How the 1950 OU football team lived up to the 'nation’s classiest eleven' billing
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The OU football dynasty under coach Bud Wilkinson kicked off in the 1950 season with the first of the Sooners‘ seven national championships.
Billy Vessels had a breakout 15-touchdown season, two years before he would become the Sooners’ first Heisman Trophy winner.
The Sooners were rarely threatened during a 10-0 run through the regular season, which included two shutouts.
SEC champion Kentucky upset OU 13-7 in the Sugar Bowl, but the Sooners had already earned national championship honors from the AP and coaches poll, which were settled before bowl games in that era. (Decades later, Kentucky claimed the 1950 title from the Sagarin ratings.)
Here’s a game-by-game breakdown of the 1950 OU football season:
OU football 1950 season game-by-game results
Sept. 30, 1950: Oklahoma 28, Boston College 0 | The Eagles had no answer for the Sooners’ split-T offensive attack, getting outgained 372-99 in the opener.
Oct. 7, 1950: Oklahoma 34, Texas A&M 28 | Claude Arnold and OU’s “deadly passing attack” – as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram called it – rallied the Sooners from a 28-27 deficit with 1:46 left. Leon Heath’s 4-yard touchdown run capped the comeback. OU had 169 passing yards to A&M’s 11.
Oct. 14, 1950: Oklahoma 14, Texas 13 | Vessels scored on a pair of touchdown runs, including an 11-yard scamper with about four minutes left to give OU the lead for good. From the AP game story, “mad Oklahomans swarmed onto the field and uprooted the goal posts” after the Sooners won their third straight game in the Red River Rivalry.
Oct. 21, 1950: Oklahoma 58, Kansas State 0 | Wilkinson went deep into his bench in the Big Seven opener, but that barely slowed down the Sooners from walloping the Wildcats. Sophomore Dale Crawford scored on a 66-yard touchdown run on his first collegiate carry. OU outgained K-State 555 to 80 in total yardage.
Oct. 28, 1950: Oklahoma 20, Iowa State 7 | The Sooners’ win streak hit 26 games by holding quarterback Willie Weeks, who entered as the nation’s leading passer, and the Cyclones to just 121 yards on 9-for-19 passing. Vessels ran for two touchdowns, while Dick Heatly added a 2-yard TD.
Nov. 4, 1950: Oklahoma 27, Colorado 18 | Arnold and Vessels each scored two touchdowns as the Sooners held off the Buffaloes for a road win. Tommy Grady had a goal-line interception for OU at the end of the first half.
Nov. 11, 1950: Oklahoma 33, Kansas 13 | OU overcame four fumbles and an interception to score four fourth-quarter touchdowns in a closer-than-expected road win. The Jayhawks led 7-0 at the half, but the Sooners’ streak rolled on.
Nov. 18, 1950: Oklahoma 41, Missouri 7 | Heath and the Sooners ran over the Tigers, outgaining them 261-60. Heath ran for one touchdown, while Vessels added two more. Buddy Jones also returned a punt 50 yards for a touchdown as OU went to its reserves early.
Nov. 25, 1950: Oklahoma 49, Nebraska 35 | Vessels scored three touchdowns and passed for a fourth as the “nation’s classiest eleven” eclipsed the Cornhuskers in Norman. Bobby Reynolds scored three first-half TDs for Nebraska, which held even at 21-all entering halftime. The crowd of 54,000 fans was reported the largest to ever see a Big Seven football game.
Dec. 2, 1950: Oklahoma 41, Oklahoma A&M 14 | Arnold tossed four touchdown passes as the Sugar-Bowl bound Sooners rolled in Bedlam in Stillwater against the Aggies (OSU had yet to change from Aggies to Cowboys). Kentucky coach Bear Bryant attended the game as a guest of Wilkinson.
Jan. 1, 1951: Kentucky 13, Oklahoma 7 | Bryant and the Wildcats snap the Sooners’ 31-game win streak in the Sugar Bowl. It was OU’s first loss since Sept. 25, 1948, against Santa Clara. Walt Yowarsky recovered two fumbles and thwarted another empty possession for the Sooners near the goal line.
Jeff Patterson is the sports editor for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Jeff? He can be reached at jpatterson@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @jeffpattOKC. Support Jeff’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Inside OU football’s road to national championship for 1950 season
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