If I absolutely had to pick an all-time favorite OU season it would be Barry's last national championship team.....1985. Wow. What a great group of Sooners. Keith Jackson, Jamelle Holieway, Rickey Dixon, Spencer Tillman, The Boz, Tony Casillas, Anthony Phillips, Patrick Collins, Derrick Shepard, Eric Pope, Kevin Murphy, Paul Migliazzo, Lydell Carr and a couple of my special favorites of that squad....Sonny Brown and David Vickers. I know I'm forgetting others that helped make that season special. When Aikman when down, I never thought it possible that the Sooners would end up the season with #6 (championship). I remember watching Holieway taking over for Troy that day and thinking, this is going to hurt. Jamelle didn't look good particularly good coming in for Aikman. The offense had worked all spring and fall with Troy and his passing skills. Jim Donnan was in his first year as OC coming from a really bad Missouri program at that time and I don't recall that Jim had any experience coaching a true Wishbone attack??? It just didn't look promising. But Jamelle turned out to be one of the best Wishbone QBs ever and the team just came together. IMO, that was probably Barry's best defensive team. All the stars lined up in OU's favor. Tennessee beat the hell out of #2 Miami in the Sugar Bowl, and OU beat the nation's #1 team, Penn State, in the Orange Bowl to jump up and win unexpected national championship. What an exciting year. What's yours??
My favorite year of OU football
- Thread starter Oklabama
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1974 Tempted to say 73 with the three Selmons in the DL. But, 74 may have been the best team in history. Davis, Washington, Littrell, Ivory, Arnold, Melendez, Vaughn, a couple of Selmons to go with Elrod, Shoate, Hughes, Comeaux, Henderson. The reserves might have been in the top ten.
It was 1974 for me, also.
I remember at the beginning of 73 thinking "This is going to be a hell of a team in 1975".
Obviously 73 and 74 were amazing teams for OU.
The '75 team was solid, but just weren't able to put it all together like 73 and 74.
I remember at the beginning of 73 thinking "This is going to be a hell of a team in 1975".
Obviously 73 and 74 were amazing teams for OU.
The '75 team was solid, but just weren't able to put it all together like 73 and 74.
I loved that 1985 team, but I'm going to go with the 2000 team. What a run they made by beating Nebraska, Texas and Kansas State in a row.
1967, a "Cinderella" year lead by Owens, Shotts, Warmack, Liggins, Zabel, Kalsu, Mendenhall, Barrett, Stephenson, Pfrimmer, Kollar, Titsworth and Hinton.....9-1 with an Orange Bowl win over Tennessee.
The lone loss was a 9-7 game in which Mike Vachon missed four field goals.....after he had hit on four the year before in an 18-9 win over Texas.
That team was as much fun to watch as any other OU team with very tough wins over Colorado, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.
The lone loss was a 9-7 game in which Mike Vachon missed four field goals.....after he had hit on four the year before in an 18-9 win over Texas.
That team was as much fun to watch as any other OU team with very tough wins over Colorado, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.
No contest. Barry Switzer's early teams in 1973, 1974 and 1975 featuring NFL stars at about every position AND featuring the best QB to play in Switzer's tenure, Steve Davis. He could run and throw. Two NCs and there should have been a third except for probation.
The 85 team had a lot of great players and we ended up winning with a freshman qb. However, I'd have to go with the 2000 season because it was so unexpected.
I have to go with 2000 too!! It did come out of nowhere. There were just so many moments of pure Sooner magic!! A total cinderella season! Ending the long drought, influenced my decision too!! There have been so many great season and athletes here!!!
CT, I went back and forth between '67, 2000, and '85. '67 was definitely a glorious year. The Texas loss was a heartache but the way the team finished the season......do you recall the 14-10 Kansas win in Norman......the last game that my dad and I have sit together.....what a finish. Of course beating Tennessee in the Orange Bowl was the cherry on top of the sundae.
I would agree that the 1956 team might have been the best Oklahoma team ever except for the weakness of the schedule....Notre Dame won 2 games that year and Texas won one game, perhaps the worst teams either school has had in the post-WWII years.
OU's 1956 opponents had a combined 30-65-6 record and only Colorado (8-2-1) had a winning record.
Plus OU could not go to a bowl that year.
I think 1973-74-75 were the best three consecutive years OU ever had.
The 1985-86-87 teams each played Miami and were dominated in each game.....of course, losing Aikman in the second quarter of the '85 game and having to play the '86 and '88 (Orange Bowl) games in Miami were factors. Plus, Miami had three of its best teams in those games....and went 33-3-0 those three seasons.
Similar for me and my dad. He's the reason I'm such an OU fanatic. I was 16 at the time, playing high school football and had been watching OU struggle through mediocrity or worse for as long as I had been watching (usually listening to Bob Barry) the Sooners and then...
