1972 Sugar Bowl Oklahoma vs Auburn 1 1 1972 1971 Season

[@bradtaylor4765]

The Big 8 was unbelievable that year finishing 1, 2 and 3.

[@MarkLewis-dz8pp]

My Dad and OU grad (GI Bill) got me 3 tickets to this game. Went with my two high school buddies, Steve and Gary. We were seniors and had just played our last high school football game. Thanks for posting this incredible memory for me to enjoy.

[@jgringo5516]

Born in 1971. Probably watched this with my Dad with diapers on holding a Scooby Doo bottle! I love watching these old games. Commentators were ultra professional types. I remember Chris Shinkle & Bill Fleming calling games years later. Greg Pruitt was a bad dude.

[@jdp0359]

Even though im from Nebraska i like watching these great Oklahoma teams and that vaunted wishbone. Oklahoma outclaased everybody except Nebraska in 71.

[@jasonleman1396]

thanks for this! I was born in 1972!

[@depaola63]

a truly classic era !! I am now 56 and these were such easier times !!

[@vwm8534]

I have felt that too many times. Then I start thinking well I was a kid back then.

[@depaola63]

It was the BEST of times to be a kid in my view, "Go outside and play ! "

[@davidheckman4188]

I love 1970's football! I truely believe it was the golden age, college and pro

[@SamMcCoy-p8o]

I was 15 when this game was played. I’m now 67 and watching it reminds me how great the offensive backfield was and how fast the o linemen were off the ball

[@nccamsc]

Do you think the world has gone downhill since then? The 70s were difficult, but it seems that people had more integrity back then.

[@sha9infinite450]

Bill Fleming reminds me of those College Football highlight shows that came on on Sundays💪🏿. I was very young when my big bro would watch it.

[@Bruce12867]

Fifteen days later, Super Bowl VI would be played in this stadium.

[@bigtexmacgonigle444]

SB VI...Dallas finally got their ring; beating Miami 24-3. Al Hirt played the Anthem, I believe. He got hit in the face with a rock earlier.

[@toddprintz7660]

@@bigtexmacgonigle444 I was down after super bowl 6. My Dolphins went on to go 17 and 0 the next year.

[@JENDALL714]

Professional Broadcasters and no distracting graphics all over the place. Just a camera pointed at the game with some brief graphics, the way it should be!

[@Tsip89]

Yep; back when the camera was an observer, instead of a direct participant.

[@DNSKansas]

27:10 Ella Fitzgerald was also part of the Super Bowl VI halftime show, a salute to Louis Armstrong, who died 6 July 1971.

[@stealthbomber2126]

During the Wishbone Era at OU, most of their occasional losses was always due to fumbles. But this O line technique wise was one of the greatest lines ever in college football. Only Nebraska's 1995 team averaged more points per game than the Sooners 71 team too.

[@tonybunting1828]

Just a little head-scratching how a guy (Greg Pruitt) can rush for 1665 yards, average 9.4 yards per carry, and not win the Heisman Trophy.

[@williamford9564]

He actually finished third which seems odd in a vacuum. Sullivan may have got it based on three years of work. He broke NCAA records for passing and in 1970 he actually had more yards than 1971 but lost to Jim Plunkett in an insane "Year of the Quarterback" race. Plunkett, Sullivan, Archie Manning and Joe Theismann, it was crazy. It seemed like it was a " He was owed it" vote. And Auburn going undefeated until its last game against Alabama didn't hurt. Second place Ed Marinaro had more yards rushing than Pruitt, 1881 with 24 touchdowns in 9 games and led Cornell to its first ever Ivy League title. Both Sullivan and Marinaro were seniors with past track records. Pruitt, an unknown before 1971 started from behind and the voters may have thought that as a junior, he had another chance in 1972.

[@michaelthompson729]

I guess because Nebraska beat Ok that year and went on to win the national championship

[@bishlap]

13 years old when this aired and I was already hooked on CFB, especially the OU Wishbone. Jack Mildren was one of my faves. Hated Nebraska and Tagge.

