Plaino....

[CTOkie]

A question (not a concern):
Why are so many college teams giving single digit numbers to DE's and DT's.
OU has DL Grimes wearing #14 and DE Perkins wearing #7.
Are numbers chosen by some players ?
I think it looks strange.

 

[Plainosooner]

Bob did some of that. I think it's primarily to give the opposing quarterback a little harder time to read the defense quite s quickly.

I don't know how things are now, but when l was at OU, players took the number assigned to them. I knew of only one exception. There may have been others, but not many. Joe Wylie requested his hs number 22 during his recruiting process and it was granted. Not sure if Barry didn't let Billy Sims have his hs number,too, two years after l graduated. It was rare, if so.

But numbers these days are more complicated because duplicate numbers are allowed, so long as they don't get on the field at the same time. When special teams come into play, some consideration has to be given to that.

If some huge DT is going to be on the field goal or XP team, even as a backup, then he'd need to have a 50-79 number. But the number weirdness is likely about making it harder for blitz reads for the qb, and pass blockers. It's part of why the NFL doesn't allow it.

 

[CTOkie]

Thank you.
Would have been interesting to see what Switzer would have done with number "20" had he recruited Earl in 1974.....then Sims in 1975.

 

[runningback43]

Number weirdness drives me crazy. I miss the old days when you got a number based on the position you played.

 

[EagleZipperHero]

Every kid nowadays wants a single-digit number regardless of position

Winfrey wearing 8

 

[Plainosooner]

I finally stopped covering hs football 3 years ago. Did one game two years ago. When l was in hs almost nobody had single digit jersey numbers. OU didn't have them until my soph or junior years. Started with a kicker or two. But my senior year,l think we had all 9.

But the last decade l covered hs football, just about every team had a half dozen offensive starters with single digit jerseys, and most every single digit number was used by a starter on O or D. It was like a badge of honor.

 

[CTOkie]

Prior to 1971, I don't recall OU ever having single digit numbers.
Then in 1971, OU listed six players with such numbers, notably PK Fulcher #8 and QB Stokely #9.

 

[JConXtsy]

I actually answered this question earlier in the year.

Starting in 2020, the use of duplicate numbers is restricted to only 2 players on a team. I don't believe there was a restriction before.

With walk-ons and all, there are way more than 99 players per team.

Rulebook "recommends" the following numbering scheme, but go through our roster and count # of players per position and line them up with this recommendation on defense - no recommendation on offense:

Backs 1-49 - 1P, 1K, 11WR, 6RB, 1TE/HB, 40DBacks = 60#s - 10 conflicts due to defensive players
Center 50-59 - 2Snappers, 1OLB, 1LB, 6OL = 10#s - OK
Guard 60-69 - 6OL = 6#s - OK
Tackle 70-79 - 9OL = 9#s - OK
End 80-99 - 7WR, 1HB, 9DL/DE = 17#s - OK

We have so many defensive side players, that they chew up offensive numbering schemes forcing offensive players to take numbers outside of their standard, historical areas, because NCAA doesn't really allow duplicates anymore.

 

[EagleZipperHero]

I actually answered this question earlier in the year.

Starting in 2020, the use of duplicate numbers is restricted to only 2 players on a team. I don't believe there was a restriction before.

With walk-ons and all, there are way more than 99 players per team.

Rulebook "recommends" the following numbering scheme, but go through our roster and count # of players per position and line them up with this recommendation on defense - no recommendation on offense:

Backs 1-49 - 1P, 1K, 11WR, 6RB, 1TE/HB, 40DBacks = 60#s - 10 conflicts due to defensive players
Center 50-59 - 2Snappers, 1OLB, 1LB, 6OL = 10#s - OK
Guard 60-69 - 6OL = 6#s - OK
Tackle 70-79 - 9OL = 9#s - OK
End 80-99 - 7WR, 1HB, 9DL/DE = 17#s - OK

We have so many defensive side players, that they chew up offensive numbering schemes forcing offensive players to take numbers outside of their standard, historical areas, because NCAA doesn't really allow duplicates anymore.

Almost every single-digit number OU has is duplicate...

1 Eaton, McGowan
2 Howard, Ugwoegbu
3 Henderson, Morris
4 Davis, Morris
7 Perkins, Rattler
8 Bridges, Winfrey
9 Graham, Schaefer
10 Wease, Fields
11 Bonitto, Haselwood
14 Rambo, Grimes
15 Mordecai, Washington

I think that just means that 3 players can no longer share the same number.

 

[Plainosooner]

Prior to 1971, I don't recall OU ever having single digit numbers.
Then in 1971, OU listed six players with such numbers, notably PK Fulcher #8 and QB Stokely #9.

