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The Road To The 1983 Fiesta Bowl: Arizona State & Oklahoma

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The Fiesta Bowl had just become a major bowl following the 1981 season when they moved their game to January 1. The game following the 1982 college football season represented a modest step back for the bowl in some ways, when they paired up Arizona State and Oklahoma. Nonetheless, the 1983 Fiesta Bowl still brought together two good teams with a final Top 10 ranking on the line.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
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I say the matchup was a step back because Arizona State played all its home games at the Fiesta Bowl and they were the program that usually got the invite in the game’s pre-January 1 period, as a way to juice up attendance. The Sun Devils played in five straight Fiesta Bowls from 1971-75 and won four of them.

ASU was also hungry for more than an invitation to play in their own backyard. With the Pac-10’s traditional power, USC, on probation and having started to show some modest cracks in recent years anyway, the hope in Tempe was for a Rose Bowl trip.

Head coach Darryl Rodgers was no less hungry for the trip to Pasadena—as the head coach at Michigan State he had won the Big Ten in 1978, but the program’s probation prevented the Rose Bowl reward.

This Arizona State team was built around a strong passing game led by quarterback Todd Hons. In a conference with several good quarterbacks, most notably John Elway at Stanford, Hons finished fourth in passing yards, completion percentage and yards-per-attempt.

Hons spread the ball around well, with no one particular receiver a standout, though Jerome Weatherspoon was the best big play threat. The running game was led by Darryl Clack, who was second in the Pac-10 in yards-per-attempt and tied for the lead in touchdowns.

But with the offense built around throwing the football, Clack still only went for a little over 600 yards. This offense was in Hon’s hands and the only problem was that the 14 interceptions were a lot, although in an era when turnovers were more frequent than they are today, it wasn’t a fatal flaw.

Defensively, Arizona State had two All-Americans in end Vernon Maxwell and defensive back Mike Richardson. Another defensive lineman, Jim Jeffcoat, would go on to a nice NFL career in Dallas. ASU was ranked #19 to open the season.

The Sun Devils opened with an easy win over a bad Oregon team, then handled mediocre opponents in Utah and Houston. ASU nudged up to #13 in the polls. They faced two teams with winning records in Cal and Kansas State and continued to win. That was followed by a 21-17 victory over Stanford, a team that only went 5-6, but had Elway in the fold.

Arizona State wasn’t dominating anyone, but the Stanford game was the only one that was really close and the pollsters moved the Sun Devils into the Top 10. They crushed woeful UTEP and were set to host 12th-ranked Southern Cal on October 30.

Hons connected with Clack for a 29-yard touchdown pass to give Arizona State a 7-3 lead, and after USC answered with a TD of their own, Sun Devil kicker Luis Zendejas hit a 52-yard field goal to tie it at halftime.

Cornerback Mario Montgomery made the biggest play in the third quarter, with an interception that both squelched a Trojan drive and set up a 54-yard TD march for Arizona State. The 17-10 win was preserved by a sack with 51 seconds left after USC reached the ASU 25-yard line. When the first rankings of November came out, Arizona State was at #4 and squarely in the national championship picture.

Arizona State nudged to #3 with a so-so 30-16 win against lowly Oregon State. The national title hopes in Tempe finally came to an end with a tough 17-13 loss at home against seventh-ranked Washington. It looked like the Rose Bowl was also dead, as the game gave the Huskies the edge in the conference race. But on November 20, Washington was stunned by rival Washington State and the door was open for Arizona State and Rodgers to get to Pasadena.

In-state rival Arizona was a pretty good team with a good head coach in Larry Smith, who would one day lead USC to three straight Rose Bowls. And the game would be in Tucson. But the Wildcats were still just 5-4-1 coming in, which makes the results on the Saturday after Thanksgiving as disappointing a game as the Arizona State program has ever played.

The secondary broke down, giving up long touchdown passes of 92 & 65 yards and the Sun Devils lost 28-18. They fell to #11 in the rankings and settled for the Fiesta Bowl trip.

Oklahoma’s presence in Tempe was another case of perhaps both the Fiesta Bowl and the team itself feeling disappointed. Certainly the Sooners were not happy with their 8-3 season.

And while it was great for the Fiesta to land a program that had been one of college football’s best, going 83-9-2 with a pair of national titles between 1973-80, it was also disappointing to take a team that had lost three-plus games for the second straight years.

Barry Switzer’s team wasn’t loaded with talent, like previous editions had been. They had only one consensus All-American in defensive tackle Rick Bryan. The poor passing numbers of quarterback Kelly Phelps weren’t unusual in Norman, but his lack of running ability were.

