1956 Oklahoma Sooners football
Consensus national champion
Big Seven champion
ConferenceBig Seven Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 1
APNo. 1
Record10–0 (6–0 Big 7)
Head coach
Captains
Home stadiumOklahoma Memorial Stadium
(capacity: 55,647)
Seasons
← 1955
1957 →
1956 Big Seven Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Oklahoma $ 6 – 0 – 0 10 – 0 – 0
No. 20 Colorado 4 – 1 – 1 8 – 2 – 1
Missouri 3 – 2 – 1 4 – 5 – 1
Nebraska 3 – 3 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Kansas 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 6 – 1
Kansas State 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
Iowa State 0 – 6 – 0 2 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1956 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 1956 NCAA University Division football season. It was the 62nd season of play for the Sooners and they repeated as consensus national champions. They were led by hall of fame head coach Bud Wilkinson, in his tenth season. On the field, the Sooners were led on offense by quarterback Jim Harris, and played their home games at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma.

After another undefeated season, Oklahoma was first in both final polls in early December.[1] Their winning streak was up to forty games,[2] but they did not play in a bowl game due to the Big Seven's no-repeat rule;[1] runner-up Colorado was invited to and won the Orange Bowl.

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 29North Carolina*No. 1
W 36–057,559[3]
October 6Kansas StateNo. 1
  • Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
  • Norman, OK
W 66–039,981[3]
October 13vs. Texas*No. 1
NBCW 45–075,504[3]
October 20at KansasNo. 1
W 34–1230,129[3]
October 27at Notre Dame*No. 2
NBCW 40–060,128[3]
November 3at No. 18 ColoradoNo. 1
W 27–1946,563[3]
November 10at Iowa StateNo. 1
W 44–011,409[3]
November 17MissouriNo. 1
W 67–1457,647[3]
November 24NebraskaNo. 1
  • Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
  • Norman, OK (rivalry)
W 54–650,039[3]
December 1at Oklahoma A&M*No. 1
W 53–036,500[3]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

Game summaries

Texas

1 234Total
Texas 0 000 0
• Oklahoma 6 131313 45
  • Date: October 13
  • Location: Cotton Bowl
  • Game attendance: 75,504
  • Game weather: 83 °F (28 °C)
  • Television network: NBC
Scoring summary
Q111:57OKLAThomas 2 yard run (kick failed)OKLA 6–0
Q214:27OKLAMcDonald 4 yard run (kick failed)OKLA 12–0
Q2:27OKLAMcDonald 27 yard pass from Harris (Harris kick)OKLA 19–0
Q38:41OKLAThomas 8 yard run (kick failed)OKLA 25–0
Q31:32OKLAMcDonald 44 yard run (Pricer kick)OKLA 32–0
Q412:55OKLAThomas 1 yard run (Pricer kick)OKLA 39–0
Q4:45OKLADay 25 yard interception return (kick failed)OKLA 45–0

[4]

Rankings

See also: 1956 NCAA University Division football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
( ) = First place votes.
Week
PollPre12345678910Final
AP1 (111)1 (91)1 (60)1 (76)1 (67)2 (44)1 (143)1 (116)2 (92)1 (111)1 (81)1 (104)

Awards

[5]

Postseason

NFL draft

The following players were drafted into the National Football League following the season.[6]

Player Position Round Pick Franchise
Jerry Tubbs Center 1 10 Chicago Cardinals
Tommy McDonald Wide Receiver 3 31 Philadelphia Eagles
Jimmy Harris Quarterback 5 50 Philadelphia Eagles
Billy Pricer Back 6 65 Baltimore Colts
Ed Gray Tackle 7 75 Los Angeles Rams
Bob Derrick Back 12 142 Chicago Cardinals
Tom Emerson Guard 28 336 Chicago Bears

References

  1. ^ a b Miller, Norman (December 4, 1956). "Oklahoma voted grid champion in final AP and UP polls". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). United Press. p. 23.
  2. ^ "Oklahoma wins 40th in a row". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. December 2, 1956. p. 1, sports.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "1956 OU Football Season Schedule - SoonerStats - Historical scores, records, and stats for Oklahoma Sooners football, basketball, baseball, and softball".
  4. ^ [1]. Retrieved 2015-Jul-25.
  5. ^ SoonerSports.com. Retrieved 2015-Jul-25.
  6. ^ "1957 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
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