Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma football: Fifty-one days to 2021 season opener

By Chip Rouse

NORMAN, OK - SEPTEMBER 22: Oklahoma Sooners fans wait on the statue of Heisman Trophy winner Billy Vessels before the game against the Army Black Knights at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on September 22, 2018 in Norman, Oklahoma. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)
NORMAN, OK - SEPTEMBER 22: Oklahoma Sooners fans wait on the statue of Heisman Trophy winner Billy Vessels before the game against the Army Black Knights at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on September 22, 2018 in Norman, Oklahoma. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) /
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The anticipation is building for the start of another exciting Oklahoma football season, and we’re getting in the act by counting down the days to the opening kickoff of the 2021 season.

Between now and Sept. 4, when the six-time defending Big 12 champion Sooners play at Tulane, we are highlighting interesting facts, figures and moments from Oklahoma seasons past and present.

The countdown continues. T-minus 51 and counting…

The 1950 college football season was the Sooners’ fifth under head coach Bud Wilkinson. In the three previous seasons, Oklahoma lost just twice in 32 games.

Oklahoma was on the verge of rising to the top of the college football world. The Sooners had won four consecutive conference championships under Wilkinson and had finished in the top five in the Associated Press final rankings in both 1948 and 1949.

Behind the running and receiving of sophomore running back sensation Billy Vessels, who two years later would win the Heisman Trophy, the Sooners won all 10 of their regular-season games and extended their winning streak to 31 consecutive games.

And they won those 10 games in 1950 relatively handily. The closest calls they had all season was a 14-13 squeaker over longtime rival Texas and a 49-35 win over chief conference rival Nebraska.

Oklahoma finished the regular season a perfect 10-0 and was ranked No. 1 in both the Associated Press and the Coaches Poll and because of that was awarded its first national championship. At that time, the national championship was awarded based on the final regular-season rankings.

The top-ranked Oklahoma team was invited to Sugar Bowl to play Kentucky, ranked No. 7 in the AP poll. The game was played on Jan. 1, 1951, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans.

Oklahoma entered the game averaging nearly 35 points a game and seeking a 32nd consecutive win, which at the time would have been the fifth longest winning streak in college football history.

Kentucky, the Southeastern Conference champions in the 1950 season and coached by Paul “Bear” Bryant, had allowed just one opponent to score as many as 14 points all season and five of their wins had been shutouts.

Kentucky dominated the nation’s top-ranked team defensively, forcing a bowl-record five Oklahoma fumbles. The Sooners fell behind 13-0 at halftime. Oklahoma’s only score in the game came with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter on a touchdown pass by Vessels.

The seven points was the Sooners’ lowest point total of the season. OU held the Wildcats scoreless in the second half, but the damage had already been done.

So Oklahoma’s first national championship season actually ended in a Sugar Bowl loss.

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