Orange Bowl holds special place for Oklahoma

MIAMI (AP) _ Oklahoma and Florida State couldn't do it again in the Orange Bowl, could they? A game as exciting as the one they last played against each other in 1981 comes around, well, only every

Wednesday, January 3rd 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MIAMI (AP) _ Oklahoma and Florida State couldn't do it again in the Orange Bowl, could they? A game as exciting as the one they last played against each other in 1981 comes around, well, only every 20 years or so.

Oklahoma was trailing by seven points with time running out in the Orange Bowl when it decided to ditch its wishbone and go to the air. J.C. Watts completed four passes including an 11-yard touchdown to Steve Rhodes that tied the score with 1:27 left.

Then came a 2-point conversion pass to tight end Forrest Valora for a 18-17 victory. They were the only fourth-quarter points scored against No. 2 Florida State that season.

``Had we not hit that 2-point conversion, I'd probably be on the street corner today saying 'I'll work for food,''' said Watts, now a U.S. representative from Oklahoma. ``That launched my career.''

And it was just part of No. 1 Oklahoma's rich history in the Orange Bowl.

The Sooners' game Wednesday night against No. 3 Florida State will be their 17th appearance in the game, more than any school. They are 11-5 in the Orange Bowl, but haven't been there since the 1988 game when they lost the national championship to Miami.

``There's a lot of great moments, great memories about it,'' said Barry Switzer, who took nine teams to the Orange Bowl during his 16 years as head coach.

Oklahoma lost its first Orange Bowl game, 17-0 to Tennessee in 1939. The next visit was in 1954, when the Sooners beat regular season national champion Maryland 7-0 in the first bowl game in which the players had to play both ways.

Two years later, Oklahoma entered the Orange Bowl with a 29-game winning streak and the No. 1 ranking. The opponent, Maryland, had won 15 in a row, and took a 6-0 lead at halftime.

Then Bud Wilkinson went to his ``fast-break'' offense. With quarterback Tommy McDonald and his teammates darting from one play to the next, the Sooners scored 20 second-half points for a 20-6 victory and the school's second national championship.

Oklahoma went to the '58, '59, '63 and '68 Orange Bowls, winning three of the four, then didn't return until the 1976 game against Michigan.

It was the Sooners' first trip to a bowl under Switzer, who was looking for his second national championship in three years. (Oklahoma won the '74 national championship while on probation and barred from postseason play).

Oklahoma went 10-1 during the 1975 season and got the break it needed on New Year's Day when No. 1 Ohio State lost in the Rose Bowl. That night, Oklahoma beat Michigan 14-6, with the Wolverines' only score coming late in the game after the Sooners fumbled at the 2-yard line.

``They couldn't move the ball on us,'' Switzer said.

Oklahoma's next Orange Bowl ended with what Switzer called the most disappointing loss of his career _ the 1978 game against Arkansas.

The Sooners entered the game 10-1 and with a shot at another national title. Arkansas, coached by Lou Holtz, was an 18-point underdog, especially after Holtz suspended six players.

But Arkansas won, 31-6, in a game Switzer said went downhill beginning with the coin toss.

``We should have never received the kickoff,'' he said. ``It was drizzling rain. I wanted to defer, but my offensive coaches said, 'We're playing for the national championship, let's not defer.'

``It's my responsibility. I'm the head coach. But we receive, and three plays later, Billy Sims fumbles at the 6 and they get the ball and go in and score.''

Arkansas led 14-0 at halftime and 24-0 after three quarters, and wound up handing Switzer his widest margin of defeat as a college coach.

Oklahoma returned to the Orange Bowl for the '79, '80 and '81 games, then for four straight beginning with 1985. The Sooners won their sixth national title by beating Penn State in the 1986 game, and lost one with their 20-14 loss to Miami in '88.

One of the most bizarre games was Jan. 1, 1985. The Sooners, ranked No. 2, were lobbying hard for a claim at the national title as they prepared for No. 4 Washington.

But six fumbles and eight penalties, including one against mascot Sooner Schooner, led to a 28-17 loss. The Schooner went onto the field after a field goal early in the fourth quarter, not knowing the go-ahead kick had been called back by an illegal procedure penalty.

Oklahoma received a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty because of the Schooner, and the next field goal try was blocked.

``I still don't believe they called that,'' Switzer said the next day, laughing. ``What do you call that, unhorsemanlike conduct?''