1953 Oklahoma Sooners football team

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1953 Oklahoma Sooners football
Big Seven champion
Orange Bowl champion
Orange Bowl, W 7–0 vs. Maryland
ConferenceBig Seven Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 5
APNo. 4
1953 record9–1–1 (6–0 Big 7)
Head coach
  • Bud Wilkinson (7th season)
Captains
  • Larry Grigg
  • Roger Nelson
Home stadiumOklahoma Memorial Stadium
(Capacity: 55,647)
Seasons
← 1952
1954 →
1953 Big Seven Conference football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 4 Oklahoma $ 6 – 0 – 0 9 – 1 – 1
Missouri 4 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Kansas State 4 – 2 – 0 6 – 3 – 1
Colorado 2 – 4 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Nebraska 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 6 – 1
Kansas 2 – 4 – 0 2 – 8 – 0
Iowa State 1 – 5 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1953 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma during the 1953 college football season. Led by seventh-year head coach Bud Wilkinson, they played their home games at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma, and were members of the Big Seven Conference.

The Sooners dropped their opener at home to top-ranked Notre Dame,[1] tied at Pittsburgh,[2] then won nine straight, concluding with a 7–0 shutout of #1 Maryland in the Orange Bowl in Miami on New Year's Day.[3][4] The final polls were released in late November, prior to the bowl games.[5][6]

Oklahoma's initial win of the 1953 season, over Texas in Dallas on October 10, was the start of their record 47-game winning streak that extended more than four years, until November 1957.[7]

Schedule[]

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendance
September 26No. 1 Notre Dame*No. 6
  • Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
  • Norman, OK
L 21–2859,461
October 3at Pittsburgh*No. 8
  • Pitt Stadium
  • Pittsburgh, PA
T 7–728,152
October 10vs. No. 15 Texas*No. 16
  • Cotton Bowl
  • Dallas, TX (Red River Shootout)
W 19–1475,504
October 17KansasNo. 12
  • Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
  • Norman, OK
W 45–045,862
October 24ColoradoNo. 9
  • Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
  • Norman, OK
W 27–2036,565
October 31at Kansas StateNo. 9
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Manhattan, KS
W 34–023,822
November 7at MissouriNo. 8
W 14–730,020
November 14Iowa StateNo. 6
  • Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
  • Norman, OK
W 47–043,713
November 21at NebraskaNo. 4
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Lincoln, NE (rivalry)
W 30–731,551
November 28Oklahoma A&M*No. 4
  • Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
  • Norman, OK (Bedlam)
W 42–750,524
January 1, 1954vs. No. 1 Maryland*No. 4
  • Burdine Stadium
  • Miami, FL (Orange Bowl)
W 7–068,640
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Source:[8]

Roster[]

  • G J.D. Roberts, Sr.
  • E Carl Allison, Jr.

Rankings[]

See also: 1953 NCAA football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Final 
AP 6 (3) 8 16 12 (1) 9 9 (1) 8 (1) 6 (1) 4 (3) 4 (9) 4 (10)

Postseason[]

NFL draft[]

The following players were drafted into the National Football League following the season.[9]

Player Position Round Pick Franchise
Larry Grigg Back 2 16 Baltimore Colts
Merrill Green Back 10 116 Washington Redskins
Roger Nelson Tackle 14 164 Washington Redskins
J. D. Roberts Guard 17 195 Green Bay Packers
Juel Sweatte Back 30 355 Pittsburgh Steelers

References[]

  1. ^ Fullerton, Hugh, Jr. (September 27, 1953). "The Irish flame in Norman heat to stop O.U., 28-21". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. p. 1, sports.
  2. ^ "Pitt holds Sooners to 7-7 draw". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. October 4, 1953. p. 32.
  3. ^ "Oklahoma's defense upsets Maryland, 7-0". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. January 2, 1954. p. 10.
  4. ^ "Maryland deflated by Sooners, 7-0". Pittsburgh Press. United Press. January 2, 1954. p. 6.
  5. ^ "Undefeated Maryland eleven leads final AP football poll". Milwaukee Journal. Associated Press. December 1, 1953. p. 18.
  6. ^ "Maryland keeps top spot in nation's college ratings". Pittsburgh Press. United Press. December 1, 1953. p. 24.
  7. ^ "Irish snap Sooners' string, 7-0". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. November 17, 1957. p. 1C.
  8. ^ "SoonerSports.com". Archived from the original on February 29, 2008. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  9. ^ "1954 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
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