What Oklahoma did have was exceptional depth and talent at running back and it started with freshman Marcus Dupree, a magnificent combination of speed and size. Dupree finished with over 1,100 yards and his 7.8 yards-per-attempt was the best in the Big Eight.

Switzer’s stable of backs also included Stanley Wilson, with 910 yards, along with Fred Sims and Weldon Ledbetter, both of whom would have been the leading rusher on Arizona State. All four backs were in the top ten of the Big Eight in rush yardage and all were in the top six in yards-per-attempt.

OU was ranked #9 to start the season and they played a good West Virginia team at home to open the season. When the Sooners took a 14-0 lead it looked like business as usual in Norman. But the lead was cut to 21-20 by the third quarter and then Oklahoma fell apart in a 41-27 loss. They were punished harshly by the pollsters, falling completely out of the Top 20.

The Sooners beat Kentucky, but a 29-18 win over a team that ultimately finished winless wasn’t exactly inspiring. Nor was a home date with USC the following week—the Oklahoma faithful were hoping for a revenge for a 1981 loss in Los Angeles in the closing seconds, but instead watched as OU was shut out, 12-0.

Another unimpressive win against a weak team followed, 13-3 over Iowa State. There wasn’t a lot of reason for optimism on October 9 when the Red River rivalry with Texas came. The Longhorns were ranked #19

But the Oklahoma running game found its mojo on this day in Dallas. Dupree scored his first college touchdown on a 63-yard fake reverse and OU won the rushing yardage battle 384-163. The 28-22 win got the season back in track and a 38-14 blowout of lowly Kansas a week later got the Sooners back into the Top 20.

Decisive wins over Oklahoma State, Colorado and Missouri followed and Oklahoma was now ranked #11. More important, they were still undefeated in Big Eight play. They and Nebraska had again separated themselves from the rest of the conference and their Black Friday game in Lincoln would settle the league’s automatic Orange Bowl bid.

The season would end again in disappointment, as Oklahoma fell behind 21-10 and after closing to 28-24, a last-gasp drive ended with an interception. The Sooners would settle for the trip to Tempe ranked #12.

Fans got a good back-and-forth battle. Dupree was fantastic, going for 239 yards. Oklahoma led 13-11 at the half, with Arizona State scoring on a safety and also getting a 54-yard field goal from Zendejas. Clack and Sims traded touchdowns in the third quarter and Oklahoma still led 21-18.

The fourth quarter finally belonged to Arizona State, with a short touchdown run by Alvin Moore and 48-yard touchdown pass from Hons securing the 32-21 win. The Sun Devils finished #6 in the national polls, a ranking that had to soothe whatever residual hurt was there from missing the Rose Bowl. The Sooners ended at #16.

The Road To The 1981 Orange Bowl: Oklahoma & Florida State

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The 1981 Orange Bowl offered a rematch, as Oklahoma met Florida State in Miami for the second straight season. And this time the sequel was much better than the original—after OU won decisively the prior year, this time the Sooners had to go down to the bitter end to win a classic game. Let’s look back on how OU and FSU came to arrive in South Beach on New Year’s Day of 1981.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
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Oklahoma was ranked #5 to open the 1980 college football season and had won or shared the Big Eight title each of the last four years, with the only serious competition coming from Nebraska. The Sooners weren’t quite as good defensively this year though. They normally produced dominating Ds, but this season slipped to 45th in the country and lacked All-American talent.

Nor did the Sooners throw the ball effectively, or barely at all. J.C. Watts threw ten interceptions in spite of attempting only 78 passes all season. What Oklahoma could do was run the wishbone option attack like nobody’s business.

The three-back set was balanced, and Stanley Wilson, David Overstreet and Buster Rhymes all finished with over 600 yards, as did Watts. The four players were in the top ten of the Big Eight in rushing and they ran behind an offensive line anchored by a pair of All-American guards, Louise Oubre and Terry Crouch.

After a season-opening win over lowly Kentucky, OU’s defensive problems were exposed. They hosted Stanford who had this talented sophomore quarterback named John Elway. The Cards were unranked and surprised everyone with a decisive 31-14 win. Oklahoma dropped to #12. The defense looked even worse the following week at awful Colorado, but the offense absolutely exploded in an 82-42 win.

The annual rivalry battle with Texas was up next—in the college football world prior to 1996, this was a non-conference game, with the Longhorns in the old Southwest Conference. Texas was ranked third in the country and while they would eventually fade, it didn’t happen in this game. Oklahoma lost 20-13 and slid to #17. The national title hopes were gone.

