1967 Oklahoma Sooners football team

The 1967 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma during the 1967 NCAA University Division football season. Led by first-year head coach Chuck Fairbanks, they played their home games at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium and competed as members of the Big Eight Conference. The Sooners won all seven conference games and finished the season with one loss they upset number 9 Colorado on November 4 by a score of 23-0 in Norman; they defeated Tennessee, 26–24, to win the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida.^[1][2]

1967 Oklahoma Sooners football
Big 8 champion Orange Bowl champion National Champion(Poling) [1]
Orange Bowl, W 26–24 vs. Tennessee
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 3
AP	No. 3
Record	10–1 (7–0 Big 8)
Head coach	Chuck Fairbanks (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Barry Switzer (2nd season)
Captain	Bob Kalsu
Home stadium	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1966 1968 →

1967 Big Eight Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 3 Oklahoma $	7	–	0	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
Colorado	5	–	2	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
Kansas	5	–	2	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Missouri	4	–	3	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
Nebraska	3	–	4	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Oklahoma State	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	5	–	1
Iowa State	1	–	6	–	0			2	–	8	–	0
Kansas State	0	–	7	–	0			1	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Entering his second season as head coach, 37-year-old Jim Mackenzie suffered a fatal heart attack at his Norman home in late April.^[3][4] Assistant coach Fairbanks, age 33, was promoted several days later.^[5]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 23	Washington State*		Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK		W 21–0	47,270
September 30	Maryland*		Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	ABC	W 35–0	46,215	[6]
October 14	vs. Texas*		Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Red River Shootout)		L 7–9	75,504
October 21	at Kansas State		Memorial Stadium Manhattan, KS		W 46–7	17,375
October 28	at Missouri		Memorial Stadium Columbia, MO (rivalry)		W 7–0	55,445
November 4	No. 9 Colorado		Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK		W 23–0	61,106
November 11	at Iowa State	No. 8	Clyde Williams Field Ames, IA		W 52–14	18,331
November 18	Kansas	No. 7	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK		W 14–10	57,649
November 23	at Nebraska	No. 5	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)	ABC	W 21–14	59,154
December 2	Oklahoma State	No. 3	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK (Bedlam Series)		W 38–14	62,038
January 1, 1968	vs. No. 2 Tennessee*	No. 3	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL (Orange Bowl)	NBC	W 26–24	76,563	[7]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[8]

Rankings

See also: 1967 NCAA University Division football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked ( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	8	7	5 (1)	3

Game summaries

Kansas

Kansas (4-4) at #7 Oklahoma (6-1)

1 2 3 4 Total Kansas 3 0 7 0 10 • Oklahoma 0 0 7 7 14 Date: November 18 Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Game start: 1:30 p.m. CST Game attendance: 57,649 Game weather: Sunny

• Dad's Day

^[9]

Orange Bowl

1 2 3 4 Total • Oklahoma 7 12 0 7 26 Tennessee 0 0 14 10 24 Date: January 1 Location: Orange Bowl Game attendance: 76,563 Television network: NBC

Roster

1967 Oklahoma Sooners football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WB 33 Eddie Hinton Jr OT 77 Bob Kalsu Sr TB 22 Ron Shotts Sr RB Steve Owens So QB 11 Bobby Warmack Jr E 82 Steve Zabel So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DL 66 Granville Liggins Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class PK 92 Mike Vachon Jr	Head coach Chuck Fairbanks Coordinators/assistant coaches Galen Hall (WR) Pat James Bill Michael (DE) Carl Nystrom Barry Switzer (OC) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Awards

All-Big 8: OT Bob Kalsu, DE John Koller, NG Granville Liggins, RB Steve Owens, QB Bob Warmack

^[10]

NFL/AFL draft

The following players were drafted into the National Football League or American Football League following the season.^[11]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL team
8	199	Bob Kalsu	Tackle	Buffalo Bills
10	256	Granville Liggins	Linebacker	Detroit Lions
11	292	Ron Shotts	Running back	Detroit Lions

References

1. Grimsley, Will (January 2, 1968). "Oklahoma trips Tennessee, 26-24". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). Associated Press. p. 14.
2. "Oklahoma shades Tennessee in Orange 'doubleheader'". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. January 2, 1968. p. 36.
3. "OU grid coach dies at age 37 of heart attack". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). Associated Press. April 28, 1967. p. 13.
4. "OU to name grid coach soon". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). Associated Press. May 1, 1967. p. 15.
5. "Fairbanks hired as Sooner coach". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). Associated Press. May 2, 1967. p. 10.
6. "Sooners boom Maryland". Tulsa World. October 1, 1967. Retrieved January 21, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Sooners hold on to win". The Kansas City Times. January 2, 1968. Retrieved May 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "SoonerSports.com". Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved October 24, 2012.
9. SoonerStats.com. Retrieved 2018-Nov-28.
10. Oklahoma Sooners Football Media Guide. p. 186. Retrieved 2018-Nov-28.
11. "1968 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 29, 2020.