Oklahoma has produced so many great tailbacks that it’s very difficult to rank them (though I’ll give it a try next week). Up near the top of that list is Little Joe Washington, who was known to play in shoes that were spray-painted silver.
He stood at 5-9 and 180 pounds, but it didn’t matter because you probably weren’t going to touch him. He had moves that no one at that point had ever seen. He was Reggie Bush before there was a Reggie Bush.
His most memorable play - and he had A LOT of memorable plays - came in Columbia, Missouri in 1975 with the game and season on the line. In the fourth quarter, the Sooners trailed Mizzou by a score of 27-20 a week after dropping a game to Kansas. Switzer elected to pitch it to Washington on fourth down, and the rest is history.
Oklahoma went on to win the rest of their games in 1975, defeating Michigan in the Orange Bowl and winning the national title.