Eight days and counting to the long anticipated kickoff of another Oklahoma football season.
There is some Sooner history associated with the number eight.
To begin with, the next Oklahoma national championship in football will be the school’s eighth, and if it were to happen in 2017 it would place the Sooners in sole possession of second place in the number of national championships achieved since 1950.
Since 2000, the Sooners have won no fewer than eight games in 17 consecutive seasons.
On a much lighter note, Oklahoma ranks No. 8 in the country among college football accounts in the number of Twitter followers.
Safety Kahlil Haughton wears jersey No. 8 for Oklahoma in 2017. The junior from Waco, Texas, is one of several notable Sooner players who have worn that number for the Crimson and Cream in the past. More recently, Sooners who have donned the No. 8 jersey have included:
Nate Hybl, who played quarterback for the Sooners from 2000 to 2002, wore No. 8. Hybl threw for 5,091 career passing yards and 40 touchdowns at Oklahoma and led the Sooners to a Rose Bowl victory over Washington State in 2002. He was named the Most Valuable Player in that game.
No. 8 Dominique Whaley played just two seasons at Oklahoma (2011-12), but led the Sooners in rushing in 2011.
Going back almost 40 years, Darrell Shepard wore No. 8 and played quarterback at OU from 1979-81. Operating out of the famed Sooner Wishbone, Shepard ran for 774 yards as a quarterback as a senior in 1981. In his three seasons at OU, he only attempted 62 total passes. If the surname sounds familiar to you, its because Darrell is the uncle of Sterling Shepard and the brother of Sterling’s late dad, Derrick, who also played for the Sooners. Darrell’s brother, Woody, is another former Oklahoma Sooner.