American college football season
The 1976 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 1976 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 9–2–1 overall record and a 5–2–0 conference record to earn a share of the Conference title under head coach Barry Switzer who took the helm in 1973.[ 2] [ 3] This was Switzer's fourth conference title in four seasons.[ 2]
The team was led by two All-Americans: Zac Henderson [ 4] and Mike Vaughan .[ 5] After tying with Oklahoma State and Colorado for the conference title, it earned a trip to the Fiesta Bowl where it came out victorious against the Wyoming Cowboys .[ 3] During the season, it faced five ranked opponents (In order, #16 Texas , #15 Kansas , #19 Colorado, #11 Missouri and #10 Nebraska ). Four of its opponents finished the season ranked. It tied with Texas in the Red River Shootout and lost to Oklahoma State and Colorado.[ 3] The Sooners started the season with a 5–0–1 record. They also began and ended the season with four-game winning streaks.[ 3] Sophomore Daryl Hunt 's 177 tackles that season would stand as the school record for five years and continues to be the second highest total behind Jackie Shipp 's 189 in 1981.
Kenny King led the team in rushing with 839 yards, Dean Blevins led the team in passing with 384 yards, Steve Rhodes led the team in receiving with 160 yards, Uwe von Schamann and Horace Ivory led the team in scoring with 72 points, Hunt led the team in tackles with a record-setting 177 as well as interceptions with 4.
Schedule
Date Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance Source September 11 at Vanderbilt * No. 5 W 24–334,694 [ 7]
September 18 California * No. 4 W 28–1772,026
September 25 Florida State * No. 4 Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK W 24–971,343
October 2 at Iowa State No. 3 W 24–1047,186
October 9 vs. No. 16 Texas * No. 3 ABC T 6–672,032
October 16 at No. 15 Kansas No. 6 W 28–1049,085
October 23 Oklahoma State No. 5 L 24–3172,041
October 30 at No. 19 Colorado No. 13 L 31–4253,380
November 6 Kansas State No. 14 Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK W 49–2070,987
November 13 No. 11 Missouri No. 14 Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK (rivalry ) W 27–2071,620
November 26 at No. 10 Nebraska No. 8 ABC W 20–1774,284
December 25 vs. Wyoming * No. 8 CBS W 41–748,714
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
Roster
1976 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
[ 8]
Game summaries
Vanderbilt
California
Florida State
Florida State Seminoles at #4 Oklahoma Sooners
1
2 3 4 Total
Florida State
6
0 3 0
9
• Oklahoma
3
14 0 7
24
Source: Eugene Register-Guard
Scoring summary 1 OKLA von Schamann 40-yard field goal OKLA 3-0
1 FSU Key 5-yard run (kick failed) FSU 6-3
2 OKLA Ivory 37-yard run (von Schamann kick) OKLA 10-6
2 OKLA Ivory 23-yard run (von Schamann kick) OKLA 17-6
3 FSU Cappelen 41-yard field goal OKLA 17-9
4 OKLA Peacock 3-yard run (von Schamann kick) OKLA 24-9
Iowa State
Texas
1
2 3 4 Total
Texas
0
3 0 3
6
Oklahoma
0
0 0 6
6
[ 9]
Kansas
Oklahoma State
1
2 3 4 Total
• Oklahoma St
10
3 8 10
31
Oklahoma
14
7 3 0
24
Date: October 23Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
[ 10]
Colorado
Kansas State
1
2 3 4 Total
Kansas St
7
10 3 0
20
• Oklahoma
21
7 7 14
49
Scoring summary 1 OKLA Ivory 4-yard run (von Schamann kick) Oklahoma 7-0
1 OKLA Ivory 6-yard run (von Schamann kick) Oklahoma 14-0
1 KSU Lovely 1-yard run (Sinovic kick) Oklahoma 14-7
1 OKLA King 30-yard run (von Schamann kick) Oklahoma 21-7
2 OKLA Lott 2-yard run (von Schamann kick) Oklahoma 28-7
2 KSU Whitley 9-yard pass from Henrikson (Sinovic kick) Oklahoma 28-14
2 KSU Sinovic 30-yard field goal Oklahoma 28-17
3 KSU Sinovic 39-yard field goal Oklahoma 28-20
3 OKLA Lott 11-yard run (von Schamann kick) Oklahoma 35-20
4 OKLA Lott 3-yard run (von Schamann kick) Oklahoma 42-20
4 OKLA Ivory 8-yard run (von Schamann kick) Oklahoma 49-20
[ 11]
Missouri
Nebraska
1
2 3 4 Total
• Oklahoma
7
0 0 13
20
Nebraska
0
3 14 0
17
Scoring summary Q1 0:16 OKLA Peacock 1 yard run (von Schamann kick)OKLA 7–0
Q2 9:06 NEB Eveland 33 yard field goal OKLA 7–3
Q3 9:56 NEB Craig 9 yard run (Eveland kick) NEB 10–7
Q3 6:31 NEB Berns 4 yard run (Eveland kick) NEB 17–7
Q4 12:28 OKLA Peacock 50 yard run (run failed) NEB 17–13
Q4 0:38 OKLA Peacock 2 yard run (von Schamann kick) OKLA 20–17
[ 12]
Fiesta Bowl
Rankings
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking ( ) = First-place votes Week Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Final AP 5 (6) 4 (4) 4 (3) 3 (2) 2 (3) 6 5 13 17 14 10 8 8 5
Awards and honors
A football signed by the 1976 Oklahoma Sooners, including Billy Sims and J. C. Watts , that was gifted to President Gerald Ford .
Postseason
NFL draft
The following players were drafted into the National Football League following the season.[ 13]
References
^ "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 "1976 Football Season" . SoonerStats.com. Retrieved June 30, 2010 .
^ a b "All-American: Zac Henderson" . CBS Interactive . Archived from the original on May 25, 2010. Retrieved June 29, 2010 .
^ a b "All-American: Mike Vaughan" . CBS Interactive . Archived from the original on May 25, 2010. Retrieved June 29, 2010 .
^ "Sooners crush Vanderbilt, 24–3" . The Sunday Express-News . September 12, 1976. Retrieved October 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Woodling, Chuck (October 14, 1976). "Aerial circus unlikely when Kansas, Oklahoma vie" . Lawrence Journal-World . p. 14.
^ SoonerStats.com . Retrieved 2018-Oct-07.
^ SoonerStats.com . Retrieved 2018-Oct-07.
^ Palm Beach Post. 1976 Nov 7.
^ HuskerMax . Retrieved 2018-Oct-07.
^ "1977 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