....epic, ass kicking, dominating run out of nowhere to win the national title with an all time beatdown of Texas, a road win against top 3 Kansas State, a come from behind win over #1 Nebraska in Norman to reach the top of the rankings, a drama filled rematch over Kansas State, and one of the most dominating defensive performances in bowl history of the nations best offense Florida State. And all season long we kept hearing how this was the week we'd come back to reality.
Man just typing that up gets my juices flowing. I'd make these current boys watch the highlights all off season in an attempt to inspire them to play with as much passion, pride and intensity as that 2000 bunch did. That's how the game was meant to be played.
Here are my top three, in order:
1985 - Aikman goes down and in steps freshman Holieway and he runs the wishbone to perfection. No disrespect to the Selmons and the early Switzer defenses, but this is arguably OU's best defensive unit. Ever. The MNC was even sweeter knowing that it was Miami' to lose and OU's to win and the Sooners got it done and the Canes didn't!
2000 - Magical season. What hasn't been said about Red October, A&M, no injuries, The Ninja Formation, Josh, Q, Torrance, Rocky, the B12 Conf. Champ. game vs. KSU, 13-2 and a group of guys who overachieved and brought swagger back to OU?
1978 - My sophomore year. I just loved this team. So many weapons on offense and a smothering defense. Sims' fumble gives the Huskers the win, but they lose the following week to Mizzou and OU and NU are Co-Champs. OU gets sweet revenge against Nebraska in an Orange Bowl beat down.
1985 - Aikman goes down and in steps freshman Holieway and he runs the wishbone to perfection. No disrespect to the Selmons and the early Switzer defenses, but this is arguably OU's best defensive unit. Ever. The MNC was even sweeter knowing that it was Miami' to lose and OU's to win and the Sooners got it done and the Canes didn't!
2000 - Magical season. What hasn't been said about Red October, A&M, no injuries, The Ninja Formation, Josh, Q, Torrance, Rocky, the B12 Conf. Champ. game vs. KSU, 13-2 and a group of guys who overachieved and brought swagger back to OU?
1978 - My sophomore year. I just loved this team. So many weapons on offense and a smothering defense. Sims' fumble gives the Huskers the win, but they lose the following week to Mizzou and OU and NU are Co-Champs. OU gets sweet revenge against Nebraska in an Orange Bowl beat down.
The 73-75 teams did have a claim as the strongest in history. But, the 54-56 teams were actually undefeated, whereas the 73 team had a tie, and the 75 team had a loss. The strength of schedule may not have been as strong overall in the fifties. But, OU did beat the national champions in the 54 Orange Bowl prior to three straight undefeated seasons. There really were no challengers to OU in 55 and 56, despite the schedule. As I remember, one reporter sent in an AP poll ballot that listed OU's first team as #1, second team as #2, Tennessee as #3, and OU's third team as #4. May have been correct.
Not that I am the OP but it strikes me as very strange the relatively low volume of reads for this thread. Of course there is no opportunity for debating since the topic asks only for an opinion and there is no wrong answer to the question. I've enjoyed every post because "I was there" although I admit in 1956 Mickey Mantle and the Yanks consumed more of my time than the Sooners. Nevertheless I was a young fan of OU, Bud Wilkinson, and one of my top five Sooners of all-time. Want to to guess who he was? Easy answer for those of us who followed Oklahoma back then.
The 85 team would have destroyed the 2000 team. The 85 team had the best tight end great line and backfield. The defense was the lockdown arguably the best in OU's storied history.
Of course 2000 is the tops for me. Natty title year!!!
A VERY close 2nd is 1999. After the Blake years, 1999 was just such a huge jolt forward and knowing that OU football had taken such a huge leap in one season with Bob. It just felt damn good to have some excitement, enthusiasm, and positive energy about OU football again and feeling that great times were ahead again.
I was a little kid back in the 80s during Switzer's run, so I don't have as clear memories of those days as I do the most recent years. I do remember watching OU games back in Switzer's days, and going to games and such. My little league coach was an OKC police officer and he got us onto the sidelines of games a few times. But as a little kid, I wasn't as rabid about OU football back then as I ended up being in later years.
A VERY close 2nd is 1999. After the Blake years, 1999 was just such a huge jolt forward and knowing that OU football had taken such a huge leap in one season with Bob. It just felt damn good to have some excitement, enthusiasm, and positive energy about OU football again and feeling that great times were ahead again.
I was a little kid back in the 80s during Switzer's run, so I don't have as clear memories of those days as I do the most recent years. I do remember watching OU games back in Switzer's days, and going to games and such. My little league coach was an OKC police officer and he got us onto the sidelines of games a few times. But as a little kid, I wasn't as rabid about OU football back then as I ended up being in later years.
