Players Report Sunday for 110th Season

NORMAN, Okla. -- Oklahoma football players officially reported to Norman Sunday afternoon to begin preparations for the program's 110th season. The Sooners host Bowling Green to kick off the 2004 schedule at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 4. The game will air live on ABC.

The players, numbering 105, arrived Sunday.

"There were no surprises. Everybody is accounted for," said OU head coach Bob Stoops. "We look forward to meeting with the media and fans on Monday and then getting down to practice on Monday afternoon. The attitude of the players was very good on Sunday. We have a lot of material that we have to cover in our orientation session, but they were attentative to those things. I think they're looking forward to moving out of that setting and onto the field."

The Sooners went through a two-hour orientation process Sunday afternoon, including nearly an hour with the athletics department's compliance staff covering a variety of NCAA regulations. Later, they had dinner as a team. There are 105 players currently on hand.

The University of Oklahoma Athletics Department will conduct its annual Meet the Sooners Day, which is sponsored by McDonald's, on Monday, Aug. 9, on the practice fields located just south of Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
2004 Meet the Sooners Day

The team will conduct a practice at 5:30 p.m. Monday evening. This year's preseason practices will take place at the Rugby Fields located west of the Lloyd Noble Center. This is a change from previous years when the team worked out at the Intramural Fields on Stinson St. All practices (prior to the first game week) are open unless otherwise announced.
Preaseason Practice & Scrimmage Schedule

Oklahoma Football
One of the most storied programs in college football, Oklahoma has amassed a 735-284-53 (.710) overall record with seven national championships, 38 conference titles and 23 bowl victories. Individually, the program has produced 138 All-Americans and 51 national award winners including four Heisman Trophy winners.

OU also holds the NCAA-record win streak of 47-straight and has spent an NCAA-best 95 weeks ranked No. 1 in the AP poll.

Since the end of WWII -- considered the modern era of college football -- Oklahoma has won more games (493) than any other program. Nebraska is second with 471 wins with Penn State (470), Alabama (470), Texas (457), Ohio State (454), Michigan (454), Tennessee (451), Notre Dame (442) and USC (433) ranking behind the Sooners.

Bob Stoops
Head Coach Bob Stoops enters his sixth season in Norman. Under Stoops, Oklahoma has won 55 games, spent 55 consecutive weeks in the national rankings, played in five bowl games (three BCS), won two Big 12 crowns and the 2000 National Championship.

When compared to other active head coaches with at least five years experience, Stoops' winning percentage of .833 tops all others, including Bobby Bowden of Florida State (.773), Lloyd Carr of Michigan (.768), Phillip Fulmer of Tennessee (.730) and Bill Snyder of Kansas State (.698). His 55 victories are the most by any Division 1 coach over the first five years of a coaching career since 1900.

Last Season
The 2003 Sooners spent the entire season ranked among the top three nationally including 15 weeks at No. 1. Oklahoma was back in the National Championship game for the second time in the last four years, was in a BCS game for the third time in four years and was in a January bowl contest for the fourth consecutive season.

The 2003 Sooners were the most individually decorated team in college football history with seven All-Americans. The squad also produced seven major award winners including the Heisman, Butkus, Bednarik, Lombardi, Nagurski, O'Brien and Thorpe.

The 2003 squad was the 10th at Oklahoma since 1938 to finish the regular season unbeaten and untied (1938, 1949, 1950, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1974, 1987, 2000, 2003).

The 2003 Sooners became the first team in school history to play before more than one million fans. Some 1,057,631 witnessed the 14 games in person. A Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium record was set with 84,027 fans for the Oklahoma State game. It marked the largest attendence for a sporting event in the history of the state.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Players Report Sunday for 110th Season

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