Barry Switzer’s team got back on track with wins over Kansas State and Iowa State, and then welcomed sixth-ranked North Carolina to Norman. For the second time in 1980, the Sooners would face a future NFL great. This time it was outside linebacker Lawrence Taylor. But this time, the result was much different.

The Oklahoma running game got cranking, and blasted out 495 yards. Watts ran for 139. The game was close at the half, with the Sooners up 14-7, but a trio of third-quarter touchdowns blew it open. Watts didn’t complete a pass, going 0-for-2, but he didn’t need to in a 41-7 romp.

The Sooners struggled at mediocre Kansas, winning 21-19, though the victory moved them back into the Top 10. They again survived against a pretty good Missouri team, winning 17-7. In spite of the losses, Oklahoma hadn’t lost within the Big Eight and that meant their November 22 trip to #4 Nebraska was for an outright conference championship and the Orange Bowl bid that came with it.

OU surrendered a long touchdown run to Nebraska’s Jarvis Redwine early and fell behind 10-0. The Sooners rallied with two second quarter touchdowns to lead 14-10 at half, but their running game bogged down badly. The defense hung in, but the Cornhuskers scored a touchdown with 3:16 left and with a 17-14 lead, the Nebraska fans littered the field with oranges in anticipation of their prize. It proved to be premature.

Rhymes tore off the biggest play of the season, a 43-yard run that got Oklahoma to the 16-yard line. A field goal was still essentially useless—because of the non-conference losses and Nebraska’s higher ranking, the Cornhuskers would surely get chosen for the Orange Bowl if the teams played to a tie in this era prior to overtime. Rhymes made sure that wasn’t necessary, diving over the top for the winning points with less than a minute left.

After the struggles of the early season, Oklahoma was again the Big Eight champs and they were all the way to #4 in the polls by the time the Orange Bowl arrived.

Florida State’s Orange Bowl run of a year earlier had put Bobby Bowden’s up-and-coming program on the map and they were ready to demonstrate it was no fluke in the 1980 regular season. They had All-American nose tackle Ron Simmons back to anchor the defense, along with fellow All-American Bobby Butler in the secondary.

The offense didn’t have national honorees, but they could move the ball in an offense that was very wide-open for the times. Rick Stockstill threw 201 passes and completed 60 percent. Bowden made use of the running backs in the passing game, with Michael Whiting’s 25 catches being the most on the team.

Whiting also ran for 500 yards, while Sam Platt led the team in rushing with nearly 1,000 yards. Hardis Johnson was the top wideout, with 24 catches for 419 yards.

But it was special teams that Florida State excelled at, with All-American choices at kicker and punter. Bill Capece was the placekicker, while Rohn Stark, a future Pro Bowler in the NFL, was the nation’s best punter. Florida State was still searching for respect though, and was ranked #13 to start the season.

The Seminoles went to a pretty good LSU team and won 16-0 to open the campaign, moving to #10. They followed it up by crushing shaky competition in Louisville in South Carolina by a combined 115-7. But a road trip to Miami—a team on its way to nine wins—would prove to be a problem, as it would so often in Bowden’s later career. The ‘Noles lost 10-9 and slipped to #16.

Florida State’s season was now in trouble. They had a road trip to Nebraska and a home game with Pitt next, both teams ranked in the top five. The Seminoles could be out of the major bowl picture before October was halfway through.

They were beaten in the trenches in Nebraska, losing the rushing battle 201-12 and falling behind 14-3 at the half. But Florida State was opportunistic. They capitalized on three second-half turnovers and nudged their way to an 18-14 lead when the Cornhuskers launched one final drive.

The ball was on the 3-yard line with twelve seconds left. Linebacker Paul Piurowski stepped up and forced the fourth turnover of the half, with a sack and fumble. Florida State survived.

Pitt was one of the most talented teams in the country. Hugh Green was the best defensive lineman in the country. Mark May was the best offensive lineman in the country. The roster had 23 future NFL starters on it. And they had a sophomore at quarterback in Dan Marino who didn’t turn out half bad either. The Panthers were unbeaten and smelling their second national championship in four years.

The special teams heroes of Florida State came through. Capece nailed five field goals, including a 50-yarder at the end of the first half that gave the Seminoles a 20-7 lead. Stark crushed punts of 60, 67 and 53 yards, and controlled field position. In the meantime, Platt ran for 123 yards and the opportunistic defense continued—they picked off Marino three times, recovered four fumbles and won under the lights in Tallahassee 36-22.

It was to be Pitt’s only loss. Florida State was back on the national scene, ranked #7 and a player for a New Year’s Day bid.

