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1981 Oklahoma Sooners football
Sun Bowl champion
Sun Bowl, W 40–14 vs. Houston
Conference Big Eight Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 14
APNo. 20
Record7–4–1 (4–2–1 Big 8)
Head coach
Offensive coordinator Galen Hall (9th season)
Offensive scheme Wishbone
Defensive coordinator Gary Gibbs (1st season)
Captains
Home stadium Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
Seasons
←  1980
1982 →
1981 Big Eight Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 11 Nebraska $ 7 – 0 – 0 9 – 3 – 0
No. 20 Oklahoma 4 – 2 – 1 7 – 4 – 1
Kansas 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 5 – 0
Oklahoma State 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 5 – 0
No. 19 Missouri 3 – 4 – 0 8 – 4 – 0
Iowa State 2 – 4 – 1 5 – 5 – 1
Colorado 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
Kansas State 1 – 6 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1981 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. They played their home games at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium and competed as members of the Big Eight Conference. They were coached by head coach Barry Switzer. The Sooners defeated the Houston Cougars 40–14 to win the 1981 Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 12 Wyoming*No. 3
W 37–2075,920
September 264:00 p.m.at No. 1 USC*No. 2
 ABCL 24–2885,651
October 3No. 20 Iowa StateNo. 5
  • Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
  • Norman, OK
T 7–776,385
October 1011:30 a.m.vs. No. 3 Texas*No. 10
ABCL 14–3475,587
October 17 Kansas
  • Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
  • Norman, OK
W 45–775,644
October 24 Oregon State*
  • Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
  • Norman, OK
W 42–375,658
October 31 ColoradoNo. 19
  • Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
  • Norman, OK
W 49–075,638
November 7at Kansas StateNo. 17
W 28–2133,200
November 14at MissouriNo. 15
L 14–1967,364
November 21No. 5 Nebraska
  • Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
  • Norman, OK ( rivalry)
ESPNL 14–3775,833
November 28at Oklahoma State
 KTULW 27–351,100
December 2612:00 p.m.vs. Houston*
 CBSW 40–1433,816
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time

[1]

Roster

1981 Oklahoma Sooners football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
C 51 Bill Bechtold  Sr
QB 1 Danny Bradley Fr
RB 30 Donald Brown Fr
G 75 Terry Crouch (C)  Sr
OT 61 Ed Culver (C)  Sr
OT 70 Scott Leggett Fr
QB 7 Kelly Phelps  Jr
RB 4 Buster Rhymes Fr
SE 2 Jim Rockford So
RB 13 Steve Sewell Fr
FB 23 Fred Sims Fr
QB 8 Darrell Shepard Sr
C 73 Chuck Thomas So
G 76 Steve Williams  Jr
RB 32 Stanley Wilson Jr
RB 40 Chet Winters Jr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DB 31 Allen Anderson Fr
LB 38 Thomas Benson So
DL 90 John Blake Jr
DT 80 Rick Bryan So
DL 92 Tony Casillas Fr
DT 78 Scott Dawson Sr
DB 33 Dwight Drane So
DB 6 Steve Haworth Jr
NG 95 Johnnie Lewis (C) Sr
LB 39 Kevin Murphy Fr
DE 41 Mike Rilley  Sr
LB 49 Jackie Shipp So
DB 15 Elbert Watts Fr
DE 88 Mike Weddington Jr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster

Game summaries

Oklahoma State

See also: 1981 Oklahoma State Cowboys football team and Bedlam Series
Oklahoma Sooners at Oklahoma State Cowboys
Period 1 2 34Total
Oklahoma 7 13 7027
Oklahoma State 0 3 003

at Lewis Field • Stillwater, Oklahoma

Fred Sims scored three short-yardage touchdowns to lead Oklahoma to a 27–3 win over their instate rivals in a steady drizzle. Sims, who carried 23 times for 66 yards, scored on runs of two and five yards in the second quarter and a one-yard run in the third. [2]

Rankings

See also: 1981 NCAA Division I-A football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked ( ) = First-place votes
Week
PollPre12345678910111213Final
AP2 (7)33 (12)2 (15)510——191715———20
Coaches Poll2 (3)2 (3)3 (14)2 (10)6122017131311———14

Postseason

NFL draft

The following players were drafted into the National Football League following the season. [3]

Round Pick Player Position NFL Team
3 67 Bill Bechtold Center Los Angeles Rams
5 113 Terry Crouch Guard Baltimore Colts
8 207 Mike Reilly Linebacker Los Angeles Rams
9 241 Lyndle Byford Tackle Kansas City Chiefs

References

  1. ^ "Seasons: 1980s". Archived from the original on September 11, 2012. Retrieved October 24, 2012.
  2. ^ Eugene Register-Guard. November 29, 1981
  3. ^ "1982 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 29, 2020.


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