Top 10 Sooner Football Season Openers

This feature was released on the O-Zone last week. It is provided on SoonerSports.com in advance of Oklahoma's 2005 season opener against TCU on Saturday. Click here to learn how you can get in the O-Zone.

Opener No. 10 - Oklahoma 42, Baylor 14
September 15, 1973 at Waco, Texas

Barry Switzer's first game as Oklahoma's head coach in 1973 was against a much-improved Baylor team coached by Grant Teaff in Waco. Although the Sooners had posted an 11-1-0 record in 1972, the team returned just seven of 22 starters. Some preseason polls rated the Sooners no higher than fifth in the rugged Big 8 Conference.

Undaunted by the low expectations, Switzer's young Sooners ran the wishbone to perfection against the Bears. Three Oklahoma backs eclipsed the 100-yard mark including Joe Washington (113 yards), Waymon Clark (113), and quarterback Steve Davis (110). OU rolled to a 42-14 victory.

“I've said all along that we are young and inexperienced," said Switzer after the game. "I never said we weren't going to be good.” Oklahoma went on to a 10-0-1 record with a 7-7 tie at Southern Cal the lone blemish.

Opener No. 9 - Oklahoma 47, West Virginia 14
September 27, 1958 at Norman, Okla.

No. 2 Oklahoma hosted the 13th-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers in the 1958 season opener at Owen Field. Under the watchful eye of legendary head coach Bud Wilkinson, OU rolled up 599 yards of total offense, including a school-record 264 yards passing, en route to a 47-14 win.

The lopsided victory over Art “Pappy” Lewis and West Virginia propelled the Sooners to No. 1 in both the UPI and AP polls the following week.

Opener No. 8 - Oklahoma 38, UCLA 3
September 6, 1986 at Norman, Okla.

No. 1 OU jumped out to a 3-0 lead against fourth-ranked UCLA early in the game but OU's fortunes took a quick nosedive. On the last play of the first quarter, the Bruins returned an interception 72 yards to the Sooner 19.

O-Zone Video - Oklahoma 38, UCLA 3

But the Oklahoma defense limited the Bruins to a 28-yard field goal. Those points would be the last for UCLA in the game.

OU engineered two touchdown drives before the conclusion of the first half and added three more TDs in the final two quarters to put an exclamation mark on a 38-3 victory.

Opener No. 7 - Army 21, Oklahoma 7
September 28, 1946 at West Point, N.Y.

On paper, Oklahoma seemed totally overmatched in the 1946 season opener. The Sooners were coming off a 5-5 season and still stinging from a 47-0 loss to Oklahoma A&M in the '45 season finale.

Earl Blaik's Army squad was riding a 19-game win streak and had captured the last two national titles. The Cadets also returned practically their entire squad including two Heisman Trophy winners: Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis.

But the Sooners were a completely different team in 1946. New head coach Jim Tatum and his bright, young assistant Bud Wilkinson had assembled a team of new faces.

The game marked the first time that the Sooners traveled by air to an athletic event. The start of the game was even delayed for the late arrival of President Harry S Truman.

The Sooners battled Army to a 7-7 tie at the half but the experienced Cadets pulled away in the second half to post a 21-7 victory. Despite the loss, Oklahoma gained respect from around the nation on its inspired play.

Opener No. 6 - Oklahoma 21, Colorado 21
September 27, 1952 at Boulder, Colo.

The Sooners were leading 14-7 late in the first half and about to score again when Billy Vessels threw a halfback pass to Sooner receiver John Reddell in the end zone for an apparent touchdown. However, Vessels was ruled to be beyond the line of scrimmage when he threw the ball. The Sooners were hit with a five-yard penalty plus a loss of down.

Two plays later, on fourth down, Billy Vessels caught what appeared to be a 13-yard touchdown in the end zone, but as he lunged for the ball and attempted to bring it in, it fell to the turf. One referee called the catch a touchdown but another ruled the pass an incompletion. OU's drive was halted.

Colorado controlled the second half, thanks to the outstanding kicking game of halfback Zack Jordan. Jordan, whose quick kicks -- including one that went for 78 yards -- put the Sooners into a deep hole on three different occasions, indirectly led to two Colorado touchdowns.

Jordan had seven punts on the day and averaged an incredible 56 yards per kick.

Jordan also gave Colorado the lead, 21-14, with 11:50 remaining in the fourth quarter when he connected on a 16-yard touchdown pass.

The Sooners rallied on their final drive of the game. Oklahoma moved 78 yards in 13 plays with Billy Vessels scoring from one yard out with 1:51 left on the clock. Buddy Leake added the extra point to even the score at 21-21.

“We were a lucky team -- a mighty lucky team -- to get out of this one with a tie," said OU coach Bud Wilkinson.

Opener No. 5 - Oklahoma 7, Syracuse 3
September 22, 1962 at Norman, Okla.

A bitterly-fought, defensive struggle marked Oklahoma's 1962 season opener in Norman against Syracuse.

Down, 3-0, late in the game, Oklahoma's defense stopped the Orangemen at the OU 27 when Jim Nance, Syracuse's 250-pound fullback, failed on a fourth and inches play.