Man that's tough; had to go through the years of soonerstats and have tons that I remember from the 60's to date. The 73,74 and 75 years were great. I finally got my degree in 85 and was living here through iowa, chuck long and (thankfully) ronnie harman's rose bowl game earlier in the day that paved the way.
The 2000 game and my little guys...what a great surprise.
The next one can't come soon enough!
The 2000 game and my little guys...what a great surprise.
The next one can't come soon enough!
My favorite is always the year we're in that's coming coming up. Yep, 2015, ending in 16.
I really think we will surprise the nation this year. Frison and Brown might just start as bookend freshmen offense tackles and from what I've read they may move up the depth chart big time. Find us some receivers. Find us some defensive backs, and I will go out and call that Mayfield will start.
Yes, this is our year.
Oh, I forgot. Charles Walker is a beast in the making.................
This post was edited on 2/28 7:28 PM by K2C Sooner
I would have to say 1985 first and 2000 first runner up. I happened to be in the USA most of 85 and went to every home game and the Orange Bowl. Stayed at the Fountain Blue Hotel on Miami Beach where the team stayed. Great memories.
2000, like 1956, was great for me in that both OU and the Yankees won championships those years.
If you take a look from a defensive stand point, there is only one player from the 2000 squad who would have started for the 85 Sooners defense. The 85 defense was a smothering D.
I know the 86 team fell short but that was a fun season with the Boz and the hype leading up to the Miami game. The game was fun and hard hitting despite being a loss.
2000 was a great year. I love over-achievers and the 2000 team was loaded with kids who were just that. At no time pre-season did we fans have any idea what was in store for us. I remember the 4th game of the year when we couldn't cover KU WRs as they were running free all day. I didn't think we had much of a chance at the conference title yet alone an NC. We had so many young kids who really stepped up and who made significant contributions to that season. We also had a solid nucleus of veterans who had stepped up when Bob was hired and put in the work to make themselves winners.
I will always take the teams who are under-achievers over those who have all the talent. They are the most fun to watch. We also had hungry coaches who did a great job of preparing their players. Also some luck involved. A&M and OSU were really close games and we had to have some things go our way to win out.
Then just taking an over confident FSU team to the cleaners was just the icing on the cake. So, it was just a great year in every aspect of OU's play on the field.
I will always take the teams who are under-achievers over those who have all the talent. They are the most fun to watch. We also had hungry coaches who did a great job of preparing their players. Also some luck involved. A&M and OSU were really close games and we had to have some things go our way to win out.
Then just taking an over confident FSU team to the cleaners was just the icing on the cake. So, it was just a great year in every aspect of OU's play on the field.
It would have been 1971 - IF we had instant replay available. We had two fumble recoveries, and if either one had been called properly we would have won the "Game of the Century" against Nebraska
. I still believe OU was the better team that day in Norman. Also, that was the only year in which a single conference had teams as #1, #2, and #3 (CU) in the final AP poll!
1985 was truly great
.
In summary, I will have to go with the 2000 season
as my pick. The lack of expectations, Red October, the pick at aTm, the win against KSU (again), then what should have been a shutout against FSU in the Orange Bowl - these make 2000 the best season I personally witnessed, and my son and I ran onto the field and touched the goal posts as they were carried around Owen Field - which I hope never happens again, though. The only downer was that we were so fired up we thought the next decade would produce two or three more championships. We had two more opportunities but blew them both!!!
1985 was truly great
In summary, I will have to go with the 2000 season
I agree. For that time period, they were awesome. I am just happy I was a student at OU and got to see them play.
Then there was the flagrant clip on Rodgers' punt return in 1971 that was not called. That one non-call decided the game.....and OU's defense not making a stop on Nebraska's go-ahead drive didn't help.Originally posted by SoonersR4Real:
It would have been 1971 - IF we had instant replay available. We had two fumble recoveries, and if either one had been called properly we would have won the "Game of the Century" against Nebraska. I still believe OU was the better team that day in Norman. Also, that was the only year in which a single conference had teams as #1, #2, and #3 (CU) in the final AP poll!
1985 was truly great.
In summary, I will have to go with the 2000 seasonas my pick. The lack of expectations, Red October, the pick at aTm, the win against KSU (again), then what should have been a shutout against FSU in the Orange Bowl - these make 2000 the best season I personally witnessed, and my son and I ran onto the field and touched the goal posts as they were carried around Owen Field - which I hope never happens again, though. The only downer was that we were so fired up we thought the next decade would produce two or three more championships. We had two more opportunities but blew them both!!!
