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Oklahoma football: Mount Rushmore 10 of Sooner GOATS of modern era

By Chip Rouse

KEYSTONE, SOUTH DAKOTA - JULY 02: The busts of U.S. presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln tower over the Black Hills at Mount Rushmore National Monument on July 02, 2020 near Keystone, South Dakota. President Donald Trump is expected to visit the monument and speak before the start of a fireworks display on July 3. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
KEYSTONE, SOUTH DAKOTA - JULY 02: The busts of U.S. presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln tower over the Black Hills at Mount Rushmore National Monument on July 02, 2020 near Keystone, South Dakota. President Donald Trump is expected to visit the monument and speak before the start of a fireworks display on July 3. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) /
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7 Oct 2000: Quarterback Chris Simms #1of the Texas Longhorns scrambles with the ball as he is sacked by Roy Williams #38 of the Oklahoma Sooners at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas Texas. The Sooners defeated the Longhorns 63-14.Mandatory Credit: Ronald Martinez /Allsport
7 Oct 2000: Quarterback Chris Simms #1of the Texas Longhorns scrambles with the ball as he is sacked by Roy Williams #38 of the Oklahoma Sooners at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas Texas. The Sooners defeated the Longhorns 63-14.Mandatory Credit: Ronald Martinez /Allsport /

No. 8 — S Roy Williams

Roy Williams played three seasons at Oklahoma from 1999 to 2001. He was a unique fixture in the back end of a Sooner defense that was largely responsible for Oklahoma going undefeated in just Bob Stoops’ second season at OU and winning the school’s seventh national championship. The Sooner defense shut down Florida State and its Heisman winning quarterback Chris Weinke, limiting the Seminoles to just two points in a 13-2 victory in the BCS National Championship game.

Williams set a school record in that 2000 season with 12 tackles for loss by a defensive back.

Williams’ strength and physicality (he was the hardest hitter on the team) allowed him to slot into the defensive alignment as both an extra linebacker and as a nickel safety. They even renamed the position as the “Roy back.”

In the 2001 season, his final year at OU, Williams was awarded the Bronko Nagurski Trophy as college football’s best defensive player and the Jim Thorpe Award as the best defensive back.

Williams will forever be remembered, though, for the famous “Superman” play in the 2001 Red River Rivalry game with Texas. Late in the game, with the Sooners’ holding on to a slim 7-3 margin and Texas backed up against its own goal line, Williams vaulted over the Texas offensive line and running back Brett Robin and knocked the ball out of the hand of quarterback Chris Simms as his arm was moving forward. The ball landed into the arms of OU linebacker Teddy Lehman, who took two steps into the end zone at the north end of the Cotton Bowl (where the Texas fans resided) for the game-sealing touchdown with just over two minutes remaining in the game,

Oklahoma ended up winning the game 14-3.

Watch this incredible play, which is now part of a mural plaque at the Roy Williams Strength and Speed Complex at OU, for yourself:

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