The Sooner offense had one more chance. With just 2:57 remaining in the game, Coach Wilkinson inserted a third-team junior college transfer by the name of Joe Don Looney.

O-Zone Video - Oklahoma 7, Syracuse 3

The junior from Fort Worth, Texas, had 9.5 second speed in the 100-yard dash. He took a pitch from Sooner quarterback Monte Deere and headed around the left end, breaking several tackles in the process. His jaw-dropping, 60-yard touchdown run provided the Sooners a 7-3 victory.

After the game, Coach Wilkinson called Looney's run "the finest exhibition of power ball carrying" he had seen in years.

Opener No. 4 - Oklahoma 35, Stanford 29
September 9, 1978 at Palo Alto, Calif.

The No. 4 Sooners led 35-20 late in the game but Barry Switzer decided to play it safe and have punter Uwe Von Schumann take a safety with 41 seconds remaining. Stanford immediately took advantage of the Sooner gift. The Cardinal under head coach Bill Walsh came roaring back to score in just three plays and cut the lead to 35-29.

O-Zone Video - Oklahoma 35, Stanford 29

With only eight seconds remaining in the game, Stanford successfully recovered an onsides kick at the OU 36-yard line. Sooner safety Darrol Ray saved the victory for Oklahoma by intercepting a desperation pass in the endzone on the game's final play.

Opener No. 3 - Oklahoma 29, Oklahoma A&M 27
October 5, 1940 at Norman, Okla.

Oklahoma blocked an Aggie punt through the back of the endzone for a two-point safety midway through the fourth quarter in the 1940 season opener. Big Red had a comfortable 29-6 lead, but little did OU head coach Tom Stidham know that those points would turn out to be the margin of victory.

The Aggies proceeded to come roaring back and scored three touchdowns in an incredible span of just three and a half minutes. A&M's final score came with only five seconds remaining and allowed the Sooners to escape with the two-point win.

Opener No. 2 - Notre Dame 28, Oklahoma 21
September 26, 1953 at Norman, Okla.

The No. 6 Sooners trailed, 28-14, to No. 1 Notre Dame late in the third quarter of the 1953 season opener. Oklahoma's Merrill Green provided the fireworks for the OU comeback bid in front of a sellout crowd of 59,461 at Memorial Stadium in Norman.

Green first darted 34 yards on the Statue of Liberty play, running out of a hole to put the Sooners within striking distance. OU drove all the way to the Irish 14 but was halted short of the goal line.

Green stepped up again -- this time on defense -- when he burst through the Irish blockers on Notre Dame's ensuing drive and dropped Johnny Lattner for a three-yard loss.

With 5:11 remaining in the game, Green took a punt at the Sooner 40-yard line, cut across the field and raced 60 yards for a touchdown. The lead was cut to seven.

With 3:08 left, Green stepped up again on defense. He intercepted a pass at the Sooner 40-yard line and the Oklahoma offense took over. The comeback fell short when OU fumbled the ball away at the Notre Dame 44 with less than two minutes to play.

The Irish snapped Oklahoma's 25-game home win streak, 28-21.

Notre Dame would finish the season undefeated at 9-0-1 and No. 2 in the polls. Johnny Lattner went on to win the Heisman Trophy and legendary coach Frank Leahy retired after the season.

Oklahoma battled to a 7-7 tie at Pittsburgh the following week. In the next game, the Sooners would begin their NCAA-record 47-game win streak with a 19-14 victory over Texas at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

Opener No. 1 - Oklahoma 30, Syracuse 29
September 3, 1994 at Syracuse, N.Y.

Oklahoma surged to a 24-0 halftime lead against Syracuse in the 1994 season opener under head coach Gary Gibbs.

Midway through the third quarter, OU receiver P.J. Mills caught a Garrick McGee pass at the Syracuse 43-yard line and appeared headed for a score to give the Sooners a 31-0 lead.

However, Mills had the ball stripped at the one yard line and lost possession. Syracuse took over on offense and three plays later, future All-Pro wide receiver Marvin Harrison scored on a 78-yard touchdown bomb to cut OU's lead to 24-7.

Oklahoma maintained a 27-14 lead with just 7:47 remaining in the game but Syracuse was not done. The Orangemen came back to score 15 points in less than three minutes to take a stunning, 29-27 lead.

1:01 remained on the game clock.

On a desperation fourth-and-12 from the OU 34-yard line, Garrick McGee connected on a 17-yard pass to senior wide receiver Albert Hall for the first down. Later in the drive, facing a third-and-10 from the Syracuse 49, McGee once again found Hall -- this time for 18 yards and another first down.

With 11 seconds remaining and the ball on the Syracuse 31-yard line, Sooner place-kicker Scott Blanton booted a 48-yard field goal to give Oklahoma a 30-29 lead. The Sooners were penalized 15 yards on the kickoff for excessive celebration.

After a short kick with two seconds remaining, Syracuse got one more chance from the Sooner 47-yard line. The Syracuse quarterback never got the pass off as the Sooner defense sacked him on the game's final play.

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Sooner Top 10 | by OU football historian Mike Brooks

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