggie Kinlaw, and Zac Henderson
Big 8 Defensive Player of the Year: Cumby

Postseason

NFL draft

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

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Team
1	20	Elvis Peacock	Running back	Los Angeles Rams
3	84	Dave Hudgens	Tackle	Dallas Cowboys
7	178	Karl Baldischwiler	Tackle	Miami Dolphins
11	289	Richard Murray	Defensive tackle	Detroit Lions

References

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