The 1980 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

in the

1980 NCAA Division I-A football season The 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season saw a university from the state of Georgia take its first national title since 1942. Nine days following the bowl games to close the 1979 season, tragedy struck when new LSU coach Bo Rein died when the ...

. Oklahoma was a member of the

Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associati ...

and played its home games in

Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, also known as Owen Field or The Palace on the Prairie, is the football stadium on the campus of the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. It serves as the home of the Oklahoma Sooners football team. ...

. The team posted a 10–2 overall record and a 7–0 conference record to earn the conference title outright under

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in asso ...

Barry Switzer Barry Layne Switzer (born October 5, 1937) is a former American football coach and player. He served for 16 years as head football coach at the University of Oklahoma and four years as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football Le ...

who took the helm in 1973. This was Switzer's eighth conference title and fifth undefeated conference record in eight seasons. The team was led by All-Americans

Terry Crouch Terry Crouch (July 6, 1959 – May 8, 2011) was an American football offensive lineman. He played for the Oklahoma Sooners (1978–1981) and Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in ...

, and

Louis Oubre Louis Byron Oubre, III (born May 15, 1958) is an American former professional football player who was a guard in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons during the 1980s. He played college football for the Oklahoma Sooners and earne ...

, After winning the conference title outright, it earned a trip to the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in ...

for a rematch with

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the sta ...

. During the season, it faced four ranked opponent: No. 3

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, No. 6

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

, No. 4

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

and No. 2 Florida State. The last three of these opponents finished the season ranked. It endured two early season losses against

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. S ...

and Texas in the

Red River Shootout The Oklahoma–Texas football rivalry is a college football rivalry game between border rivals Oklahoma and Texas. The two teams first played each other in 1900, and the rivalry has been renewed annually and uninterrupted since 1929 for a tot ...

. The Sooners finished the season with eight consecutive wins.

David Overstreet David Arthur Overstreet (September 20, 1958 – June 24, 1984) was a running back in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and National Football League (NFL). He played for coach Barry Switzer and the Oklahoma Sooners as a halfback out of the wish ...

led the team in rushing with 720 yards,

J. C. Watts Julius Caesar Watts Jr. (born November 18, 1957) is an American politician, clergyman, and athlete. Watts was a college football quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners and later played professionally in the Canadian Football League. He served in ...

led the team in passing with 1037 yards,

Bobby Grayson Bobby Grayson (December 8, 1914 – September 22, 1981) was an American football player. He was a two-time consensus All-American player who led the Stanford University football team to three consecutive Rose Bowl Games from 1933 to 1935. At St ...

led the team in receiving with 389 yards, Watts led the team in scoring with 108 points, Mike Coats led the team with 126

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

and Gary Lowell posted 4

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

s. The team set the current school records of 82 points and 875 total yards against Colorado.

Schedule

Roster

Game summaries

Kentucky

At Nebraska

Oklahoma State

Awards and honors

* All-American:

, and

Rankings

Postseason

NFL draft

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

References

External links

1980 season
at SoonerStats.com {{Big Eight Conference football champions

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

Oklahoma Sooners football seasons Big Eight Conference football champion seasons Orange Bowl champion seasons

Oklahoma Sooners football The Oklahoma Sooners football program is a college football team that represents the University of Oklahoma (variously "Oklahoma" or "OU"). The team is a member of the Big 12 Conference, which is in Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (for ...