# 1972 Oklahoma Sooners football team

The 1972 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 1972 NCAA University Division football season. Oklahoma was a member of the Big Eight Conference and played its home games in Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, where it has played its home games since 1923. The team posted an 11–1 overall record and were 6–1 in conference, later changed to 8–4 and 3–4. This was Chuck Fairbanks' last season as Sooner head coach; he left for the New England Patriots of the NFL.
The Sooners' 1972 record is marred by the use of an ineligible player. In self-reporting the violations to the NCAA, Oklahoma voluntarily forfeited eight games. The NCAA later penalized the program by reducing scholarships, TV appearances and bowl appearances. In 2008 a blogger for Washington, DC TV station WJLA stated, "The NCAA claims that according to a now-retired statistician of the era, and a review of its database (which the NCAA admits might not be totally complete) that forfeits were NOT [sic] part of the NCAA sanctions levied against the Sooners." A commenter stated, "The 1972 forfeits by Oklahoma were sanctioned by The Big Eight. As such Oklahoma's conference record was adjusted, while their overall record was not. In older Oklahoma media guide ... Oklahoma would show their record as 11-1 with a 3-4 conference record (reflecting 3 forfeits, despite the original 7 or 8 forfeited. ...) Also, if you check the media guides of the teams Oklahoma "forfeited" to, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma State, you'll not[e] similar adjustments. Each team didn't change their overall record, but changed their conference record." Oklahoma had used players (including Kerry Jackson, the team's first black quarterback) with falsified transcripts and on April 18, 1973, voluntarily forfeited eight games. Eventually, the Big Eight sanctioned the forfeit of three conference victories (Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma State), but Oklahoma now recognizes these as wins and claims the 1972 conference title.
Oklahoma was led by four All-Americans: Rod Shoate (OU's second three-time All-American), Greg Pruitt, Tom Brahaney and Derland Moore. This was the first season that the Selmon brothers Lucious, Lee Roy and Dewey, all eventual All-Americans, anchored the defensive line. The Sooners played seven ranked opponents (In order, #10 Texas, #9 Colorado, #14 Iowa State, #14 Missouri, #5 Nebraska, #20 Oklahoma State, and #5 Penn State), and four of these opponents finished the season ranked. Oklahoma's only loss on the field was in the fifth game against Colorado. The team concluded its season with a 14–0 victory over Penn State in the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Eve.
Pruitt led the Sooners in rushing with 1024 yards, Dave Robertson led in passing with 1136 yards, and Tinker Owens led in receiving (for the first of four consecutive seasons) with 430 yards. Pruitt led in scoring with 86 points, Shoate in tackles with 145, and Dan Ruster in interceptions with seven.
The 1972 Sooners twice posted 37 first downs, which was a school record that stood for 16 seasons.

## Schedule

| Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 16 | Utah State* | No. 4 | Oklahoma Memorial StadiumNorman OK | | W 49–0 | 62,546 |
| September 23 | Oregon* | No. 2 | Oklahoma Memorial StadiumNorman, OK | | W 68–3 | 61,862–62,240 |
| September 30 | Clemson* | No. 2 | Oklahoma Memorial StadiumNorman, OK | | W 52–3 | 61,210–61,826 |
| October 14 | vs. No. 10 Texas* | No. 2 | Cotton BowlDallas, TX (Red River Shootout) | ABC | W 27–0 | 72,032 |
| October 21 | at No. 9 Colorado | No. 2 | Folsom FieldBoulder, CO | ABC | L 14–20 | 52,022 |
| October 28 | Kansas State | No. 8 | Oklahoma Memorial StadiumNorman, OK | | W 52–0 | 61,451 |
| November 4 | at No. 14 Iowa State | No. 7 | Clyde Williams FieldAmes, IA | | W 20–6 | 34,941 |
| November 11 | No. 14 Missouri | No. 7 | Oklahoma Memorial StadiumNorman, OK (rivalry) | | W 17–6 | 62,267 |
| November 18 | at Kansas | No. 4 | Memorial StadiumLawrence, KS | | W 31–7 | 37,356 |
| November 23 | at No. 5 Nebraska | No. 4 | Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE (rivalry) | ABC | W 17–14 | 76,587 |
| December 2 | No. 20 Oklahoma State | No. 3 | Oklahoma Memorial StadiumNorman, OK (Bedlam Series) | | W 38–15 | 62,363 |
| December 31 | vs. No. 5 Penn State* | No. 2 | Tulane StadiumNew Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl) | ABC | W 14–0 | 80,123 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameSource: ||||||||

## Game summaries
### Utah State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Utah St | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • Oklahoma | 21 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 49 |
* Kerry Jackson 10 Rush, 109 Yds

### Oregon

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Oregon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| • Oklahoma | 14 | 21 | 26 | 7 | 68 |
* Greg Pruitt 11 Rush, 103 Yds, TD

### Clemson

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Clemson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| • #2 Oklahoma | 7 | 17 | 21 | 7 | 52 |
* Tim Welch 24 Rush, 158 Yds

### At Kansas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #4 Oklahoma | 7 | 10 | 14 | 0 | 31 |
| Kansas | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |

### Oklahoma State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Oklahoma St | 0 | 0 | 9 | 6 | 15 |
| • Oklahoma | 14 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 38 |
* Joe Washington 21 Rush, 109 Yds, 2 TD
* Leon Crosswhite 27 Rush, 106 Yds

### Sugar Bowl (vs Penn State)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Oklahoma | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Penn St | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* Attendance: 84,031 (Tulane Stadium)
* OU Owens 27 yd pass from Robertson (Fulcher kick)
* OU Crosswhite 1 yd run (Fulcher kick)
* Passing: OU Robertson 3/6, 88 Yds, TD, PSU Hufnagel 12/31, 147 Yds, INT
* Rushing: OU Pruitt 21/86, PSU Nagle 10/22
* Receiving: OU Owens 5/132, TD, PSU Scott 3/59

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking ( ) = First-place votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Final |
| AP | 6 (2) | 4 (12) | 2 (11) | 2 (14) | 2 (13) | 2 (15) | 2 (20) | 8 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| UPI | 3 (2) | 1 (11) | 2 (13) | 2 (12) | 2 (11) | 2 (13) | 2 (12) | 2 (8) | 6 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 |

## Awards and honors

* All-American: Greg Pruitt, Rod Shoate, Tom Brahaney and Derland Moore

## After the season
### NFL draft

The following players were drafted into the National Football League following the season.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | NFL Team |
| 2 | 29 | Derland Moore | Defensive end | New Orleans Saints |
| 2 | 30 | Greg Pruitt | Running back | Cleveland Browns |
| 2 | 43 | Al Chandler | Tight end | Cincinnati Bengals |
| 2 | 44 | Leon Crosswhite | Running back | Detroit Lions |
| 4 | 101 | Joe Wylie | Wide receiver | Oakland Raiders |
| 5 | 109 | Tom Brahaney | Center | St. Louis Cardinals |
| 7 | 164 | Ken Jones | Tackle | St. Louis Cardinals |
| 10 | 238 | Dan Ruster | Defensive back | New England Patriots |
| 12 | 292 | Dean Unruh | Tackle | St. Louis Cardinals |
| 14 | 342 | Ray Hamilton | Linebacker | New England Patriots |
| 17 | 424 | Larry Roach | Defensive back | Chicago Bears |