1953 Oklahoma Sooners football team

The 1953 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma during the 1953 college football season. Led by seventh-year head coach Bud Wilkinson, they played their home games at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma, and were members of the Big Seven Conference.

1953 Oklahoma Sooners football
National champion (B(QPRS), CFRA) Big 7 champion Orange Bowl champion
Orange Bowl, W 7–0 vs. Maryland
Conference	Big Seven Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 5
AP	No. 4
Record	9–1–1 (6–0 Big 7)
Head coach	Bud Wilkinson (7th season)
Captains	Larry Grigg Roger Nelson
Home stadium	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1952 1954 →

1953 Big Seven Conference football standings

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

The Sooners dropped their opener at home to top-ranked Notre Dame,^[1] tied at Pittsburgh,^[2] then won nine straight, concluding with a 7–0 shutout of #1 Maryland in the Orange Bowl in Miami on New Year's Day and were named national champions by Berryman.^[3][4] The final polls were released in late November, prior to the bowl games.^[5][6]

Oklahoma's initial win of the 1953 season, over Texas in Dallas on October 10, was the start of their record 47-game winning streak that extended more than four years, until November 1957.^[7]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 26	No. 1 Notre Dame*	No. 6	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	L 21–28	59,461
October 3	at Pittsburgh*	No. 8	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	T 7–7	28,152
October 10	vs. No. 15 Texas*	No. 16	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (rivalry)	W 19–14	75,504	[8]
October 17	Kansas	No. 12	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	W 45–0	45,862
October 24	Colorado	No. 9	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	W 27–20	36,565
October 31	at Kansas State	No. 9	Memorial Stadium Manhattan, KS	W 34–0	23,822
November 7	at Missouri	No. 8	Memorial Stadium Columbia, MO (rivalry)	W 14–7	30,020
November 14	Iowa State	No. 6	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	W 47–0	43,713
November 21	at Nebraska	No. 4	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)	W 30–7	31,551
November 28	Oklahoma A&M*	No. 4	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK (Bedlam)	W 42–7	50,524
January 1, 1954	vs. No. 1 Maryland*	No. 4	Burdine Stadium Miami, FL (Orange Bowl)	W 7–0	68,640–68,718	[9]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[10]

Rankings

See also: 1953 NCAA football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Final
AP	6 (3)	8	16	12 (1)	9	9 (1)	8 (1)	6 (1)	4 (3)	4 (9)	4 (10)

Roster

• G J. D. Roberts, Sr.
• E Carl Allison, Jr.

NFL draft

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

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL team
2	16	Larry Grigg	Back	Baltimore Colts
10	116	Merrill Green	Back	Washington Redskins
14	164	Roger Nelson	Tackle	Washington Redskins
17	195	J. D. Roberts	Guard	Green Bay Packers
30	355	Juel Sweatte	Back	Pittsburgh Steelers

References

1. Fullerton, Hugh Jr. (September 27, 1953). "The Irish flame in Norman heat to stop O.U., 28-21". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. p. 1, sports.
2. "Pitt holds Sooners to 7-7 draw". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. October 4, 1953. p. 32.
3. "Oklahoma's defense upsets Maryland, 7-0". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. January 2, 1954. p. 10.
4. "Maryland deflated by Sooners, 7-0". Pittsburgh Press. United Press. January 2, 1954. p. 6.
5. "Undefeated Maryland eleven leads final AP football poll". Milwaukee Journal. Associated Press. December 1, 1953. p. 18.
6. "Maryland keeps top spot in nation's college ratings". Pittsburgh Press. United Press. December 1, 1953. p. 24.
7. "Irish snap Sooners' string, 7-0". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. November 17, 1957. p. 1C.
8. "Sooners hang on to squeeze 19–14 victory out of Texas". Abilene Reporter-News. October 11, 1953. Retrieved April 30, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Maryland beaten by Oklahoma, 7–0, in Orange Bowl". The Baltimore Sun. January 2, 1954. Retrieved January 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "SoonerSports.com". Archived from the original on February 29, 2008. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
11. "1954 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 29, 2020.