Barry Switzer reacts to the "Sooner Schooner Penalty" 1985

The 1985 Orange Bowl, played between the Sooners and the Washington Huskies, is often called "the Sooner Schooner game" because of an incident during the game's second half.

The Miami area had received rain before the game, and the condition of the Orange Bowl's natural grass playing surface deteriorated as the game moved into the third quarter. The game was tied 14-14 when the Sooners lined up for a short, 22-yard field goal which would have made the score 17-14 in Oklahoma's favor.

The kick sailed through the uprights and the Oklahoma sideline thought it was good; the kickoff unit trotted out and the Schooner, as was traditional, also trotted slowly onto the Orange Bowl's wet, mushy field. However, the kick was nullified due to an illegal procedure penalty on Oklahoma. A Sooner player did not report his temporary jersey number to the officials, which he was required to do before the ball was snapped.

The Schooner was already out on the field before the Oklahoma sideline and the RUF/NEKS realized the kick had been disallowed. Worse, while moving across the wet, sloppy natural turf, the Schooner's wagon wheels ended up in a sticky, muddy patch of field and got stuck -- right in front of the Washington bench.

The referees did not realize the Schooner was immobilized; instead, they thought the RUF/NEKS had stopped the Schooner intentionally to taunt the Washington players. The Sooners were quickly penalized an additional 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct.

What was previously a 22-yard field goal became a 42-yard attempt after the 20 yards of penalties were marked off. The re-kick was blocked by Washington, and the game remained tied. Oklahoma ultimately lost the game 28-17.

Barry Switzer, Oklahoma's coach at the time, said later that he had never seen a flag thrown on the Schooner before or since, "but that wasn't the difference. It would have been closer. But they (Washington) were the better team that night.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Barry
• Switzer
• Sooner
• Schooner
• Orange
• Bowl

[godawgs06]

UW was the real national champion that year, anyone who doesn't have 10 wives knows this.

[80svideoluvr]

Yup. That's why the BCS takes "strength of schedule" into account, as it should. Yeah, it's REAL TOUGH to go unbeaten when you get tested no more than about 1 or 2 times a year. How would the '84 BYU Cougars have done in the Pac-10 or the Big 8 or the SEC? How would Boise State do in the Pac-10 or the Big XII or the SEC now? I'm pretty damn sure neither of them would end up unbeaten or with only one loss!!

[kiowa216]

Dumbest fukkin puppet to have a super bowl ring

[DrDupe]

@boomer1991 Penn State has never been put on probation. Paterno has always run a clean program....with the exception of allowing a child rapist to roam free on campus for decades.

[MaxxGladiator]

Nonsense: Washington chose to play the best team out there, versus a 6 - 6 Michigan team which was one of their worst ever. In 1984, the Holiday Bowl was low-end. No school would have picked it over the Orange Bowl. I went to the Holiday Bowl that year and saw a weak BYU team beat a weaker Michigan team (barely). No way in hell should BYU have been awarded the national title. They played high school teams. Washington would have killed them - by a massive score.

[MrBlackhaw]

Switzer was the king of cheaters. Most cheat but Switzer perfected it to an art form.

[boomer1991]

@madhazzer

Name one successful program that hasn't been caught cheating....(crickets chirping)

[boomer1991]

@madhazzer

haters....everyone has them. Switzer just happens to have more of them...

[madhazzer]

@boomer1991

uhhh, yeah, and the fact BARRY SWITZER WAS A DIRTY FILTHY CHEATER!!!!!!

[MyNephewIsTough]

Barry Switzer was the man! I just read Charles Thompson's book "Down and Dirty" and that fucker tries to lay all the blame for his cocaine dealing shit he got into trouble for on Switzer. Fuck Charles Thompson.

[thehuntman47]

@misfits4life1 good comeback