Okies have led the Sooners
Our chart in the Sunday paper on the hometowns of the starters from each OU football national championship team was interesting. It’s amazing how many Oklahomans have contributed to the Sooners’ greatest teams.
For instance, the 1975 team had 13 Oklahoman starters, including eight on offense. The entire offensive line was from Oklahoma — Okmulgee’s Karl Baldischwiler, Seminole’s Chez Evans, Southeast’s Dennis Buchanan, Muskogee’s Terry Webb and Ada’s Mike Vaughan.
Ten years later, OU still was bagging championships with a huge Oklahoman contingent. The 1985 team started four Okies on the offensive line — Seminole’s Eric Pope, Norman’s Travis Simpson, Jenks’ Anthony Phillips and Moore’s Greg Johnson. The lone non-Oklahoman was from just across the line, Mark Hutson of Fort Smith, Ark.
Even the 2000 team was majority-Okie. Twelve Oklahomans started on the 2000 team, and again, 80 percent of the O-line was from in-state: Moore’s Frank Romero, Mustang’s Bubba Burcham, Wagoner’s Scott Kempenich and Tahlequah’s Mike Skinner. The lone non-Okie was Howard Duncan of Kansas City, Kan.
That’s what makes the 2008 team rare. The Sooners won’t start an Okie on the offensive line.
Our man Jake Trotter wrote how that three of OU’s four Heisman Trophy winners were from in-state. Taking the award theme even further, it’s apparent that OU gets the majority of its trench stars from Oklahoma.
Fourteen Sooners have won the major awards from history that deal with linemen or linebackers (Outland, Lombardi, Butkus, UPI Lineman of the Year). Eight of those are from Oklahoma: Eufaula’s Lee Roy Selmon, Tulsa East Central’s Tony Casillas, Tulsa Washington’s Granville Liggins, Lawton MacArthur’s Jammal Brown, Muskogee’s Max Boydston and Kurt Burris, Fort Gibson’s Teddy Lehman and Jenks’ Rocky Calmus. The others are all Texans: J.D. Roberts (Dallas), Jim Weatherall (White Deer), Greg Roberts (Nacogdoches), Brian Bosworth (Irving), Tommie Harris (Killeen) and Bob Harrison (Stamford).
When it comes to ballhandlers, OU often looks to Texas. But in the trenches, most Sooner greats have been home grown.
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