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Fiesta Bowl 1976
Oklahoma 41 Wyoming 7 |
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Eugene (OR) Register-Guard From Wire Service Reports
The Oklahoma Sooners, directed by elusive quarterback Thomas Lott, showed their four-man running attack early and often in demolishing the Cowboys, 41-7, in the sixth renewal of the Fiesta.
The 13th-ranked Sooners were not only devastating in operating the wishbone, but were just as good at stopping it. In fact, by halftime, Wyoming had only 22 yards rushing while each of the Sooners' backfield starters exceeded that total.
With the teams running identical offenses, winning Coach Barry Switzer summed up the difference in one word - "personnel."
"People make things happen.” Swatter said in the happy Oklahoma dressing room. Elvis Peacock, with two touchdowns, and Uwe Von Schamann, with field goals of 32 and 50 yards, led the Sooners.
Oklahoma put together touchdown drives of 80, 53, 82 and 81 yards and Switzer substituted freely after a 27-0 lead midway in the third quarter, with 16 different backs carrying the ball for Oklahoma. As evidence of their mastery in the game, the Sooners didn't have to punt once.
"We wanted to win big so we could play a lot of young people and show the nation just what kind of players we have," said Lott, named the offensive player of the game.
Lott said Oklahoma probably surprised a lot of people by scoring on its first two possessions of the game. But he said his club got sloppy after that, "and I figured we needed some more points."
The Sooners heeded his wishes, building a 41-0 lead before Wyoming's Cowboys got on the scoreboard in the closing seconds.
Lott rushed for 77 yards, third-best for the Sooners, and drew praise from Switzer.
"Thomas did a very good job executing the option and he deserves the outstanding offensive player trophy," Switzer said.
Lott countered that it's easy to look good "when you have guys in front of you blocking and running backs who can run with the ball and block just as well. The award could have gone to some of the other guys on our team as easily as me.”
Peacock set the stage for the Sooner onslaught when he scored the first touchdown of the afternoon on a three yard run in the opening quarter. That capped an 80-yard drive which opened the nationally televised game, played under sunny skies before a crowd of 48,714.
Wyoming, which lost one fumble and suffered five interceptions, was unable to get any offense generated after being kept in the hole most of the day by the Sooners.
Oklahoma wound up its season with a 9-2-1 record white Wyoming finished 8-4.
Peacock's second touchdown came in the third quarter when he took a pitchout and ran 15 yards around right end to make the score 27-0.
Wyoming's only score of the day came with just 22 seconds left, fullback Robbie Wright plunging in from one yard out to cap a 92-yard march.
Oklahoma also got touchdowns from halfbacks Horace Ivory and Woody Shepard and fullback George Cumby,
Ivory, who gained 54 yards rushing, scored the second touchdown of the day for the Sooners on a four yard run with 3:22 left in the opening quarter.
Von Schamann got the Sooners’ only scores in the second quarter, booting field goals of 32 and 50 yards for a 20-0 halftime lead. The 50-yarder broke a Fiesta Bowl record of 43 yards set by Mark Uselman of Brigham Young in 1973.
Cumby and Shepard are reserves who were called into service in the fourth quarter. Cumby scored on a four-yard run and Shepard on an eight-yard scamper.
Cornerback Terry Peters of Oklahoma was named the game's outstanding defensive player after coming up with two interceptions.
The Cowboys, who were held to just 22 yards total offense in the first half, went to backup quarterback Don Clayton in the third period.
The Cowboys came out after the halftime intermission and moved the ball the best they had done all day. Latrail Jones gave Wyoming good field position as he took the kickoff 34 yards to the Wyoming 44. Clayton then engineered a drive to the Sooners' 22, but on a third-and-five situation, Peters picked off his first interception of the day to halt that threat.
Oklahoma rolled up 432 yards total of offense to 204 for Wyoming. The Sooners, rated third nationally in rushing yardage, gained 415 for the day on the ground.
Oklahoma did not punt. The Cowboys' five punts averaged 45 yards. The Sooners lost three of six fumbles, but the turnovers never proved costly.
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Elvis Peacock had a big day, scoring twice for Oklahoma in the rout. |
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Thomas Lott was outstanding offensive player. |
Sooner halfback Horace Ivory. |
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Wyoming QB Marc Cousins under Sooner pressure. |
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Attendance: 48,714 |
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