The Seminoles rolled through the next four games without incident, beating Boston College, Memphis, Tulsa and Virginia Tech, with the former and latter teams being competitive and the middle two not so much. FSU got a tougher battle from rival Florida, an eight-win team, but the ‘Noles survived 17-13. They went to the Orange Bowl ranked third in the country.

On January 1, top-ranked Georgia won the Sugar Bowl early in the day, so by the time Florida State and Oklahoma took the field, the national championship was settled. They still made sure to give college football fans one final thrill before the season ended.

Florida State wasn’t overmatched at the point of attack, as they had been in the previous year’s 24-7 loss to Oklahoma. The Sooners ran the ball 55 times and only got 156 yards. The Seminole defense continued to get turnovers, six in in all. One of them was a botched punt that was recovered in the end zone. FSU led 17-10 late in the game.

But earlier, the Seminoles had missed a key opportunity when Capece uncharacteristically missed a short field goal. The Sooners were still in the game when they got the ball on their own 22-yard line with 2:37 left. Watt led the drive of his life, leading OU 78 yards for the touchdown and then converting the two-point play for an 18-17 lead.

Florida State made one last gasp, reached the Oklahoma 40-yard line and sent Capece out to try a desperation 57-yarder. He got good leg into it, but not quite enough. Oklahoma had another Orange Bowl victory.

Both teams would disappear from the New Year’s stage for a few years. Oklahoma would lose ground to Nebraska in the Big Eight for each of the next three seasons, before getting back to this game in 1984. Florida State’s next major bowl game would be 1987.

The Road To The 1980 Orange Bowl: Oklahoma & Florida State

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One traditional powerhouse program and another up-and-comer on their way to becoming a powerhouse program crossed paths at the 1980 Orange Bowl. Oklahoma and Florida State arrived in Miami each having completed the 1979 college football regular season ranked in the top five and ready for what would prove to be the first of two consecutive New Year’s Day battles on South Beach.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 

Oklahoma was a regular on the New Year’s Day stage and had won consecutive national titles as recently as 1974-75. They came into the 1979 season with the reigning Heisman Trophy winner in Billy Sims back at running back. OU had an All-American linebacker in George Cumby.

The Sooners’ high-speed wishbone offense, built on the option, had a new starting quarterback in J.C. Watts, a future Republican congressman from the state. Watts only threw 81 passes all season, but he still ran for 455 yards and his ten rushing touchdowns were second in the old Big Eight Conference only to Sims’ 22. Stanley Wilson provided another threat at running back.

Barry Switzer’s program was ranked #3 in the country to start the season, trailing only defending national co-champs Alabama and USC. Oklahoma started off the season with four straight decisive wins over mediocre competition in Iowa, Tulsa, Rice and Colorado. The first real test came on October 13 when they met fourth-ranked Texas in Dallas.

The Sooners capitalized on an early turnover, and Watt hit Wilson with an 11-yard touchdown pass and a 7-3 lead. But Texas took the lead back in the second quarter, and then simply outmuscled Oklahoma. The proud Sooners were outrushed 223-128 and allowed the Longhorns to control the ball for nearly 39 minutes. The game ended 16-7 and Oklahoma slipped to #8 in the polls.

Switzer’s team resumed the blasting of mediocrity with blowouts over Kansas State, Iowa State and Kansas. Mixed in this timeframe was another blowout of Oklahoma State. The Cowboys had won seven games this year, coming mostly out of nowhere with a rookie head coach that Switzer would one day become indelibly linked—Jimmy Johnson.

The blowouts were setting up Oklahoma for their season-ending showdown with Nebraska, but with 1979 being a year where the chalk mostly held, it wasn’t helping OU move up the polls. They escaped Missouri 24-22 and were still sitting on #8 when it was time to host the third-ranked Cornhuskers for the conference championship and automatic Orange Bowl invite that went with it.

Sims had taken a modest step back from his Heisman standards of 1978—he rushed for 300 fewer yards and USC running back Charles White ended up winning the award in 1979. But don’t tell anyone from Nebraska that the ’79 version of Sims was watered down—he poured it on for 247 rush yards on 28 carries.

After trailing 7-3 at the half, Oklahoma scored consecutive touchdowns and though Nebraska scored with just under five minutes left, the Sooners closed out a 17-14 win. They moved up to #5 in the rankings.

Florida State’s floundering football program had been taken over in 1976 by a guy named Bobby Bowden, and he immediately got the Seminoles respectable at 5-6. The next two years saw FSU win a combined 18 regular season games. Bowden’s program was coming and ’79 was the big breakthrough year.