[@joeschizoid7762]

I remember watching this live. I was 10 years old, already a big OU fan and this was the first time I had even heard of Auburn. I remember asking my Dad where Auburn was and he told me it was "somewhere in the South." I do remember Pat Sullivan and, for some reason, Terry Beasley.

[@jbratt]

I was 8. I remember watching it too. I remember thinking, wow that Heisman Trophy winner is have a rough day.

[@charlesbireland1780]

​​@@jbratt Sullivan to Beasley was a combination for the ages. My younger brother played with them in '69 as a Freshman walk-on. I sat with the OU people in the end zone for the '72 Sugar Bowl and the the refs not calling interference on the Oklahoma defenders was so egregious that it made the Oklahoma fans mad.😅

[@LogoAttitude]

This will be a conference game starting in 2024

[@charlesbireland1780]

Yep, and Auburn blew it again, losing 27 to 21 after having an 11 point lead. It seems like OU has AU's #. Auburn is now 0 and 3 against the Sooners, losing the first two in Sugar bowls in '72 and 2017. Had some end zone Sooner tickets for 1972. Even the Okies were mad at the refs for not calling interference on OU. They didn't want the AU people saying the refs gave OU the game. Oklahoma defenders we're all over Beasley! 2:38

[@rds990]

I was a senior in HS when this game was played. I'm retiring this year !! Ha

[@williamford9564]

1:02:07: Oklahoma DID dominant time of possession. They had the ball for 91 PLAYS in this game.

[@merccadoosis8847]

53:00 - average weight of the defense = today many high schools have players who are far bigger

[@Harry_At_NewMexico]

WOW ... that McDonalds commercial at the 2:14:24 mark stating that you could feed a family of 4 for under $4 dollars back in january 1972 😃😃

[@Will-h9b]

And minimum wage was $1.60 an hour.

[@tigerwareagle1485]

RIP Pat Sullivan

[@williamdiemert9866]

Pat Sullivan R.I.P

[@jdp0359]

And Jack Mildren too.

[@ryancampbell9231]

Virgil, Is there any way you can find the 1971 Iron Bowl and post it? Only Iron Bowl where both teams were undefeated and untied. Bama was #3 and AU was #5. It was on ABC and Bama won 31-7

[@RELopez-mk4ic]

Auburn's defensive line averaged 216 lbs!

[@DocSportello1970]

@1:09:19 we see that the Punt Return had a Fake Reverse set up...or Wylie elected to keep it due to the danger of a hand off. Nice game by Mildred in The Boys!!!

[@williamford9564]

1:04:36: What actually happened was the unblocked defensive end or linebacker ( number 92) went wide to cover the halfback, Pruitt. That is what the option play forces. A choice of pinching inside to take the quarterback who then pitches the ball to the running back, or the defender goes wide to cut off the pitch and the quarterback keeps the ball with the hope that an inside defense player beats his block and can then tackle the quarterback. In both this game and the Nebraska game before this, the opposing team decided to take their chances with Mildren keeping the ball instead of possibly allowing a big play after the pitch to the running back. Mildren carried the ball 30 times in this game and 31 against Nebraska.

[@rds990]

33:27 ....."he's only been trapped 6 times..." Not "sacked"....trapped !! The Sack had not yet been defined. And WOW....not 1 black guy introduced for Auburn !!!!

[@313curt]

Later that evening, Nebraska trounced Alabama in the Orange Bowl, and the Tide didn't feature blacks on their team either. Alabama also a wishbone team, but they didn't have the athletes stocked up like the sooners did. I like seeing these old games-- the game was so much simpler and different, but the rules that favored the offenses blocking downfield didn't start until about 5 years later. Then it opened up the game a lot more. So long ago... and so great to see.

[@williamdunphy352]

Commentators: Chris Schenkel, Bud Wilkinson & Bill Flemming.

[@CJinsoo]

Interesting to see how far off the line of scrimmage the Auburn DL plays. They look about 1/2 yard behind line. I remember the Cowboys had the Flex Defense where at least one of the DL players would play back off the line, but I think that was more effective due to Randy White? How can you stop the run when you are playing 1/2 yard off the line? And you don’t make up for it by blitzing?

