1956 Oklahoma Sooners football team

1956 Oklahoma Sooners football
Consensus national champion
Big 7 champion
ConferenceBig Seven Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 1
APNo. 1
Record10–0 (6–0 Big 7)
Head coach
Captains
Home stadiumOklahoma Memorial Stadium
Seasons
← 1955
1957 →
1956 Big Seven Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Oklahoma $ 6 – 0 – 0 10 – 0 – 0
No. 20 Colorado 4 – 1 – 1 8 – 2 – 1
Missouri 3 – 2 – 1 4 – 5 – 1
Nebraska 3 – 3 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Kansas 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 6 – 1
Kansas State 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
Iowa State 0 – 6 – 0 2 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1956 Oklahoma Sooners football team was an American football team that represented the University of Oklahoma during the 1956 college football season. In their tenth season under head coach Bud Wilkinson, the Sooners compiled a 10–0 record and repeated as consensus national champions. The Sooners were led on offense by quarterback Jim Harris and played their home games at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma.

After another undefeated season, Oklahoma was first in both final polls in early December.[1] Their winning streak was up to forty games,[2] but they did not play in a bowl game due to the Big Seven's no-repeat rule;[1] runner-up Colorado was invited to and won the Orange Bowl.

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 29North Carolina*No. 1
W 36–057,559[3]
October 6Kansas StateNo. 1
  • Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
  • Norman, OK
W 66–039,981
October 13vs. Texas*No. 1
NBCW 45–075,504
October 20at KansasNo. 1
W 34–1230,129
October 27at Notre Dame*No. 2
NBCW 40–060,128
November 3at No. 18 ColoradoNo. 1
NBCW 27–1946,563
November 10at Iowa StateNo. 1
W 44–011,409
November 17MissouriNo. 1
  • Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
  • Norman, OK (rivalry)
W 67–1457,647
November 24NebraskaNo. 1
  • Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
  • Norman, OK (rivalry)
W 54–650,039
December 1at Oklahoma A&M*No. 1
W 53–036,500
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[4]

Rankings

See also: 1956 NCAA University Division football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
Week
PollPre12345678910Final
AP1 (111)1 (91)1 (60)1 (76)1 (67)2 (44)1 (143)1 (116)2 (92)1 (111)1 (81)1 (104)

Game summaries

Texas

1 234Total
Texas 0 000 0
• Oklahoma 6 131313 45
  • Date: October 13
  • Location: Cotton Bowl
  • Game attendance: 75,504
  • Game weather: 83 °F (28 °C)
  • Television network: NBC
Scoring summary
Q111:57OKLAThomas 2 yard run (kick failed)OKLA 6–0
Q214:27OKLAMcDonald 4 yard run (kick failed)OKLA 12–0
Q2:27OKLAMcDonald 27 yard pass from Harris (Harris kick)OKLA 19–0
Q38:41OKLAThomas 8 yard run (kick failed)OKLA 25–0
Q31:32OKLAMcDonald 44 yard run (Pricer kick)OKLA 32–0
Q412:55OKLAThomas 1 yard run (Pricer kick)OKLA 39–0
Q4:45OKLADay 25 yard interception return (kick failed)OKLA 45–0

[5]

Roster

  • QB Jimmy Harris, Sr.
  • HB Tommy McDonald, Sr.
  • C Jerry Tubbs, Sr.

Awards

[6]

NFL draft

The following players were drafted into the National Football League following the season.[7] [8]

Round Pick Player Position NFL team
1 10 Jerry Tubbs Center Chicago Cardinals
3 31 Tommy McDonald Wide receiver Philadelphia Eagles
5 50 Jimmy Harris Quarterback Philadelphia Eagles
6 65 Billy Pricer Back Baltimore Colts
7 75 Ed Gray Tackle Los Angeles Rams
12 142 Bob Derrick Back Chicago Cardinals
28 336 Tom Emerson Guard Chicago Bears

References

  1. ^ a b Miller, Norman (December 4, 1956). "Oklahoma voted grid champion in final AP and UP polls". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). United Press. p. 23.
  2. ^ "Oklahoma wins 40th in a row". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. December 2, 1956. p. 1, sports.
  3. ^ "Sooners rip Tar Heels, 36–0". The Ponca City News. September 30, 1956. Retrieved January 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "1956 OU Football Season Schedule - SoonerStats - Historical scores, records, and stats for Oklahoma Sooners football, basketball, baseball, and softball".
  5. ^ [1]. Retrieved 2015-Jul-25.
  6. ^ SoonerSports.com. Retrieved 2015-Jul-25.
  7. ^ "1957 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
  8. ^ "Oklahoma Drafted Players/Alumni". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 23, 2023.


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