Ron Simmons was an All-American defensive tackle and who anchored that side of the ball. Offensively, Bowden could get physical with 1,000-yard rusher Mark Lyles, and the coach alternated two quarterbacks, Jimmy Jordan and Wally Woodham. They threw the ball a lot by the standards of the day—a combined 332 attempts for both, the most any starting quarterback that made it to a New Year’s Day bowl game threw. Jackie Flowers, with his 37 catches for 622 yards was the top target.

Florida State had enough respect to be ranked #19 when the season began. They opened with five opponents who hovered more or less around the .500 mark. The Seminoles nipped Southern Miss, crushed Arizona State and beat Miami in the three home games that started the year. Then they survived a tough game at Virginia Tech, 17-10 and shut out Louisville. Florida State was up to #9 in the country.

After beating a bad Mississippi State team 17-6, Bowden took his team to Baton Rouge. LSU wasn’t great, but they were decent, finishing the season with a winning record. And Death Valley was no more hospitable to visitors in the late 1970s then it is today.

Jordan got most of the time at quarterback, and though he was a little erratic—14-for-31—he made big plays. Those fourteen completions got a stunning 312 yards. He threw three touchdown passes, a 53-yard strike to Hardis Johnson and a 40-yard pass to Flowers. Florida State won 24-19 and moved up to #6.

The following week at lowly Cincinnati was a trap game and FSU survived it, 26-21. It set up another important test, this one at home with South Carolina and their talented running back George Rogers.

Florida State took an early 13-0 lead before Rogers, who would win the Heisman the following year and have a good NFL career, ripped off an 80-yard touchdown run. FSU never really contained the big and explosive back, but they had a running game of their own. Lyles gained 132 yards on 25 carries and the Seminoles were vastly better in the air. This time it was Woodham, efficiently moving the ball at 15/29 for 145 yards (not bad numbers in this era) and the ‘Noles pulled away to a 27-7 win.

An undefeated season and major bowl invite was now in FSU’s crosshairs and they didn’t let up, crushing mediocre Memphis, 66-17. The season finale was with Florida, who went winless this season. The Seminoles put their rival out of their misery with a 27-14 win. They went to the Orange Bowl ranked #4.

There was no viable path for the Oklahoma-Florida State winner to claim a national title. Alabama and Ohio State were both unbeaten, but even if they both lost, that would mean third-ranked and USC (undefeated at 10-0-1) needed to beat Ohio State and that would crown the Trojans. The Orange Bowl was boxed out, but the storyline of traditional power versus up-and-comer was no small consolation prize.

Florida State started quickly, but you could tell they weren’t quite ready for prime-time. An early 7-0 lead might have been bigger if not for some mistakes. Watts broke through with a 61-yard touchdown run that tied the game and it was all Oklahoma the rest of the way in a 24-7 win. Simmons would concede afterward that the Sooners simply had more talent.

Oklahoma ended the season where they began, at #3 nationally. Florida State was just get started at becoming a major bowl regular.

The Road To The 1979 Orange Bowl: Oklahoma & Nebraska

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The Oklahoma-Nebraska rivalry was as good as it got in college football in the 1970s and 1980s, combining regional intensity and national impact. Their November game was almost always for the championship of the old Big Eight and the Orange Bowl bid that went with it. The 1978 college football season saw the rivalry go one step further, as the Sooners and Cornhuskers followed a path that led to a January 1 rematch in the 1979 Orange Bowl.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
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Oklahoma had won national championships in 1974 and 1975 under head coach Barry Switzer and nearly won another in 1977 before a stunning Orange Bowl defeat cost them the final #1 ranking. The Sooners opened the ’78 season at #4 in the preseason polls.

Nebraska last won it all when they went back-to-back in 1970-71 with Bob Devaney as the head coach. Since Tom Osborne, Devaney’s offensive coordinator, had taken over, the Cornhuskers kept winning, but not at that level.

Osborne came into the season 0-5 against Oklahoma and after consecutive major bowl victories following the 1973-74 regular seasons, Nebraska had been off the New Year’s stage for two years—including in 1976 when they opened as the preseason #1. This time around, they were ranked 10th to start the year.

Both offenses were built on the ground game, but OU’s went to an extreme. The wishbone attack, best compared to the read-option offenses of the 21st century, but with three backs in the backfield, churned out big plays. Billy Sims ran for over 1,700 yards, led the Big Eight in rushing by over 600 yards and won the Heisman Trophy.

Kenny King, a future NFL starter, was the #2 back. He and quarterback Thomas Lott each finished in the conference’s top 10 in rushing yardage. Lott threw only 55 passes all season, and backup J.C. Watts only threw 38.

