page_title: Oklahoma Sooners football
section_title: Barry Switzer era (1973–1988)
hierarchical_section_title: Oklahoma Sooners football / History / Barry Switzer era (1973–1988)
caption_attribution_description: Barry Switzer
context_page_description: The Oklahoma Sooners football program is a college football team that represents the University of Oklahoma. The team is a member of the Big 12 Conference, which is in Division I Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The program began in 1895 and is one of the most successful programs since World War II with the most wins and the highest winning percentage since 1945.
  The program claims 7 national championships, 49 conference championships, 162 First Team All-Americans, and seven Heisman Trophy winners. In addition, the school has had 23 members inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and holds the record for the longest winning streak in Division I history with 47 straight victories. Oklahoma is also the only program that has had four coaches with 100+ wins. They became the sixth NCAA FBS team to win 900 games when they defeated the Texas Tech Red Raiders on September 28, 2019.
  The Sooners play their home games at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. Lincoln Riley is currently the team's head coach.
context_section_description: Soon after Barry Switzer, who previously served as Oklahoma's offensive coordinator, took the reins of the program, Oklahoma forfeited eight games from the 1972 season due to violations involving the alteration of transcripts. Fairbanks denied any knowledge of this. As a punishment, the Sooners could not play in a bowl game for two years. This setback did not stop Switzer's Sooners. His 1973 team finished 10–0–1 with only a tie to the number one ranked USC team. They finished the season ranked #3 after beating six teams who spent time in the top 20. The next year, Switzer's Sooners finished 11–0 and won the national championship. This was the Sooners' first undefeated season and national championship since 1956. That team was another high-scoring team averaging 43 points per game. They were led by Steve Davis at quarterback, Joe Washington at running back and the Selmon brothers (Lee Roy, Lucious, and Dewey) on defense.
  Switzer's teams in the 1970s went a combined 73–7–2 in seven years. In 1978, Oklahoma would get their third Heisman Trophy winner in running back Billy Sims. That year, he set the Oklahoma record for most rushing yards in a season with 1,896, a record that would stand for 26 years. His 1978 season currently ranks third in team history in yards per attempt with 7.41, behind fellow Sooners Greg Pruitt and Marcus Dupree. Sims also held the record at Oklahoma for most rushing yards in a career with 4,118 until it was broken by Samaje Perine in 2017. He finished second in the Heisman race the following year, 1979.
  The early 1980s saw the Sooners begin to slip under Switzer. They lost four games each in 1981, 1982, and 1983. It was the first time they lost four games in a season since 1970 under Coach Fairbanks. However, eight of those twelve losses came to the likes of USC, Texas, Nebraska and Ohio State. They began to turn things around in 1984 when they went 9–2–1 and finished the season at #6. The 1984 team featured Buster Rhymes at wide receiver, Spencer Tillman at running back and Tony Casillas at defensive tackle. Over the next three years, the team continued to grow and went 11–1 each year (with all three losses coming to Miami), including a national championship in 1985 (they finished ranked number three in 1986 and 1987). Many great Sooner athletes came through the program during these years, including two-time Butkus Award winner Brian Bosworth, tight end Keith Jackson and quarterback Jamelle Holieway. While Switzer was not able to match Wilkinson's unimaginable string of 13 consecutive conference championships, he was able to rack up 12 of his own during his career at Oklahoma.
  Suddenly, in 1988, it all came crashing down for Switzer. His team was placed on probation by the NCAA for violating several rules. In a six-month time frame, there was a shooting and a rape in the athletic dorm on Oklahoma's campus. Switzer's house was robbed with the help of one of his athletes, and an athlete was caught attempting to sell drugs to an undercover agent. The three-year probation included a two-year ban on TV and bowl appearances and a reduction in scholarships from 25 to 18. Nonetheless, the 1988 team established the NCAA Division I single-game record of 768 yards rushing against Kansas State on October 15, 1988, a record that stands to this day. After the season, Switzer resigned as head coach.
caption: Coach Switzer
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