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  1. #1
    Sooner All-Big XII-2-1+1-1+1
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    Greatest Sooner O Backfield Ever

    Ridiculously spoiled in this department. Take a look at the sampling of the 70's:

    71- Jack Mildren QB, Leon Crosswhite FB, Joe Wylie HB, Greg Pruitt HB

    75- Steve Davis QB, Horace Ivory FB, Elvis Peacock HB, Joe Washington HB

    78- Thomas Lott QB, Kenny King FB, David Overstreet HB, Billy Sims HB

    In parlance of the kiddies these days, that is just sick.

    85- Jamelle Holieway QB, Lydell Carr FB, Patrick Collins HB, Anthony Stafford HB

    04- Jason White QB, JD Runnells FB, Adrian Peterson TB, Mark Clayton SL


    There are others from this last decade and the 80's, a couple of spot backfields from the 60's and 90's. And we haven't even begun to talk about the 50's when in the era of two platoon it was said our first and second string platoons were better than what some other teams could field just for their first team.

    We are spoiled spoiled spoiled.
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  2. #2
    SoonerFans.com Elite Member Blue's Avatar
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    Re: Greatest Sooner O Backfield Ever

    85 is what i grew up on and remember. Great great memories.

  3. #3
    SoonerFans.com Elite Member picasso's Avatar
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    Re: Greatest Sooner O Backfield Ever

    Geez, isn't the '78 backfield all first rounders? Minus the QB of ggourse.

  4. #4
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    Re: Greatest Sooner O Backfield Ever

    I'm just diggin' through all these great Sooners backfields. But I've settled:

    '56 was the greatest.

    Jimmie Harris at QB, Gerald McPhail at FB, Tommy McDonald at HB, and Clendon Thomas at HB.

    That team won their games by an average score of 47 to 5. That's right. They were putting together a first half NBA score and holding teams to a 9-innings MLB score. Ridiculous. Might I add that in '56, though it was not one of the domers' shinier teams, they did give us our lone victory over ND by a score of 40 to ZIP. And they gave Texas a 45-0 red-arse whuppin'. They closed out the season with 2008-style scoring against Mizzou, NU, and the LoSuRs by respective scores of 67-14, 54-6, and 53-0.

    Fuggehdaboudit.
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    Thrill as Bob Stoops turns the knobs and adjusts the dials of his latest killing machine...

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  5. #5
    Sooner All-Big XII-2-1+1-1+1
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    Re: Greatest Sooner O Backfield Ever

    Quote Originally Posted by picasso View Post
    Geez, isn't the '78 backfield all first rounders? Minus the QB of ggourse.
    Close. Sims and Overstreet both 1st rounders in '80 and '81, respectively. King in the 3rd round of '79. And Lott was 6th round as an RB in '79, though he went to Canada to play QB.

    And I should note, in '75 Jimmy Littrell was still playing FB too, but I believe Horace was the dominant FB by years end. And out of that group, Joe Washington went in the first round of '76, Ivory went 2nd round in '77, and Peacock went first round '78.

    Out of the first group, Mildren went 2nd round of 72, and Pruitt and Crosswhite both went 2nd round of 73, and Wylie went 4th round of 73.
    ........

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    Thrill as Bob Stoops turns the knobs and adjusts the dials of his latest killing machine...

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  6. #6
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    Re: Greatest Sooner O Backfield Ever

    Quote Originally Posted by Blue View Post
    85 is what i grew up on and remember. Great great memories.
    How good was '85? My memory banks are shorted out by how good it was.

    Totally slipped my mind as I was typing that Spencer Tillman was still starting in that backfield at HB.

    We've been so loaded historically that I just brain-dumped an RB as good as Tillman. Like I said... ridiculous.
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  7. #7
    Sooner All-Big XII-2-1+1-1+1
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    Re: Greatest Sooner O Backfield Ever

    Do you realize in '82 we had Stanley Wilson and Marcus Dupree in the same backfield? That year was my first OU-Texas game. Yup, the game they took the wraps off of Marcus. What could have been...
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  8. #8
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    Re: Greatest Sooner O Backfield Ever

    1952 gets my vote:

    Eddie Crowder- All-American
    Buck McPhail- All-American
    Billy Vessels- All- American

    Billy also won a little bronze statue that year.
    Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb.

  9. #9
    I said Biiiiiiiitch-- goingoneight's Avatar
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    Re: Greatest Sooner O Backfield Ever

    Sam, DeMarco and Broyles count?
    "One has to wonder about the structural integrity of the Vintage Cotton Bowl the last 14 years. There's been a lot of weight on that Oklahoma side."

  10. #10

    Re: Greatest Sooner O Backfield Ever

    if i had to rank what's been posted

    i'd go with

    1. 85
    2. 56
    3. 74-75 (Steve Davis is my all time favorite so I'm biased by putting him ahead of the Mildren crew)
    4. 71


    it's hard to rank the newer backfields with those of the past because they were so run oriented before now

  11. #11

    Re: Greatest Sooner O Backfield Ever

    Quote Originally Posted by soonerboy_odanorth View Post
    I'm just diggin' through all these great Sooners backfields. But I've settled:

    '56 was the greatest.

    Jimmie Harris at QB, Gerald McPhail at FB, Tommy McDonald at HB, and Clendon Thomas at HB.

    That team won their games by an average score of 47 to 5. That's right. They were putting together a first half NBA score and holding teams to a 9-innings MLB score. Ridiculous. Might I add that in '56, though it was not one of the domers' shinier teams, they did give us our lone victory over ND by a score of 40 to ZIP. And they gave Texas a 45-0 red-arse whuppin'. They closed out the season with 2008-style scoring against Mizzou, NU, and the LoSuRs by respective scores of 67-14, 54-6, and 53-0.

