Page
ptember 2,195
Southern Division
Monday
Page 5
September 2, 1996
University of Oklahoma
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University of Oklahoma
Photo courtesy of University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma's Memorial Stadium seats 75,004 people.
By Matthew Flume
The Battalion
I n the middle of America's heartland
between the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans lies the pride of Sooner coun
try, The University of Oklahoma.
The Sooners have always claimed to
have a special “Sooner Magic” that helps
them win in situations that seem to be a
losing battle.
This “magic” guided the Sooners to an
unprecedented victory over Nebraska in
1986, earning an invitation to the national
championship game. Some might recognize
one of OU’s heroes, former Head Football
Coach Barry Switzer, who now leads the
Super Bowl Champion Dallas Cowboys.
This “Sooner Magic" is not limited to
troublesome situations on the football
field, but presides over the entire campus.
Established in 1890, 17 years before
Oklahoma became a state in the Union,
the University of Okla. is located in
Norman, Oklahoma just south of
Oklahoma City.
With an enrollment of more than
of a black ho 25,000 students, OU has 19 colleges on the
main campus in Norman along with
health science centers in Tulsa and
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OU’s wide variety of colleges, ranging
from architecture and liberal arts to busi
ness to engineering, offers students an
array of academic disciplines.
The university has the largest library
system in the state of Oklahoma and
offers an honors program with classes of
no more than 20 students.
OU’s History of Science Collection is
one of the top in the nation. It offers
over 80,000 volumes, including rare and
historical works by world famous scien
tists. The collection even boasts some
of the original works of Galileo in his
own handwriting.
The school has a reputation as an out
standing academic institution. , It has
been ranked first per capita among uni
versities in the number of National Merit
Scholars and Oklahoma’s medical school
has been ranked in the Top 20 over the
past years.
Oklahoma’s football team comes to the
Big 12’s inaugural season with little more
than rebuilding in mind. The Sooners
come to College Station on Nov. 12 to try
to upset the Aggies on Kyle Field.
The Sooner baseball team has also
enjoyed a great deal of success in the recent
past. In 1994, the Oklahoma baseball team
won the NCAA national championship.
With a great academic and athletic
reputation, Oklahoma has built its repu
tation as one of the top institutions in
the country.
Location: Norman, Okla.
Founded: 1890
Enrollment: 25,000
Coach: John Blake
Colors: crimson and
cream
Stadium: Memorial
Stadium. Seats 75,004.
1995 record: 5-5-1
Lettermen returning: 35
Returning starters: 9
Titles won: Six national
championships, 15 Big
Eight titles, two
Missouri Valley titles,
five Big Six titles, nine
Big Seven titles.
By Kristina Buffin
The Battalion
A s the Oklahoma Sooners welcome
their third coach in three seasons to
Norman, the team is looking for sta
bility while rebuilding a program that has
fallen to pieces.
Former Dallas Cowboy Assistant Coach
John Blake will succeed former coaches
Gary Gibbs and Howard Schnellenberger
and is hoping to restore the pride and tradi
tion that has long been a part of the Sooner
football program.
The Sooners return just nine starters
from 1995, and previous years’ recruiting
classes under Gibbs and Schnellenberger
were a little less than desirable.
To combat the player losses, Blake
hired former Ohio State Offensive
Coordinator Bill Young, former Texas Tech
Photo courtesy of Oklahoma Sports Info.
Linebacker Tyrell Peters
Offensive Coordinator Dick Winder, and
retained the Sooners senior assistant
offensive line and tight ends coach Mel
Johnson.
The Sooners face one of the nation’s
toughest schedules this year. They will
face six of the top 23 teams in last year’s
final poll, and will play only five home
games, three of which are against teams in
last year’s final top 25.
Sophomore quarterback Eric Moore is
one of only three offensive starters return
ing and his performance was far from
spectacular. Although he beat out former
starter Garrick McGee for the job, he com
pleted only 45 percent of his passes for
105.3 yards per game and he threw more
passes to the opposing team than to his
own players.
Freshman Justin Fuente is expected to
challenge Moore for the position this sea
son. Fuente set an Oklahoma high school
record at Tulsa Union by passing for 2,934
yards his senior year.
Senior fullback James Allen, who was
rated the nation’s No. 1 high school run
ning back four years ago, will return to
stoke his college career. He has started
all three years, but has run for only
1,617 yards.
The sore spot for the offense will be fill
ing the void in the offensive line — all five
starters from last year will have to be
replaced. However, OU is not in need of
wide receivers — it is four-deep at both
split end and flanker.
Six starters from last year’s I5th-
ranked defense will return. Junior right
tackle Martin Chase highlights the
defensive line.
The OU linebacker corps looks to be
the deepest area on the defense.
Senior middle linebacker Tyrell
Peters has been OU’s leading tackier for
two straight seasons and senior line
backer Broderick Simpson was not far
behind him.
Senior free safety Anthony Fogle is the
only returning player for the secondary,
however, and he is recovering from
arthroscopic knee surgery.
This season is definitely a year of
rebuilding for the Sooners — starting
from the bottom up. After all, Rome was
n’t built in a day.
PLAYBOY’S COLLEGE ISSUE
FEATURING THE
GIRLS OF
THE BIG 12
AND
1996 COLLEGE SEX SURVEY
ENTERTAINMENT FOR
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Zebbie Letherit
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