Nebraska ran a power-I formation that relied on a great offensive line and backs who could read holes. Rick Berns and I.M. Hipp each went for over 1,000 yards and finished 3-4 among the conference rush leaders. Thus did the Sooners and Cornhuskers have half of the Big Eight’s ten most productive runners.

All-Americans dotted the lineups elsewhere, from OU linebacker George Cumby to Nebraska tight end Junior Miller to Sooner kicker Uwe von Schamann. The two programs were loaded for bear and eyeing their November 11 date in Lincoln.

Nebraska challenged itself right away when they visited preseason #1 Alabama, and it didn’t go well, in a 20-3 loss. The pollsters didn’t penalize the Huskers, although they slipped to #12 a week later after surviving mediocre Cal 36-26. Then Osborne’s team started churning, blowing out Hawaii and Indiana to set the stage for conference play.

Oklahoma played a pretty good Stanford team on the road. The Cardinal had a coach by the name of Bill Walsh who was one year away from making the jump to the NFL and becoming a legend, and a productive quarterback in Steve Dills. The Sooners had to survive 35-29.

Switzer’s team quickly found its second gear the next two weeks, smashing West Virginia and woeful Rice. In the meantime, Alabama was upset by USC, second-ranked Arkansas struggled and third-ranked Penn State also failed to impress in a win. That, combined with Oklahoma’s reputation, moved them to the top of the polls for the start of the Big Eight schedule.

Missouri was a good team that was going to make their mark on this race before it was over, and they were ranked #14 when they visited OU on September 30. But the Sooners won decisively 45-23, and prepared for the annual rivalry battle with sixth-ranked Texas.

Sims set the tone of the Red River War early, with an 18-yard touchdown run. He ran for 131 yards on the day and the Sooners overall rushed for 311 yards. They led 17-3 at half, 24-3 in the third quarter and were never threatened in a 31-10 win.

One week later, Oklahoma had to survive a letdown scare from lowly Kansas, the worst team in the Big Eight and the Sooners only won 17-16. But they got back on track and rolled over a pretty good Iowa State team, Kansas and Colorado and were still atop the polls when they prepared for Nebraska.

In the meantime, the Huskers were rolling through the Big Eight themselves. They went to Iowa State at a time when the Cyclones, who would eventually win eight games, were still ranked #15, and won 23-0. Nebraska blasted Kansas State and Colorado, looked pedestrian in a 22-14 win over a bad Oklahoma State team and then dropped 63 on Kansas. Nebraska was #4 when the rivalry day came.

Sims again looked to set the tone of a big game, bolting 44 yards for a touchdown and an early 7-0 lead. But a turnover, when Lott’s pitch on the option went awry, set up Nebraska for the tying touchdown. It would prove to be a pattern—the Sooners fumbled nine times on this day and the Cornhuskers recovered six of them.

The game was tied 14-14 early in the fourth quarter when Nebraska got a field goal that marked their first fourth quarter points against Oklahoma since 1971. OU still drove down to the three-yard line with less than five minutes left and looked ready to win it. In a fitting conclusion, Sims fumbled, the Huskers recovered and the Orange Bowl bid was theirs.

Nebraska was now #2 and they were in position to the new #1 team, Penn State, for the national title. But another order of business remained—a home game with Missouri one week later. The Tigers were not only an eight-win team and bowl-bound themselves, but they had two future NFL stars—running back James Wilder and eventual Hall of Fame tight end Kellen Winslow. Osborne was worried and he had every reason to be.

The Cornhuskers got the game off to a strong start, when Berns romped 82 yards for a touchdown on the game’s first play. Berns would run for 255 yards, a single-game Nebraska record and he also became the program’s all-time rush leader. But what should have been a day of celebration—the records and an outright Big Eight title went off the rails.

After leading 21-7, the Nebraska defense couldn’t contain Wilder, who scored four touchdowns on the day. Winslow caught a TD pass and Missouri pulled a 35-31 upset. In the meantime, Oklahoma was taking out its frustrations by scoring 62 points against Oklahoma State.

The Sooners and Huskers were co-champs of the Big Eight. Nebraska still had the automatic bid to the Orange Bowl by virtue of the head-to-head win, but now the question of whom to invite loomed. Penn State was redirected to the Sugar Bowl, where Alabama had moved back up to #2. The Orange Bowl Committee, in a decision that justifiably enraged Nebraska, decided to invite Oklahoma and create a rematch.

A rematch always favors the team that lost the previous game, especially when the teams are comparably matched and the unfairness stands out even more when the second game is the only one that will be remembered (unlike a regular home-and-home among NFL divisional rivals where it’s just part of the standard schedule). That proved to be the case here.

