American college football season
The 1966 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma during the 1966 NCAA University Division football season . Led by first-year head coach Jim Mackenzie , they played their home games at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium and competed as members of the Big Eight Conference .
A longtime assistant at Arkansas , Mackenzie was hired in December 1965.[1]
Following one of the worst seasons in program history , the Sooners improved to 6–4, defeated rival Texas for the first time in nine years ,[2] and upset undefeated rival Nebraska on Thanksgiving ,[3] [4] Mackenzie was named the Coach of the Year in the Big Eight.[5]
Schedule
Date Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance Source September 17 Oregon * W 17–048,590 [6] [7]
September 24 at Iowa State W 33–1121,467
October 8 vs. Texas * W 18–975,504 [8]
October 15 at Kansas W 35–037,252
October 22 No. 1 Notre Dame * No. 10 Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK L 0–3862,626
October 29 at Colorado L 21–2435,738
November 5 Kansas State Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK W 37–644,792
November 12 Missouri Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK (rivalry ) L 7–1055,585
November 24 No. 4 Nebraska Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK (rivalry ) ABC W 10–942,884
December 3 at Oklahoma State L 14–1536,581
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
[9]
Game summaries
Oregon
1
2 3 4 Total
Oregon
0
0 0 0
0
• Oklahoma
0
0 17 0
17
Iowa State
1
2 3 4 Total
• Oklahoma
14
3 9 7
33
Iowa St
2
9 0 0
11
Texas
1
2 3 4 Total
Texas
3
0 0 6
9
• Oklahoma
6
3 3 6
18
Date: October 8Location: Cotton Bowl Game attendance: 75,504
Scoring summary Q1 TEX Conway 25 yard field goal TEX 3-0
Q1 OKLA Warmack 1 yard run (kick failed) OKLA 6-3
Q2 OKLA Vachon 31 yard field goal OKLA 9-3
Q3 OKLA Vachon 43 yard field goal OKLA 12-3
Q4 OKLA Vachon 20 yard field goal OKLA 15-3
Q4 TEX White 2 yard run (pass failed) OKLA 15-9
Q4 2:19 OKLA Vachon 41 yard field goal OKLA 18-9
Source: [2] [10]
Kansas
1
2 3 4 Total
• Oklahoma
7
7 14 7
35
Kansas
0
0 0 0
0
Notre Dame
1
2 3 4 Total
• Notre Dame
0
17 21 0
38
Oklahoma
0
0 0 0
0
Date: October 22Location: Oklahoma Memorial StadiumGame attendance: 62,626
Colorado
1
2 3 4 Total
Oklahoma
7
0 14 0
21
• Colorado
7
0 10 7
24
Date: October 29Location: Folsom Field Game attendance: 35,738
Kansas State
1
2 3 4 Total
Kansas St
0
0 0 6
6
• Oklahoma
0
10 13 14
37
Date: November 5Location: Oklahoma Memorial StadiumGame attendance: 44,792
Missouri
1
2 3 4 Total
• Missouri
0
0 10 0
10
Oklahoma
0
0 0 7
7
Date: November 12Location: Oklahoma Memorial StadiumGame attendance: 55,585
Nebraska
1
2 3 4 Total
Nebraska
0
3 6 0
9
• Oklahoma
0
7 0 3
10
Date: November 24Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
Oklahoma State
1
2 3 4 Total
Oklahoma
0
0 8 6
14
• Oklahoma St
0
8 0 7
15
Rankings
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked Week Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Final AP — — — — — 10 — — — — — — —
Postseason
NFL/AFL draft
The following players were drafted into the National Football League or American Football League following the season.[11]
References
^ "Mackenzie faces two big problems". Lawrence Daily Journal-World . (Kansas). Associated Press. December 23, 1965. p. 10.
^ a b "Field goals boost OU past Texas". Victoria Advocate . (Texas). Associated Press. October 9, 1966. p. 11A.
^ "Sooners upset Nebraska, 10-9". Lawrence Daily Journal-World . (Kansas). Associated Press. November 25, 1966. p. 13.
^ "Nebraska loses bid for college crown". The Bulletin . (Bend, Oregon). UPI. November 25, 1967. p. 10.
^ Van Valkenberg, Jim (December 1, 1966). "Nebraskans lead All-Big 8 team". Lawrence Daily Journal-World . (Kansas). Associated Press. p. 15.
^ Uhrhammer, Jerry (September 18, 1966). "Oregon collegians blanked in openers". Eugene Register-Guard . (Oregon). p. 1B.
^ "Sooners shut out Oregon". Spokesman-Review . (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. September 18, 1966. p. 6, sports.
^ "Texas races by Texas Tech". The Daily Oklahoman . September 25, 1966. Retrieved April 30, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "SoonerSports.com". Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2012 .
^ "Field Goals Stop Texas." Palm Beach Post . October 9, 1966
^ "1967 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com . Retrieved November 29, 2020 .
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