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
Big Seven champion
Orange Bowl champion
Orange Bowl, W 7–0 vs. Maryland
ConferenceBig Eight Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 5
APNo. 4
1953 record9–1–1 (6–0 Big 7)
Head coach
Home stadiumOklahoma Memorial Stadium
(Capacity: 55,647)
1953 Big Seven Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW 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.[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
DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendance
September 26No. 1 Notre Dame*No. 6
L 21–2859,461
October 3at Pittsburgh*No. 8
T 7–728,152
October 10vs. No. 15 Texas*No. 16
W 19–1475,504
October 17KansasNo. 12
  • Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
  • Norman, OK
W 45–045,862
October 24ColoradoNo. 9
  • Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
  • Norman, OK
W 27–2036,565
October 31at Kansas StateNo. 9
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Manhattan, KS
W 34–023,822
November 7at MissouriNo. 8
W 14–730,020
November 14Iowa StateNo. 6
  • Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
  • Norman, OK
W 47–043,713
November 21at NebraskaNo. 4
W 30–731,551
November 28Oklahoma A&M*No. 4
  • Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
  • Norman, OK (Bedlam)
W 42–750,524
January 1, 1954vs. No. 1 Maryland*No. 4
W 7–068,640
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Source:[8]

Roster
  • G J.D. Roberts, Sr.

Postseason

NFL draft

The following players were drafted into the National Football League following the season.[9]

Player Position Round Pick Franchise
Larry GriggBack216Baltimore Colts
Marrill GreenBack10116Washington Redskins
Roger NelsonTackle14164Washington Redskins
J. D. RobertsGuard17195Green Bay Packers
Juel SweatteBack30355Pittsburgh 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. "SoonerSports.com". Archived from the original on 2008-02-29. Retrieved 2012-06-19.
  9. "1954 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
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