1983 Oklahoma Sooners football team

1983 Oklahoma Sooners football
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Record	8–4 (5–2 Big 8)
Head coach	Barry Switzer (11th season)
Offensive coordinator	Galen Hall (11th season)
Offensive scheme	Wishbone
Defensive coordinator	Gary Gibbs (3rd season)
Home stadium	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 75,008)

1983 Big Eight Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 2 Nebraska $	7	–	0	–	0			12	–	1	–	0
Missouri	5	–	2	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Oklahoma	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Oklahoma State	3	–	4	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Iowa State	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Kansas	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	6	–	1
Colorado	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Kansas State	1	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1983 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma during the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season. They played their home games at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium and competed as members of the Big Eight Conference. They were led by head coach Barry Switzer.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 10	at Stanford*	No. 2	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		W 27–14	62,778
September 17	No. 6 Ohio State*	No. 2	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	ABC	L 14–24	76,520
September 24	Tulsa	No. 8	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK		W 28–18	75,500
October 1	at Kansas State	No. 9	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS	Raycom	W 29–10	35,800
October 8	vs. No. 2 Texas*	No. 8	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Red River Shootout)		L 16–28	75,587
October 15	at Oklahoma State	No. 15	Lewis Field Stillwater, OK (Bedlam Series)		W 21–20	50,440
October 22	Iowa State	No. 16	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK		W 49–11	75,008
October 29	Kansas	No. 14	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK		W 45–14	75,008
November 5	at Missouri	No. 11	Faurot Field Columbia, MO (rivalry)	ABC	L 0–10	57,133
November 12	Colorado		Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK		W 41–28	75,008
November 26	No. 1 Nebraska		Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK (rivalry)	CBS	L 21–28	75,008
December 3	at Hawaii*		Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI		W 21–17	45,143
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

1983 Oklahoma Sooners football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class TE Darrin Berryhill QB 1 Danny Bradley (C) Jr OL Brent Burks WR Paul Clewis QB Mike Clopton OL David Dillingham OL Sidney Dodd RB Marcus Dupree TE 94 Bill Earthman Jr TE Johnny Fontenette RB Percy Hines RB Earl Johnson RB Jerome Ledbetter G 62 Paul Parker (C) Sr OL Jeff Pickett OL Eric Pope WR Buster Rhymes RB Alvin Ross WR Steve Sewell WR 3 Derrick Shepard Fr OL Chuck Thomas FB 34 Spencer Tillman Fr RB Darrell Weddington	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB Thomas Benson DT 80 Rick Bryan (C) Sr DB 10 Scott Case (C) Sr DL Tony Casillas DB Dwight Drane DL Darryl Goodlow DL Kevin Murphy DB Jim Rockford LB 49 Jackie Shipp Sr DL Bob Slater DB Keith Stanberry	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 28 David Culver So K Tim Lashar  Fr	Head coach Barry Switzer Coordinators/assistant coaches Gary Gibbs (DC) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Game summaries

Iowa State

Iowa State Cyclones at #16 Oklahoma Sooners

1 2 3 4 Total Iowa State 3 0 0 8 11 • #16 Oklahoma 14 21 7 7 49 Date: Saturday, October 22 Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Norman, Oklahoma Game attendance: 75,008

Scoring summary 1 Iowa St Bachrodt 34-yard field goal Iowa St 3-0 1 Oklahoma Tillman 2-yard run (Lashar kick) Oklahoma 7-3 1 Oklahoma Bradley 19-yard run (Lashar kick) Oklahoma 14-3 2 Oklahoma Ledbetter 13-yard run (Lashar kick) Oklahoma 21-3 2 Oklahoma Johnson 2-yard run (Lashar kick) Oklahoma 28-3 2 Oklahoma Tillman 16-yard pass from Clopton (Lashar kick) Oklahoma 35-3 3 Oklahoma Case 67-yard interception return (Lashar kick) Oklahoma 42-3 4 Iowa St Wodka 2-yard pass from Archer (Jacobs pass from Archer) Oklahoma 42-11 4 Oklahoma Clopton 1-yard run (Lashar kick) Oklahoma 49-11

at Oklahoma State

See also: 1983 Oklahoma State Cowboys football team

#15 Oklahoma Sooners (2–2) at Oklahoma State Cowboys

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Oklahoma	0	3	0	18	21
Oklahoma St	7	7	3	3	20

at Lewis Field, Stillwater, Oklahoma

• Date: October 15
• Game attendance: 50,440

Game information

First quarter OSU – Montgomery 14-yard blocked punt return (Larry Roach kick). Oklahoma St 7–0. Second quarter OU – Tim Lashar 42-yard field goal. Oklahoma St 7–3. Drive: OSU – Shawn Jones 5-yard run (Larry Roach kick). Oklahoma St 14–3. Drive: Third quarter OSU – Larry Roach 43-yard field goal. Oklahoma St 17–3. Drive: Fourth quarter OSU – Larry Roach 31-yard field goal, 13:49. Oklahoma St 20–3. Drive: OU – Derrick Shepard 73-yard pass from Danny Bradley (Tim Lashar kick). Oklahoma St 20–10. Drive: OU – Spencer Tillman 5-yard run (pass good), 2:50. Oklahoma St 20–18. Drive: OU – Tim Lashar 46-yard field goal, 1:14. Oklahoma 21–20. Drive: Top passers OU – Danny Bradley – 8/16, 147 yards, TD, INT OSU – Ike Jackson – 6/10, 39 yards, INT Top rushers OU – Earl Johnson – 25 rushes, 105 yards OSU – Shawn Jones – 19 rushes, 76 yards, TD Top receivers OU – Derrick Shepard – 3 receptions, 94 yards, TD OSU – John Chesley/Shawn Jones – 2 receptions, 13 yards

• Marcus Dupree left team during the week

Nebraska

#1 Nebraska at Oklahoma

1 2 3 4 Total • #1 Nebraska 7 7 14 0 28 Oklahoma 0 14 7 0 21 Date: November 26 Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman, Oklahoma Game start: 2:30 p.m. CST Game attendance: 75,008 Referee: John McClintock TV announcers (CBS): Gary Bender and Pat Haden

Postseason

NFL draft

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

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Franchise
Rick Bryan	Defensive tackle	1	9	Atlanta Falcons
Jackie Shipp	Linebacker	1	14	Miami Dolphins
Bob Slater	Defensive tackle	2	31	Washington Redskins
Scott Case	Defensive back	2	32	Atlanta Falcons
Thomas Benson	Linebacker	2	36	Atlanta Falcons
Paul Parker	Guard	12	325	St. Louis Cardinals