1973 was my favorite year because it was my freshman year of college and first experience with "big time" football. It was also Switzer's first year.
I was a junior in 1975 before we lost a game. It was to Kansas (also running the wishbone and I still have nightmares about Nolan Cromwell) and I remember the empty feeling walking to the old jock strap saloon after the game in disbelief. We must have fumbled 5 times in that game. Nevertheless, we still won the MNC in 75 by beating a very good Michigan team in the Orange Bowl after tOSU lost earlier in the day. The 1975 Orange Bowls was the first bowl game I ever attended. And I have been to every Orange Bowl thereafter except the loss to Miami and the loss to U$C.
Since I was on the five year graduation plan, I also got to see the 78 team with Billy Sims (or Simms, I am old and cannot spell). I had to go to Lincoln a few years ago and walked onto their field to the spot where Sim's fumbled and cost us the 78 MNC. Switzer used one of our company airplanes for recruiting. He became good friends with the family and to this day still remembers me. Switzer is just amazing. He and my dad, along with Steve Owens, had a few business ventures in Pagosa, Colorado. I can firmly state that 1973-1978 were the best years to be a student at OU and I was fortunate enough to spend those years at OU.
I was a junior in 1975 before we lost a game. It was to Kansas (also running the wishbone and I still have nightmares about Nolan Cromwell) and I remember the empty feeling walking to the old jock strap saloon after the game in disbelief. We must have fumbled 5 times in that game. Nevertheless, we still won the MNC in 75 by beating a very good Michigan team in the Orange Bowl after tOSU lost earlier in the day. The 1975 Orange Bowls was the first bowl game I ever attended. And I have been to every Orange Bowl thereafter except the loss to Miami and the loss to U$C.
Since I was on the five year graduation plan, I also got to see the 78 team with Billy Sims (or Simms, I am old and cannot spell). I had to go to Lincoln a few years ago and walked onto their field to the spot where Sim's fumbled and cost us the 78 MNC. Switzer used one of our company airplanes for recruiting. He became good friends with the family and to this day still remembers me. Switzer is just amazing. He and my dad, along with Steve Owens, had a few business ventures in Pagosa, Colorado. I can firmly state that 1973-1978 were the best years to be a student at OU and I was fortunate enough to spend those years at OU.
Here I am derailing my own thread, but I have often wondered if Oklahoma would have won the national championship with Troy Aikman as QB the entire year of 1985. The day that he when down in the Miami game, I was absolutely convinced that we would have beaten the Hurricanes. I was so down after that game, which is why 1985 turned out to be my favorite season.
I would have to say a tie between 1975 and 1985 because of the college landscape at that time.
1975: No. 2 OU beats No. 4 Michigan to win the NC, but only after UCLA beats No. 1 Ohio State in a rematch in the Rose Bowl earlier in the day. Weirdly, Michigan had two straight ties that season, both at home vs. Stanford and Baylor. Baylor also had two straight ties, at home vs. Auburn and at Michigan. How odd.
1985: No 3 OU beats No. 1 Penn State to win the NC, but only after Tennessee beats No. 2 Miami 35-7 in the Sugar Bowl earlier in the day. Miami won at OU in the infamous Troy Aikman game earlier in the season. I still can't forget Eric Pope getting abused by Jerome Brown and it was Brown's sack that broke Aikman's ankle and moved OU back from a pro style offense to the wishbone.
As much as I love the BCS playoff, nothing will beat a day of watching bowl games and watching everything shake out.
This post was edited on 3/6 8:01 PM by TimothyforOU
1975: No. 2 OU beats No. 4 Michigan to win the NC, but only after UCLA beats No. 1 Ohio State in a rematch in the Rose Bowl earlier in the day. Weirdly, Michigan had two straight ties that season, both at home vs. Stanford and Baylor. Baylor also had two straight ties, at home vs. Auburn and at Michigan. How odd.
1985: No 3 OU beats No. 1 Penn State to win the NC, but only after Tennessee beats No. 2 Miami 35-7 in the Sugar Bowl earlier in the day. Miami won at OU in the infamous Troy Aikman game earlier in the season. I still can't forget Eric Pope getting abused by Jerome Brown and it was Brown's sack that broke Aikman's ankle and moved OU back from a pro style offense to the wishbone.
As much as I love the BCS playoff, nothing will beat a day of watching bowl games and watching everything shake out.
This post was edited on 3/6 8:01 PM by TimothyforOU
Troy was a pocket passer not a runner. So to answer your question OU wouldn't have won the game vrs Pinn State with Troy at qb.
So would Barry have switched to Jamelle even if Troy had not been injured? If not, was Troy's injury a fortunate event with regard to the national championship season? Hard for me to think in those terms. Funny how things work especially considering the success Troy had during his career.
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