Stormin in Norman
Fansided

Five standout Oklahoma football bowl wins not for a national title

By Chip Rouse

MIAMI, FL - DECEMBER 29: A general view of Hard Rock Stadium during the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Oklahoma Sooners at Hard Rock Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL - DECEMBER 29: A general view of Hard Rock Stadium during the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Oklahoma Sooners at Hard Rock Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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NEW ORLEANS, LA., Joe Mixon #25 of the Oklahoma Sooners runs pas Marlon Davidson #3 of the Auburn Tigers during the Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA., Joe Mixon #25 of the Oklahoma Sooners runs pas Marlon Davidson #3 of the Auburn Tigers during the Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /

No. 3 — 1972 Sugar Bowl: Oklahoma 40, Auburn 22

In 1971, Oklahoma lost only one game in the regular season, losing 35-31 to No. 1 Nebraska in the “Game of the Century” on Thanksgiving Day. The Sooners finished the regular season with a 10-1 record and the No. 3 ranking in the Associated Press poll.

Auburn entered the 1972 Sugar Bowl encounter with OU sporting a 9-1 record and a second-place finish to Alabama in the SEC. The Tigers came into the game as the No. 5 team in the AP poll.

The game featured Oklahoma’s ground-pounding Wishbone attack against the aerial assault of Auburn and Heisman winning quarterback Pat Sullivan.

The Sooners put the hammer down early, scoring 19 points in the opening quarter on touchdown runs by Leon Crosswhite and a pair by Sooner quarterback Jack Mildren. OU scored twice more in the second quarter as Mildren added another touchdown run and Joe Wylie returned a punt 71 yards for a score, extending the Oklahoma advantage to 31-0 at halftime. Oklahoma scored on five of its eight first-half possessions, while shutting out the explosive Auburn offense.

Oklahoma stretched the lead to 34-0 on a 53-yard field goal by Pete Carroll halfway through the third quarter. Auburn finally got on the scoreboard a minute later, completing an 80-yard drive in just five plays to make it 34-7.

The Sooners sealed the win early in the fourth quarter on a 69-yard, 10-play touchdown drive that was finished off on a two-yard touchdown run by Greg Pruitt, who finished third in the Heisman voting that season.

Auburn scored twice in the final quarter when the game was well over to make the 40-22 final score appear closer than the game actually was, Oklahoma rolled up 450 yards of offense, 439 of that coming on the ground. Mildren led all Sooners in rushing with 149 yards and three touchdowns in a remarkable 30 carries and was named the game’s most outstanding player.

Three Big Eight teams finished one, two, three in the final AP poll that season: 1. Nebraska, 2. Oklahoma, 3. Colorado.

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