1974Oklahoma Sooners football
AP Poll national champion Big 8 champion
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 1
Record	11–0 (7–0 Big 8)
Head coach	Barry Switzer (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Galen Hall (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Wishbone
Defensive coordinator	Larry Lacewell (5th season)
Base defense	5–2
Captains	Kyle Davis Steve Davis Randy Hughes Rod Shoate
Home stadium	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1973 1975 →

The1974 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented theUniversity of Oklahoma in the1974 NCAA Division I football season. This was the first of threenational championship squads for head coachBarry Switzer. Only one opponent played the Sooners within 14 points and four failed to score a touchdown. At the same time, OU led the nation in scoring offense with an average of 43 points per game to finish the season as the only undefeated team in the country at 11–0.

Oklahoma was loaded with talent, evidenced by its eightAll-Americans, the most of any season to that point. OU'swishbone offense, triggered byrunning backJoe Washington,fullback Jim Littrell, andquarterbackSteve Davis, averaged 73.9 rushing attempts per game, which still stands as an NCAA single-season record,^[13] as does its 21.4 rushing first downs per game.^[14]

Oklahoma also featured a tough defense led by senior All-AmericanRod Shoate, a swift and punishinglinebacker, and a defensive front consisting of brothersLee Roy andDewey Selmon, andJimbo Elrod.

Because Oklahoma was on NCAA probation for recruiting violations, it was ineligible for ranking in theCoaches Poll and could not appear on network television or appear in a postseason bowl game.^[15] Nevertheless, the Sooners opened the '74 season as the top-ranked team in theAP Poll, the first time since 1957 that OU debuted at #1 and the first time in 11 years that Oklahoma sat atop the poll. Despite being a 43-point favorite againstBaylor, the Sooners struggled in their season opener, needing three fourth-quarter touchdowns to secure a 28–11 victory. Baylor recovered from this loss and enjoyed a stellar season, winning theSouthwest Conference championship under third-year coachGrant Teaff.

The win didn't impress AP voters, and OU dropped to #3 behindOhio State andNotre Dame. The Sooners quickly rebounded by destroyingUtah State andWake Forest in back-to-back weeks by a combined score of 135–3. Eight Sooners scored touchdowns against Utah State, while nine players found the end zone against the Demon Deacons.

Next up for the Sooners was theRed River Shootout, and theTexas Longhorns presented Oklahoma's toughest challenge yet. Trailing 13–7 in the fourth quarter, OU dug into its bag of tricks with a reverse tosplit endBilly Brooks, who scampered 40 yards down the sideline for a touchdown. The ensuing extra point attempt by Sooner kicker John Carroll was ruled no good, leaving the game tied at 13–13. Oklahoma's defense rose to the challenge, led by Shoate, who finished the game with 21 tackles, two pass breakups, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. The last statistic was the critical one, as the Sooners forced a Texas fumble on the next possession, which Shoate recovered at the 50. A 37–yard field goal from Tony DiRienzo minutes later was the difference. "This was as close as a game can be", coach Switzer said afterward. A testament to how hard the game was fought, OUoffensive tackle Mike Vaughan reportedly passed out from exhaustion following the game.

The Sooners followed their victory over Texas with a pair of blowouts over #16Colorado, 49-14, andKansas State, 63–0. Joe Washington rushed for 200 yards and four touchdowns against the Buffaloes, while eight players found the end zone versus the Wildcats. After a sloppy performance on a soggy field in a 28–10 win atIowa State, Oklahoma shutout a toughMissouri squad 37–0, a team that had beatenNebraska and scored 82 points in its previous two games. OU's third shutout of the season ran its record to 8–0 as top-ranked Ohio State was upset byMichigan State, 16–13.

Oklahoma regained the #1 ranking and, following a 45–14 win overKansas, traveled toLincoln with aBig Eight Conference title on the line. OU changed its defense for the game against Nebraska, using man-to-man coverage instead of zone. The move paid dividends as the Sooners intercepted four passes, including three byRandy Hughes, while the offense rolled up 482 yards on the ground despite not completing a single pass in the contest. The victory earned Oklahoma its second straight Big Eight Championship with one game remaining againstOklahoma State. Against the Cowboys, OU faced a 13–10 deficit late in the third quarter before scoring five touchdowns during a seven–and–a–half–minute span. The 44–13 victory marked OU's 20th consecutive win and 29th straight game without a loss.

WhenAlabama fell to Notre Dame in theOrange Bowl, the Sooners were left as the nation's only unbeaten team. With a #1 ranking in the final AP Poll, OU laid claim to its fourth national championship and first since 1956. To date, the 1974 Sooners are the last NCAA Division I-A team to claim an AP national title without benefit of a postseason bowl win.

^[16]

^[17]

This section is empty. You can help byadding to it.(December 2020)

The following players were drafted into the National Football League following the season.^[18][19]

• 1974 Big Eight Conference football season
• Oklahoma Sooners football seasons
• College football national champions
• Big Eight Conference football champion seasons
• College football undefeated seasons
• 1974 in sports in Oklahoma

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from January 2022
• Pages using CFB schedule with named parameters
• Articles to be expanded from December 2020
• All articles to be expanded
• Articles with empty sections from December 2020
• All articles with empty sections
• Articles with hCards