The 1981 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

during the

1981 NCAA Division I-A football season The 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with the 1981 Clemson Tigers football team, Clemson Tigers, unbeaten and untied, claiming the national championship after a victory over 1981 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, Nebraska in the 198 ...

. They played their home games at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium and competed as members 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 American football, football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate ...

. They were coached by head coach Barry Switzer. The Sooners defeated the

Houston Cougars The Houston Cougars are the athletic teams representing the University of Houston. Informally, the Houston Cougars have also been referred to as the Coogs, UH, or simply Houston. Houston's nickname was suggested by early physical education inst ...

40–14 to win the 1981 Sun Bowl in

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

Schedule

Roster

Game summaries

Oklahoma State

Fred Sims scored three short-yardage touchdowns to lead Oklahoma to a 27–3 win over their instate rivals in a steady drizzle. Sims, who carried 23 times for 66 yards, scored on runs of two and five yards in the second quarter and a one-yard run in the third.

Rankings

Postseason

NFL draft

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

References

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

Oklahoma Sooners football seasons Sun Bowl champion seasons

Oklahoma Sooners football The Oklahoma Sooners football team represents the University of Oklahoma (OU) in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The program began in 1895 and is one of the most succ ...

Long stubs with short prose {{collegefootball-1981-season-stub