The fairer solution would have been to invite seventh-ranked Clemson, with its 10-1 record and passionate fan base. Oklahoma could have gone to the Cotton Bowl over three-loss Notre Dame. But bowl politics then make today look like a golden age, and there was no way Clemson was getting anywhere on New Year’s Day ahead of the Sooners or Fighting Irish.

For the Orange Bowl, Oklahoma made a strategic adjustment and ran in more of a convoy, keeping people around the ballcarrier in the event of a fumble. It turned out to be unnecessary—the only fumbled once. After spotting the Huskers the first touchdown, OU scored the next 24 points and led 31-10 before a couple late Nebraska touchdowns made the final score respectable at 31-24.

Oklahoma finished #3 in the polls and Nebraska finished #8. But the 1979 Orange Bowl will always be most remembered for the rare rematch and second chance it offered the Sooners.

The 2000 Oklahoma Sooners Return To National Prominence

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The Oklahoma Sooners were no strangers to competing for national championships and doing it at the Orange Bowl, but when they arrived in Miami following the 2000 college football season, it had been a while since Boomer Sooner had been on top.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
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OU won the national championship under Barry Switzer in 1985 and played for the title in 1987, both times in the Orange Bowl. But 1988 had been the last time they were relevant on the national stage. The 2000 Oklahoma Sooners, led by second-year head coach Bob Stoops, made the program’s first major bowl since 1987 and brought the first national title in fifteen years to Norman.

The Sooners opened the season unranked, but it didn’t take long for them to make a statement. UTEP came to Norman for the season opener on September 2 and this was a pretty good Miners team, one that would win eight games and make a bowl. The Oklahoma defense forced seven turnovers, quarterback Josh Heupel threw for 274 yards on 18/36 passing and the Sooners romped 55-14.

Two games against soft non-conference competition followed. OU destroyed Arkansas State and Rice with a 300-yard passing game from Heuepleach time. And each time a back went over 100 yards, with Andre Woolfolk and Quentin Griffin taking turns. The Sooners closed September and opened Big 12 play by hammering Kansas 34-16, thanks to another seven-turnover day from the defense with three interceptions by defensive back J.T. Thatcher.

By the time September was over, Oklahoma had risen to #10 in the polls. But the biggest games of the season were still ahead and not much is bigger—anywhere in the country—then the Red River Rivalry game with Texas that beckoned on October 7.

Texas came into the game ranked #11, so no one anticipated what was about to go down. On the game’s first possession, Heupel rifled a 29-yard touchdown pass to Woolfork. Then the quarterback connected on a 20-yard pass to tight end Matt Anderson setting up an easy TD. Linebacker Rocky Calmus was playing with a cast due to a broken thumb, but it didn’t stop him from intercepting a pass and taking it to the house.

By the time the first half was over, OU had scored on all five offensive possessions along with the Calmus touchdown. They led 42-7 and the final was a 63-14 stunner.

There was no time to celebrate though, because the following week was a trip to face second-ranked Kansas State. The Sooners wouldn’t start quite so fast in this game—they trailed 7-3 when Thatcher brought a kickoff back 93 yards for a touchdown. Heupel was again throwing strikes all over the field—he would finish 29/37 for 374 yards and for the second straight week have zero interceptions. Sophomore receiver Antonio Savage was the key target, with seven catches for 116 yards.

Oklahoma led 38-14, but they one thing they were not doing was running the football. OU only netted 11 yards on the ground. They were unable to just run the game out and Kansas State came back with a long touchdown pass and a special teams score of their own. The lead was cut to 38-31 with more than ten minutes to go. Heupel calmly responded by hitting key throws, pushing the Sooners into field goal range and getting the clinching points in a 41-31 win.

OU was now sitting at #2 and the only team ahead of them was historic rival Nebraska, still in the Big 12. After a week off to catch their breath, the Sooners prepared to host the Cornhuskers in a game that woke up the echoes of the 1970s and 1980s when this game was must-see college football—not just regionally, but nationally.

It didn’t start well. Nebraska, led by quarterback Eric Crouch, rolled to easy touchdowns on their first two drives. Oklahoma looked like a program that might still be a year or two away from competing with the big boys. Then the game completely turned on a dime.

Heupel hit a key pass to receiver Curtis Fagan setting up a touchdown that cut the lead to 14-7. Late, Heupel again connected with Fagan, this time for a 34-yard touchdown pass on 3rd-and-14 that tied the game. The OU defense found its bearings and in the second quarter they held Nebraska to one first down and 16 yards rushing.

