1938 Oklahoma Sooners football team

The 1938 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 1938 college football season. In their second year under head coach Tom Stidham, the Sooners compiled a 10–1 record (5–0 against conference opponents), won the school's first Big Six Conference football championship, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 185 to 29. The team's only loss came in the 1939 Orange Bowl, losing to Tennessee by a 17 to 0 score.^[1]

1938 Oklahoma Sooners football
Big 6 champion
Orange Bowl, L 0–17 vs. Tennessee
Ranking
AP	No. 4
Record	10–1 (5–0 Big 6)
Head coach	Tom Stidham (2nd season)
Captains	Gene Corrotto Earl Crowder
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1937 1939 →

1938 Big Six Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Oklahoma $	5	–	0	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
Iowa State	3	–	1	–	1			7	–	1	–	1
Missouri	2	–	3	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Nebraska	2	–	3	–	0			3	–	5	–	1
Kansas State	1	–	3	–	1			4	–	4	–	1
Kansas	1	–	4	–	0			3	–	6	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

End Waddy Young (Walter R. Young) received All-America honors in 1938,^[2] and six Sooners received all-conference honors: Young, guards Jerry Bolton and Ralph Stevenson, backs Earl Crowder and Hugh McCullough, and tackle Gilford Duggan.^[3]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 1	at Rice*		Rice Field Houston, TX	W 7–6	18,000	[4]
October 8	vs. Texas*		Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (rivalry)	W 13–0	20,000	[5]
October 15	at Kansas		Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	W 19–0
October 22	Nebraska	No. 14	Memorial Stadium Norman, OK (rivalry)	W 14–0	28,091
October 29	Tulsa*	No. 10	Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	W 28–6	17,000
November 5	Kansas State	No. 11	Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	W 26–0
November 12	Missouri	No. 10	Memorial Stadium Norman, OK (rivalry)	W 21–0
November 19	at Iowa State	No. 7	Clyde Williams Stadium Ames, IA	W 10–0	17,864
November 26	at Oklahoma A&M*	No. 6	Lewis Field Stillwater, OK (Bedlam)	W 19–0
December 3	at Washington State*	No. 5	Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	W 28–0	15,529
January 2, 1939	vs. No. 2 Tennessee*	No. 4	Burdine Stadium Miami, FL (Orange Bowl)	L 0–17	32,191	[6]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[7]

Rankings

See also: 1938 college football rankings

The first AP poll for 1938 came out on October 17. The Sooners were ranked fourteenth in the first poll. They finished the year ranked fourth.

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Final
AP	14	10	11	10 (1)	7 (1)	6	5	4

NFL draft

The following players were drafted into the National Football League following the season.^[8][9]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL team
3	20	Waddy Young	End	Brooklyn Dodgers
4	26	Hugh McCullough	Back	Pittsburgh Pirates
10	82	Earl Crowder	Quarterback	Chicago Cardinals
12	102	Jim Thomas	Guard	Chicago Cardinals
15	140	Cliff Duggan	Tackle	New York Giants