Top 10 OU Football Moments #10 - 1981 Orange Bowl

by ccmachine on Jun 18, 2007 1:37 AM CDT in Football

We only have 11 Saturdays left before the kick-off of the college football season! We are going to pass the time by counting down our Top 10 OU Football Moments and then the 10 greatest players of the last 10 years.

1981 Orange Bowl Recap
Oklahoma lost five fumbles to the Florida State Seminoles with one of them, a botched snap on a punt, being recovered in the end zone giving Florida State a 17-10 lead. The year after Billy Sims ran over Florida State the Seminoles held OU to 156 yards on 55 carries in the 1981 contest.

Holding the Sooner offense in check and capitalizing on six OU turnovers (5 Fumbles, 1 Interception) Florida State held a 17-10 lead in the final moments. JC Watts needed to go 78 yards in an attempt to pull off a little Sooner Magic.

"Most people didn't think a wishbone team could go that distance in such a short amount of time, and we probably couldn't have done it without J.C. Watts at quarterback. J.C. was the most gifted passer of all my quarterbacks.

He completed several passes on that final drive, including the touchdown and the two-pointer, came up with some key scrambles, and we ended up winning the ballgame." - Barry Switzer

JC Watts 11 yard pass to Steve Rhodes was not only the receiver's first touchdown reception of his career it was also the first time they had ever thrown to him in the Red Zone.

"It was ridiculous for a wishbone team to throw the ball against us the way they did. I'm still waiting for them to run the ball." - Bobby Bowben

At the time Bowden would say that the 18-17 loss to Oklahoma in the 1981 Orange Bowl one of the most disappointing losses he ever had. Little did he know 20 years later the Sooners would add another one to his list.

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Comments

awesome countdown

This will help with the depression I've been in since the Fiesta Bowl.

Also, nice job keeping up the site. It's gotta be tough to keep going once football season ends.

by Trey on Jun 18, 2007 12:35 PM CDT reply actions

very nice

What a way to kick off the countdown! And that's number 10? Can't wait to see number 9. J.C. Watts to Forrest Valora. What memorable names. And didn't Basil Banks burn FSU the year before?

by inocybe on Jun 18, 2007 1:20 PM CDT reply actions

They Ran Over Them in 1980

OU rushed the ball a lot more in the 1980 game. JC Watts rushed for over 100 yards and was named MVP and then Billy Sims went crazy as well. OU won 24-7.

Thanks for stopping by. We'll post #9 next week!

by ccmachine on Jun 18, 2007 4:20 PM CDT up reply actions