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1967 Oklahoma Sooners football
Big 8 champion
Orange Bowl champion
National Champion(Poling) [1]
Orange Bowl, W 26–24 vs. Tennessee
Conference Big Eight Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 3
APNo. 3
Record10–1 (7–0 Big 8)
Head coach
Offensive coordinator Barry Switzer (2nd season)
Captain Bob Kalsu
Home stadium Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
Seasons
←  1966
1968 →
1967 Big Eight Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 3 Oklahoma $ 7 0 0 10 1 0
Colorado 5 2 0 9 2 0
Kansas 5 2 0 5 5 0
Missouri 4 3 0 7 3 0
Nebraska 3 4 0 6 4 0
Oklahoma State 3 4 0 4 5 1
Iowa State 1 6 0 2 8 0
Kansas State 0 7 0 1 9 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1967 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma during the 1967 NCAA University Division football season. Led by first-year head coach Chuck Fairbanks, they played their home games at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium and competed as members of the Big Eight Conference. The Sooners won all seven conference games and finished the season with one loss they upset number 9 Colorado on November 4 by a score of 23-0 in Norman; they defeated Tennessee, 26–24, to win the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. [1] [2]

Entering his second season as head coach, 37-year-old Jim Mackenzie suffered a fatal heart attack at his Norman home in late April. [3] [4] Assistant coach Fairbanks, age 33, was promoted several days later. [5]

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 23 Washington State*W 21–047,270
September 30 Maryland*
  • Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
  • Norman, OK
ABCW 35–046,215 [6]
October 14vs. Texas*L 7–975,504
October 21at Kansas StateW 46–717,375
October 28at MissouriW 7–055,445
November 4No. 9 Colorado
  • Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
  • Norman, OK
W 23–061,106
November 11at Iowa StateNo. 8W 52–1418,331
November 18 KansasNo. 7
  • Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
  • Norman, OK
W 14–1057,649
November 23at NebraskaNo. 5ABCW 21–1459,154
December 2 Oklahoma StateNo. 3
W 38–1462,038
January 1, 1968vs. No. 2 Tennessee*No. 3 NBCW 26–2476,563 [7]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[8]

Roster

1967 Oklahoma Sooners football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
WB 33 Eddie Hinton Jr
OT 77 Bob Kalsu Sr
TB 22 Ron Shotts Sr
RB Steve Owens So
QB 11 Bobby Warmack Jr
E 82 Steve Zabel So
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DL 66 Granville Liggins Sr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
PK 92 Mike Vachon Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

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

Roster

Game summaries

Kansas

Kansas (4-4) at #7 Oklahoma (6-1)
1 234Total
Kansas 3 070 10
• Oklahoma 0 077 14
  • Date: November 18
  • Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
  • Game start: 1:30 p.m. CST
  • Game attendance: 57,649
  • Game weather: Sunny
  • Dad's Day

[9]

Orange Bowl

1 234Total
• Oklahoma 7 1207 26
Tennessee 0 01410 24
  • Date: January 1
  • Location: Orange Bowl
  • Game attendance: 76,563
  • Television network: NBC

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked ( ) = First-place votes
Week
PollPre12345678910Final
AP875 (1)3

Awards

All-Big 8: OT Bob Kalsu, DE John Koller, NG Granville Liggins, RB Steve Owens, QB Bob Warmack

[10]

Postseason

NFL/AFL draft

The following players were drafted into the National Football League or American Football League following the season. [11]

Round Pick Player Position NFL Team
8 199 Bob Kalsu Tackle Buffalo Bills
10 256 Granville Liggins Linebacker Detroit Lions
11 292 Ron Shotts Running back Detroit Lions

References

  1. ^ a b Grimsley, Will (January 2, 1968). "Oklahoma trips Tennessee, 26-24". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). Associated Press. p. 14.
  2. ^ "Oklahoma shades Tennessee in Orange 'doubleheader'". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. January 2, 1968. p. 36.
  3. ^ "OU grid coach dies at age 37 of heart attack". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). Associated Press. April 28, 1967. p. 13.
  4. ^ "OU to name grid coach soon". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). Associated Press. May 1, 1967. p. 15.
  5. ^ "Fairbanks hired as Sooner coach". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). Associated Press. May 2, 1967. p. 10.
  6. ^ "Sooners boom Maryland". Tulsa World. October 1, 1967. Retrieved January 21, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Sooners hold on to win". The Kansas City Times. January 2, 1968. Retrieved May 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "SoonerSports.com". Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved October 24, 2012.
  9. ^ SoonerStats.com. Retrieved 2018-Nov-28.
  10. ^ Oklahoma Sooners Football Media Guide. p. 186. Retrieved 2018-Nov-28.
  11. ^ "1968 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 29, 2020.