Oklahoma nudged out to a 17-14 lead by halftime and kept it going into the second half. Nebraska couldn’t move the ball—though Crouch would rush for 101 yards, he was ineffective passing and no one else made a notable contribution. Heupel finished the day 20/34 for 300 yards and the final was 31-14.

Oklahoma celebrated their return to the top of the polls by crushing lowly Baylor 56-7. Heupel threw for 313 yards and three touchdowns, while the defense held the Bears to 94 yards of total offense. But over the next three weeks, the Sooners lost some of their crispness and they flirted with danger.

Heupel threw a couple interceptions at bowl-bound Texas A&M. He was still able to throw for 263 yards, but it took a Pick-6 from linebacker Torrance Marshall to be the difference in a 35-31 escape. The offense was sloppy at home against another bowl-caliber opponent in Texas Tech, turning the ball over four times. They were able to outrush the Red Raiders 136-21 and win the game 27-13.

The regular season finale at Oklahoma State, the Bedlam game, was another defensive affair. The Cowboys were not a good team in 2000, but they forced Heupel into a poor 19/36 for 154 yards and two interceptions stat line. The defense again delivered though and so did the running game—Griffen rushed for 115 yards and the Sooners escaped with a 12-7 win.

The late season swoon from Heupel almost certainly cost him the Heisman Trophy—as it was, he still finished a close second to Florida State’s Chris Weinke and ahead of a couple notable names in Purdue’s Drew Brees and TCU running back LaDanian Tomlinson. More important though, was that Oklahoma was undefeated and champs of the Big 12 South.

Prior to 2011, the Big 12 was split into divisions, so the undefeated regular season wasn’t the end of the journey. Revenge-minded Kansas State had taken the North. The rematch would take place in Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium on the first Saturday of December.

In the frigid cold, Heupel got off to a slow start. He threw a pair of first-quarter interceptions. Oklahoma also wasted a turnover opportunity of their own when they were subsequently stopped on 4th-and-goal from the 1-yard line. They were fortunate to only be behind 10-3 midway through the second quarter.

Right before half, Heuepl got into a groove and led a game-tying TD drive. He led another drive in the third quarter. It was 17-10 and the Sooner defense was in control. But the special teams weren’t—they allowed a punt return for a touchdown that tied the game 17-17.

Heupel answered early in the fourth quarter when he connected with Woolfork over the middle on a 17-yard touchdown pass to go up 24-17. The game stayed there until just over a minute remained. OU got a clinching field goal, K-State scored a meaningless TD with six seconds left and the 27-24 win sent the Sooners to Miami.

The Orange Bowl was hosting the national championship game, which brought back plenty of Oklahoma nostalgia. Their greatest moments had taken place in this bowl game. In Switzer’s day, it was because the old Big Eight Conference was tied the Orange Bowl. This time it was coincidence—the format that existed from 1998-2005 called for one of the four major games (including the Sugar, Rose and Fiesta) to rotate hosting the 1 vs. 2 teams. Oklahoma fans were just fine with waking up the echoes of their past in Miami.

Florida State was the defending national champion and even though Oklahoma was the #1-ranked team, the Seminoles were installed as hefty 11-point favorites. To put this in perspective, that’s the same spread that existed for the legendary Miami-Nebraska Orange Bowl of 1983, widely considered one of the great upsets of all time.

Perhaps it’s understandable that the public didn’t believe in these Sooners—even though Calmus and Thatcher were 1st-team All-Americans, the program only had two players chosen in the NFL draft the following April and none higher than the third round. The same was true the following year. People who use the “eye test” insisted Florida State was better.

But people that used the test of “how many football games has this team won and who have they beaten” would have noted the two victories over Kansas State and the routs over Nebraska and Texas. Maybe that’s why what happened isn’t seen as a historic upset in spite of the pointspread.

The potent Florida State offense did nothing against Oklahoma. The Sooners got a field goal in the first quarter and a field goal in the third, and even with the score 6-0, it felt like that would stand up all night. FSU couldn’t run ,gaining only 27 yards on the ground. Weinke was forced to the air constantly and finished 25/52 for 276 yards, a relatively inefficient performance that included a couple picks. When Griffen ran for a fourth-quarter touchdown to make it a two-score game at 13-0, you could start the party in Norman.

Oklahoma didn’t get the shutout, although the fact Florida State needed a safety to get its only points in the 13-2 final almost served to catch the eye even more than a shutout would have. To casual fans, the game might have been forgettable. But to those who loved the 2000 Oklahoma Sooners, it was a championship that told the college football world they were back.