Oklahoma football: Five best Sooner teams of all-time

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NORMAN, OK – OCTOBER 15: The Oklahoma Sooners marching band performs before the game against the Kansas State Wildcats October 15, 2016 at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma defeated Kansas State 38-17. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) *** local caption *** /

Oklahoma won its third national championship in 1956, and third under head coach Bud Wilkinson. The Sooners were a perfect 10-0 that season and captured their 11th consecutive conference championship (nine in the Big Seven and two in the Big Six).

Of their 10 wins in 1956, six were by shutout, including 45-0 and 53-0 victories over longtime rivals Texas and Oklahoma State, respectively. Wilkinson’s Sooners came very close to making it seven shutout wins, defeating the Big Red of Nebraska 54-6.

In contrast to the current-day Sooners, Oklahoma rarely put the ball in the air in the 1950s, focusing almost entirely on running the football. Sooner quarterback Jimmy Harris threw only 37 passes the entire season. He completed 23 of them for just under 500 yards and four touchdowns.

Meanwhile All-American Tommy McDonald and Clendon Thomas both ran for more than 800 yards, averaging better than seven yards per carry, and combined for 25 touchdowns. When the Sooners did pass, it was generally McDonald or Thomas on the receiving end.

Thomas led the country in scoring that year with 102 points. McDonald was right there also, with 96 points of his own.

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