    Fuggehdaboudit.
    great post......and it's spot on, even though i give the 85 team a slight edge

  12. #12
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    Re: Greatest Sooner O Backfield Ever

    Here's a fun question for you all: What Sooner jersey number is the most coveted of all time?

    14? 38? 28? 97? Hmmm... I should poll this, but I don't know what numbers to nominate.

  13. #13
    Sooner All-Big XII-2-1+1-1+1
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    Re: Greatest Sooner O Backfield Ever

    78 gang gets my vote

  14. #14
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    Re: Greatest Sooner O Backfield Ever

    Quote Originally Posted by goingoneight View Post
    Sam, DeMarco and Broyles count?
    Not sure... if we are talking '08 wasn't Manny the starting slot receiver? Broyles had good stats but hadn't completely blown up yet. Juaquin had over 1000 receiving.

    But when you consider a very solid alternate to DeMarco in Chris Brown... and an "H" back in Brody Eldridge, you can make the case for that backfield for sure.

    I sort of borrowed the slot receiver position as part of the backfield in '04 with Clayton. I think that's fair given the slot is more or less the "wing back" in the modern pro set. Though in fairness Clayton ran both slot and #1 widout depending on formation.

    But even if you take Clayton out of the equation... a Heisman QB, a great fullback, and a once-in-a-generation tailback. Purty good.
    ........

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    Thrill as Bob Stoops turns the knobs and adjusts the dials of his latest killing machine...

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  15. #15

    Re: Greatest Sooner O Backfield Ever

    I wish I was old enough to have watched these guys but unfortunately I was born in 1984. I still have a football that says 1985 Champs! I tell my dad every time we talk about it how lucky he was to have watched most of those guys. I feel biased because I wasnt able too, I know all the history and tradition but as Soonerboy_odanorth said Jason White a Hiemann winner, JD who in college was as dominant as a FB can be and a once in a lifetime back in AD. As I said Im biased but idk that that can be topped

  16. #16
    Sooner All-Big XII-2-1+1-1+1 cccasooner2's Avatar
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    Re: Greatest Sooner O Backfield Ever

    Quote Originally Posted by badger View Post
    Here's a fun question for you all: What Sooner jersey number is the most coveted of all time?

    14? 38? 28? 97? Hmmm... I should poll this, but I don't know what numbers to nominate.
    Use this guys post for guidance? http://www.soonerfans.com/forums/sho...-Sooner-number

  17. #17
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    78 was an all time great backfield and team

    I wish I could have seen those 50s teams play. Watching them on tape, they looked really fast and dominant. I would probably consider 56 as one of the top two simply based on the dominating stats they put up.

    But, for me, 78 was the best. Four guys in the backfield, any of whom could break the long one on any given play. One of them was one of the greatest college running backs of all time. Watching old game tapes, I forget just how fast Kenny King was. If not for the game in Lincoln that year, they would be considered the greatest college backfield of all time, and one of the greatest college teams of all time. In a playoff scenario, and possibly in a BCS scenario, I'm convinced that team would have won a national championship.

  18. #18

    Re: Greatest Sooner O Backfield Ever

    Quote Originally Posted by soonerboy_odanorth View Post
    I'm just diggin' through all these great Sooners backfields. But I've settled:

    '56 was the greatest.

    Jimmie Harris at QB, Gerald McPhail at FB, Tommy McDonald at HB, and Clendon Thomas at HB.

    That team won their games by an average score of 47 to 5. That's right. They were putting together a first half NBA score and holding teams to a 9-innings MLB score. Ridiculous. Might I add that in '56, though it was not one of the domers' shinier teams, they did give us our lone victory over ND by a score of 40 to ZIP. And they gave Texas a 45-0 red-arse whuppin'. They closed out the season with 2008-style scoring against Mizzou, NU, and the LoSuRs by respective scores of 67-14, 54-6, and 53-0.

    Fuggehdaboudit.
    actually - a correction is needed her - McPhail played with Vessels in the 51-52 era and Bill Pricer played in the 56 backfield

  19. #19
    SoonerFans.com Elite Member KantoSooner's Avatar
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    Re: Greatest Sooner O Backfield Ever

    1985 was a wonderful year to be a sooner. Watching that backfield run the bone and knowing that they were all homerun threats whenever they touched the ball....
    Well, it brought a tear to my eye thinking about our opponents.
    (not much of one, I'll admit, but sometimes I did feel bad when we were running out of digits on the scoreboard.)
    "I don't know karate, but I know ka-razor!" - James Brown

  20. #20
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    Re: Greatest Sooner O Backfield Ever

    Quote Originally Posted by soonerboy_odanorth View Post
    I'm just diggin' through all these great Sooners backfields. But I've settled:

    '56 was the greatest.

    Jimmie Harris at QB, Gerald McPhail at FB, Tommy McDonald at HB, and Clendon Thomas at HB.

    That team won their games by an average score of 47 to 5. That's right. They were putting together a first half NBA score and holding teams to a 9-innings MLB score. Ridiculous. Might I add that in '56, though it was not one of the domers' shinier teams, they did give us our lone victory over ND by a score of 40 to ZIP. And they gave Texas a 45-0 red-arse whuppin'. They closed out the season with 2008-style scoring against Mizzou, NU, and the LoSuRs by respective scores of 67-14, 54-6, and 53-0.

    Fuggehdaboudit.
    Easily a contender for the best ALL-WHITE backfield of any college, EVAR.

    I'm leaning to the '78 backfield as OU's BEST EVAR.
    Put a lid on it! Kiss it goodbye. We gave it away, and apparently thought it made sense to do so.

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