[@nealbacon7798]

The Cowboys were really good running the Flex way before Randy White. He just made it better. They were the Doomsday Defense from the late 60's on.

[@RCJ1968]

Wow! Earl Campbell fumbled twice in this game. Who knew what was in store after his freshman year.

[@JAMESGANG-f5u]

Every player on OU is wearing PUMA’s You don’t see that anymore.

[@CJinsoo]

Kickoff FINALLy at 39:23. Wow, were these pre-games incredibly long, repetitive, boring....

[@luisvaldes1568]

I hated pregame shows still do.

[@toddprintz7660]

A 58% completion record. A big deal then. Now it's in the 70's. So different back then.

[@nealbacon7798]

Offensive Linemen could not use their hands to pass block, so you did not see DL getting mugged. It was OL taking all the abuse with head slaps and hands pushing the OL's facemask back and up. We were taught on defense where the head goes the body follows.

[@mrlafayette1964]

Where'd ya get that jacket!... the network gave it to me.

[@CJinsoo]

Looks like OU DL does same thing playing off the line, so maybe that was the “thing” back then?

[@DNSKansas]

The Flex defense was all the rage in the early 70s.

[@nealbacon7798]

@@DNSKansas They are not playing the Flex. The Flex had designated players up tight and designated players off the line. It was designed to be a gap control stop the run defense.

[@DNSKansas]

25:51 Archbishop of New Orleans Phillip Hannan delivering the invocation. I'm guessing both teams' fans were not too happy a Catholic minister was leading the prayer, especially an Archbishop. But in New Orleans, the Protestants are far outnumbered by the Catholics, and there is also a sizable Jewish population. Hannan delivered a eulogy at JFK's funeral mass, the only part of the mass spoken in English. He died at 99, 22 years after he was asked to resign (due to age, not anything else) as Archbishop by John Paul II.

[@antoniodelrio1292]

Sounds like a stretch suggesting both teams fans not being happy with the Archbishop leading the prayer. Plenty of Catholics in Alabama, the first Madri Gras being held there.

[@michaelfalsia6062]

Whata ya know a daytime sugarbowl game.

[@garywest8705]

That was the last time that the Sugar Bowl was a day game for a long time. It started being played at night that same year on New Years Eve. That night Sooners took on Joe Paterno and his Penn State Nittany Lions with the Sooners prevailing 14-0. That was the last bowl game for Oklahoma for two years because the program was on two years probation for being complicit in qb Kerry Jackson's high school transcript being altered.

[@paulsonj72]

@@garywest8705When the Sugar bowl went back to New Year’s Day in 1977 it was a day game. It went to a night game in 1982 and became a mid afternoon game for a couple of years in the mid 80’s. It moved to a night game for good in 1989 when ABC gained the rights to the Rose Bowl which had always been a 2:00 PM PT kickoff

[@ed0985587]

BOOMER!!

[@jabbers081769]

Virgil Moody, any chance I can talk to you one on one man to man? do you have Facebook, i am on there if you want to add as well

[@vwm8534]

[e-mail]

[@CJinsoo]

Sullivan sure had a stinker of a game. It’s hard to go back to this era and compare to today, still he looks like he has a mediocre arm and poor foot work. I know he did nothing in the NFL, had some limited success as a college head coach, and seemed to do well as an assistant coach. Always seemed like a stand up guy.

[@soonerlegendspodcast]

Dick Schmalz lmao 🤣

[@Tsip89]

German-speaker here. HAHA!

[@CJinsoo]

Most Oklahoma starters are from Texas, as usual, including Pruitt and Mildred.

[@TheSaturnV]

I counted 5 offensive starters from Oklahoma, 4 from Texas.

[@CJinsoo]

TheSaturnV Okay, a majority, and the 2 biggest impact/star players. According to SoonerStats, 6 of top 10 all time Sooner rushers from Texas, 2 from OK. OU has and continues to do an outstanding job recruiting great players from TX.

[@joeschizoid7762]

And not a single player from South Florida....

[@garywest8705]

Glenn King of Jacksboro, Texas who was injured that game was the first black ever to be a captain for the Sooners.