1970 Oklahoma Sooners football team

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1970 Oklahoma Sooners football
Oklahoma Sooners logo.svg
ConferenceBig Eight Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 15
APNo. 20
1970 record7–4–1 (5–2 Big 8)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorBarry Switzer (5th season)
Offensive schemeI formation (first 3 games)
Wishbone (last 9 games)
Defensive coordinatorLarry Lacewell (1st season)
Captains
  • Steve Casteel
  • Monty Johnson
Home stadiumOklahoma Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 61,836)
Seasons
← 1969
1971 →
1970 Big Eight Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Nebraska $ 7 0 0 11 0 1
No. 20 Oklahoma 5 2 0 7 4 1
Kansas State 5 2 0 6 5 0
Missouri 3 4 0 5 6 0
Colorado 3 4 0 6 5 0
Kansas 2 5 0 5 6 0
Oklahoma State 2 5 0 4 7 0
Iowa State 1 6 0 5 6 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1970 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 1970 NCAA University Division football season, the 76th season of Sooner football. The team was led by head coach Chuck Fairbanks in his fourth season as the OU head coach. They played their home games at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. They were a member of the Big Eight Conference.

Conference play began at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado on October 17, with a win over the Colorado Buffaloes, and ended on November 28 at home in Norman with a win over Oklahoma State in the annual Bedlam Series. The Sooners lost their second conference game to Kansas State; the Wildcats' next victory in the series would not occur until 1993.

Following a loss in their third game to Oregon State, the Sooners installed the Wishbone offense during the open week prior to the Red River Shootout vs. Texas. The Sooners would run the Wishbone continuously, save for a switch to the I formation in 1982 and 1983, until the early 1990s.

After finishing the regular season with a record of 7–4 (5–2 in Big 8 play), the Sooners were invited to play in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl, where they tied the Alabama Crimson Tide, 24–24.

Following the season, John Watson was selected in the seventh round of the 1971 NFL Draft, and Steve Casteel was chosen in the 10th.

Schedule[]

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 12at SMU*No. 20W 28–1151,909[1]
September 19Wisconsin*No. 18
  • Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
  • Norman, OK
W 21–758,100[1]
September 26Oregon State*No. 14
  • Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
  • Norman, OK
L 14–2354,700[1]
October 10vs. No. 2 Texas*
  • Cotton Bowl
  • Dallas, TX (Red River Shootout)
ABCL 9–4171,938[1]
October 17at No. 13 Colorado
W 23–1547,700[1]
October 24Kansas State
  • Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
  • Norman, OK
L 14–1960,800[1]
October 31at Iowa StateW 29–2826,672[1]
November 7Missouri
W 28–1354,750[1]
November 14at Kansas
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Lawrence, KS
W 28–2436,820[1]
November 21at No. 3 Nebraska
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Lincoln, NE (rivalry)
L 21–2867,392[1]
November 28Oklahoma State
W 66–660,300[1]
December 31vs. Alabama*No. 24T 24–2453,822[1]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game

Roster[]

1970 Oklahoma Sooners football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
HB 35 Roy Bell Jr
FB 17 Leon Crosswhite So
OE 82 Al Chandler So
QB 11 Jack Mildren Jr
SE 83 Greg Pruitt So
QB 15 Dave Robertson So
T 71 Nelson Todd Jr
T 76 John Watson Sr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
LB 43 Steve Aycock Jr
WB 37 Gary Jamar Sr
S 25 Monty Johnson Sr
DT 99 John Nicholson Sr
DHB 19 Geoffrey Nordgren Jr
DHB 18 Steve O'Shaughnessy Jr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster

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 10 11 12 13 Final 
AP 20 т 18 14 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR 20 20 20 т

Postseason[]

NFL draft[]

The following players were drafted into the National Football League following the season.[2]

Player Position Round Pick Franchise
John Watson Tackle 7 179 San Francisco 49ers
Steve Casteel Linebacker 10 258 Cleveland Browns
Monty Johnson Defensive back 17 427 Green Bay Packers

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 1970 OU Football Season Schedule – SoonerStats – Historical scores, records, and stats for Oklahoma Sooners football, basketball, baseball, and softball
  2. ^ "1971 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
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