CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1979 Oklahoma

11–⁠1 (7–⁠0 Big Eight), coached by Barry Switzer, finished No. 3 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Oklahoma in 1979, game by game: won vs. Iowa 21–6; won vs. Tulsa 49–13; won at Rice 63–21; won vs. Colorado 49–24; lost vs. No. 4 Texas 7–16; won at Kansas State 38–6; won vs. Iowa State 38–9; won at Oklahoma State 38–7; won vs. Kansas 38–0; won at Missouri 24–22; won vs. No. 3 Nebraska 17–14; won vs. No. 4 Florida State 24–7+42−9Won 21–6 vs. Iowa+15IowaWon 49–13 vs. Tulsa+36TulsaWon 63–21 at Rice+42RiceWon 49–24 vs. Colorado+25ColoradoLost 7–16 vs. No. 4 Texas-9No. 4 TexasWon 38–6 at Kansas State+32Kansas StateWon 38–9 vs. Iowa State+29Iowa StateWon 38–7 at Oklahoma State+31Oklahoma StateWon 38–0 vs. Kansas+38KansasWon 24–22 at Missouri+2MissouriWon 17–14 vs. No. 3 Nebraska+3No. 3 NebraskaWon 24–7 vs. No. 4 Florida State+17No. 4 Florida State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 15vsIowaW 21–⁠689%
Sep 22vsTulsaW 49–⁠1378%
Sep 29atRiceW 63–⁠2184%
Oct 6vsColoradoW 49–⁠2489%
Oct 13vs4TexasL 7–⁠1656%
Oct 20atKansas StateW 38–⁠679%
Oct 27vsIowa StateW 38–⁠988%
Nov 3atOklahoma StateW 38–⁠772%
Nov 10vsKansasW 38–⁠090%
Nov 17atMissouriW 24–⁠2268%
Nov 24vs3NebraskaW 17–⁠1459%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs4Florida StateOrange BowlW 24–⁠752%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Florida State 24–⁠7 in the Orange Bowl; No. 3 in the final AP poll; Big Eight champions.

In program history: The 16th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 3
  2. Wk 2: 3
  3. Wk 3: 3
  4. Wk 4: 3
  5. Wk 5: 3
  6. Wk 6: 3
  7. Wk 7: 8
  8. Wk 8: 7
  9. Wk 9: 7
  10. Wk 10: 6
  11. Wk 11: 7
  12. Wk 12: 8
  13. Wk 13: 5
  14. Wk 14: 5
  15. Final: 3

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1979.

Big Eight champions7–⁠0 in the conference

Heisman voteBilly Sims, second

Led the nationBilly Sims: rushing touchdowns (22 TD), points (132 pts), points per game (12.0)

2 consensus All-AmericansBilly Sims, RB; George Cumby, LB

Record
11–⁠1
Conference
7–⁠0 first in Big Eight
AP final
No. 3 peak No. 3
Points
406–⁠145
Coach
Barry Switzer
Elo
1798 +100 this season
SP+ rating
24.7 No. 6 of 135; offense No. 5, defense No. 29
SRS
26.3 No. 3 of 140 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Galen Hall
Defensive coordinator
Rex Norris
Captains
George Cumby, Darrol Ray, Billy Sims, Paul Tabor and Sherwood Taylor
Offense
Wishbone
Defense
5–⁠2

Drafted in 1980

The 1980 draft
Rd 1Billy Sims RBDetroit Lions
Rd 1George Cumby LBGreen Bay Packers
Rd 2Darrol Ray DBNew York Jets
Rd 2John Goodman DEPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 4Fred Nixon WRGreen Bay Packers
Rd 5Paul Tabor CChicago Bears
Rd 7Bud Hebert DBNew York Giants

All-Big Eight

6 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

  • J.C. WattsQBAP-2
  • Basil BanksDBAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1979 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1979 Big Eight standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Oklahoma7–⁠011–⁠13
Nebraska6–⁠110–⁠29
Oklahoma State5–⁠27–⁠4
Missouri3–⁠47–⁠5
Colorado2–⁠53–⁠8
Iowa State2–⁠53–⁠8
Kansas2–⁠53–⁠8
Kansas State1–⁠63–⁠8

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.