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Oklahoma football: Five games that could have changed OU gridiron history

By Chip Rouse

PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 01: The Georgia Bulldogs celebrate with newspapers after the Bulldogs beat the Oklahoma Sooners 54-48 in double overtime in the 2018 College Football Playoff Semifinal Game at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual at the Rose Bowl on January 1, 2018 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 01: The Georgia Bulldogs celebrate with newspapers after the Bulldogs beat the Oklahoma Sooners 54-48 in double overtime in the 2018 College Football Playoff Semifinal Game at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual at the Rose Bowl on January 1, 2018 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA FOOTBALL COACH BARRY SWITZER. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Dunn/ALLSPORT
UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA FOOTBALL COACH BARRY SWITZER. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Dunn/ALLSPORT /

5. Oklahoma vs. Arkansas, Jan. 2, 1978

Oklahoma finished the 1977 regular season with a 10-1 record and a fifth consecutive Big Eight championship under head coach Barry Switzer. OU’s lone loss was to Texas (then a member of the Southwest Conference). By virtue of winning the Big Eight title, the Sooners earned the conference’s automatic bid to the Orange Bowl, where their opponent was sixth-ranked Arkansas.

Entering the postseason, Oklahoma ranked second in the Associated Press Top 25 to No. 1 Texas. Texas had defeated both OU and Arkansas on successive weekends that season.

The Longhorns were matched up with No. 5-ranked Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl Classic, and earlier in the day on New Year’s Day 1978 were thoroughly beaten by the Fighting Irish, led by a quarterback named Joe Montana. Notre Dame’s 38-10 victory over Texas opened the door for OU to move to No. 1 and win the national championship with a win over Arkansas.

Another thing working in the Sooners’ favor heading into the Orange Bowl game that year was that Arkansas head coach Lou Holtz had suspended three players for the bowl game, including the Razorbacks’ top two running backs on the depth chart, for team violations.

After the Arkansas suspensions were announced, Las Vegas oddsmakers established Oklahoma as a 24-point favorite.

Things went south for the Sooners from the get-go in this game. Redshirt-sophomore running back Billy Sims fumbled inside the OU 10-yard line on the third play of the game, leading to an Arkansas touchdown and a lead the Razorbacks never relinquished.

Led by backup running back Roland Sales, Arkansas outrushed Oklahoma 126 to 116 in the opening half and took a 14-0 lead into halftime.

Arkansas added 10 more points in the third quarter and another touchdown in the fourth. The Sooners’ lone score in the game came in the final quarter on an eight-yard pass from quarterback Dean Blevins to tight end Victor Hicks.

Sales rushed for 205 yards in the game, including a pair of TDs, and averaged over nine yards per carry. His rushing total came close to matching the OU team, which had 230 rushing yards in the game.

After the game, Barry Switzer called it “the most disappointing loss of my career.” The 42-point differential between the opening spread and the final outcome represents one of the biggest upsets in college bowl history. And that wasn’t the worst of it.

Instead of what appeared going into the 1978 Orange Bowl to be a cakewalk to what would have been a third OU national title in four seasons, Notre Dame ended up claiming the national championship that year. Texas finished No. 4 in the final 1977 rankings and the Sooners dropped all the way to No. 7.

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