Barry Switzer's most memorable games

Published: October 5, 2007

Barry Switzer reviewed his career this week, going season by season, sometimes game by game, and these 10 games brought out the most passion in Switzer's memory:

•1973 OU 27, Nebraska 0: "The last time the Selmons, all three, will play together. Really good defensive team. Eight defensive starters started in the NFL. To me, that was really the most dominant defensive display of my era. Nebraska never snaps it one play on our side of the field. They couldn't move the ball.”

•1975 Kansas 23, OU 3: "The ones I think of are the ones I lose. Here's a game, we had to help ‘em for them to win. We lead 3-0, Elvis (Peacock) is going in the end zone, the northwest corner, and the ball was hit knocked upfield. They recover the ball at the 22-yard line. Everything went south for us. Low point in my career at that time.”

•1975 OU 28, Missouri 27: "This is Bob Devaney's story. They (Nebraska) played that day. They win big. They announce Missouri 27, Oklahoma 20. They went into their locker room, chanting ‘Beach! Beach!' which was their way of saying they were going to the Orange Bowl. Bob said when he got to the locker room, they hadn't gotten word yet (that OU won). When they got the word, he said that locker room went from the highest high to the lowest low. They had to beat us the next week to go to the Orange Bowl; they knew their a** was beat.”

•1978 Nebraska 17, OU 14: "One of my regrets. First game I think of. We were fortunate to win three national championships, but that game cost us the national championship. We had a great team. That game is one that bothers me.”

•1979 OU 24, Florida State 7: "They were undefeated, ranked No. 2, and we dominated ‘em. Our offense, they couldn't handle us. It was Billy's (Sims) last game. J.C. (Watts) runs probably the most picturesque option. He lays out and Billy runs 20 yards, high-stepping into the end zone.”

•1980 OU 41, North Carolina 7: "Lawrence Taylor and Amos Lawrence. Hell of a football team. But I knew what was going to happen to ‘em. They played East Carolina the week before, and I talked to (AP sports editor) Herschel Nissenson, and he had just talked to North Carolina people. ‘North Carolina says they're ready to play you, because they just played East Carolina, and they run the same wishbone. Same plays, same everything.' I said, ‘Herschel, it's not the same wishbone.' We never ran the option that day toward Lawrence Taylor. He never made a tackle that day.”

•1980 OU 82, Colorado 42: "Chuck (Fairbanks) lost all his cornerbacks. Galen (Hall) calls down and said, ‘You're not going to believe this, but Chuck sent one of his GA's down, knocked on our door and said Chuck said, ‘Don't run any more option. We're out of cornerbacks and we can't stop you. Hand the ball to the fullback.' I said, ‘OK, coach, let's do it.' That's what we did. We fixed the fourth quarter.”

•1976 OU 6, Texas 6/ 1984 OU 15, Texas 15: "Beating Texas is hard to do. Those should have been victories. We muff the snap. Should have won that 7-6. In '84, we got screwed out of that one. My record should have been the same against Texas as it was against Nebraska. I went 9-5-2 against Texas. I should have been 11-5 against Texas. And I went 12-5 against Nebraska.”

•1984 OU 17, Nebraska 7: "Great goal-line stand. We kept ‘em out of the end zone. I had redshirted (the year before) Dante Jones, Brian Bosworth, Darrell Reed, Troy Johnson. (Tom) Osborne told me later, your domination of us (1984-87), your ends were too good. We couldn't get outside. Johnson, (Kevin) Murphy, Reed.”

•1986 OU 42, Arkansas 8: "Rematch. I loved that. Only time I ever asked a team to win a game for me. I said, for personal reasons, I want you to kick their a** for me, what I endured in my home state every time I went back there (after the 31-6 Orange Bowl loss nine years earlier).”

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