1971 was my junior year. So that's what I reported earlier. Then a year later, Jack Mildren had graduated and there were seven sophomore quarterbacks who'd been freshman the year before, in the last season without Freshman Eligibility for the varsity. I can think of about five of those guys. Steve Davis, Gary Vorpahl, Jeff Mabry, Larry McBroom and E.N. Simon. I looked on Soonerstats and found Glenn Gunter. There was a seventh quarterback, I think from Tulsa Memorial, who was the seventh, but I can't think of his name. He'd split time as the Boomer starter the year before. I believe his last name began with a B, but I can't remember his name. He wasn't on the varsity a year later. But those seven were all recruited in the search for Mildren's replacement. Four of those guys were 3, 4, 5 and 6.

There was an additional freshman quarterback in the subsequent class, Scott Hill, who wore 7. He was in workouts in that first freshman class in the first year of their eligibility in '72 since the 1940;s. Hill got hurt in a scrimmage before enrollment, and then sat out the fall, and enrolled as a true freshman in the midterm. Since the injury was to his shoulder, and fellow freshman Kerry Jackson had earned playing time behind senior starter Dave Robertson. So Hill moved to defense and was a multi-year starter wearing number 7. But he came to OU as the top rated high school senior quarterback in Texas at Hurst Bell, I believe. Fulcher still wore 8 and Jame Stokely was number 9.

From that season, on, pretty sure that OU has had 1-9 every season, with occasional exceptions. Usually they were QB's, DB's, receivers and kickers/punters. But obviously, that has been expanded in the 21st century.

 

[Plainosooner]

Thank you.
Would have been interesting to see what Switzer would have done with number "20" had he recruited Earl in 1974.....then Sims in 1975.

I saw Earl as a senior at John Tyler wearing number 20. He was still the best high school player I've ever seen. Truly a man playing with boys. But when he went to the Oilers, they put him in 34, even though they had a much shorter history to that point, than the Detroit Lions, who let Billy Sims keep number 20, that he kept for his whole, too brief, career.

 

[Plainosooner]

Almost every single-digit number OU has is duplicate...

1 Eaton, McGowan
2 Howard, Ugwoegbu
3 Henderson, Morris
4 Davis, Morris
7 Perkins, Rattler
8 Bridges, Winfrey
9 Graham, Schaefer
10 Wease, Fields
11 Bonitto, Haselwood
14 Rambo, Grimes
15 Mordecai, Washington

I think that just means that 3 players can no longer share the same number.

We've had occasional seasons where the official roster had three players with the same jersey number. But usually that included a walk-on who didn't see the field. In 2017, the official roster has three number 14's. I remember seeing others, but don't remember the specifics.

 

[CTOkie]

I saw Earl as a senior at John Tyler wearing number 20. He was still the best high school player I've ever seen. Truly a man playing with boys. But when he went to the Oilers, they put him in 34, even though they had a much shorter history to that point, than the Detroit Lions, who let Billy Sims keep number 20, that he kept for his whole, too brief, career.

I saw Earl play at the Texas HS All-Star game in the Dome. His team won 13-12 as I recall with the winning play a fake handoff to Earl which left a wide open receiver in the end zone.
Earl is my favorite running back ever.

 

[ArizonaSooner]

I remember Scott Hill being the QB at LD Bell, when I was a few years younger at Bedford Junior High in the mid-cities. I eventually also graduated from Bell HS before moving on to OU. Good times back then. How did the years go by so fast?

 

[frou]

Pretty sure I saw someone on the field the other night with the number 0. Which is a thing now in college fb.

 

[CTOkie]

Pretty sure I saw someone on the field the other night with the number 0. Which is a thing now in college fb.

Safety Woodi Washington wears #0.

 

[EagleZipperHero]

Safety Woodi Washington wears #0.

That looked weird

 

[CTOkie]

That looked weird

Yes, it does. But if the player wants it, he gets it on many occasions.

 

[JConXtsy]

Almost every single-digit number OU has is duplicate...

1 Eaton, McGowan
2 Howard, Ugwoegbu
3 Henderson, Morris
4 Davis, Morris
7 Perkins, Rattler
8 Bridges, Winfrey
9 Graham, Schaefer
10 Wease, Fields
11 Bonitto, Haselwood
14 Rambo, Grimes
15 Mordecai, Washington

I think that just means that 3 players can no longer share the same number.

Ah, that makes sense.

 

[soonerinlOUisiana]

Is "00" a legal number? It's been in basketball as long as i can remember (though rare), but I've never seen it in football. This year is the first I've seen any player in any sport with "0".

 

[Plainosooner]

Is "00" a legal number? It's been in basketball as long as i can remember (though rare), but I've never seen it in football. This year is the first I've seen any player in any sport with "0".

No. The NCAA had a rules change to allow the number 0 this season. But it does not allow any double digit number, with 0 as the first digit.

https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/championships/sports/football/rules/2020PRMFB_FootballRulesChanges.pdf

And a couple of years ago, the basketball rules changed so that you could have 0 or 00 as a jersey number, but not both.