1945 Oklahoma Sooners football team

The 1945 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 1945 college football season. In their fifth year under head coach Dewey Luster, the Sooners compiled a 5–5 record (4–1 against conference opponents), finished in second place in the Big Six Conference championship, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 169 to 138.^[1]

1945 Oklahoma Sooners football
Conference	Big Six Conference
Record	5–5 (4–1 Big 6)
Head coach	Dewey Luster (5th season)
Captain	Eran Burgert
Home stadium	Owen Field
Seasons ← 1944 1946 →

1945 Big Six Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Missouri $	5	–	0	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Oklahoma	4	–	1	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Iowa State	2	–	2	–	1			4	–	3	–	1
Nebraska	2	–	3	–	0			4	–	5	–	0
Kansas	1	–	3	–	1			4	–	5	–	1
Kansas State	0	–	5	–	0			1	–	7	–	0
$ – Conference champion

No Sooners received All-America honors in 1945,^[2] but five Sooners received all-conference honors: Omer Burgert (end); Lester Jensen (guard); Thomas Tallchief (tackle); Jack Venable (back); and John West (back).^[3]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 22	2:30 p.m.	Hondo AAF*		Owen Field Norman, OK	W 21–6	10,000	[4][5][6]
September 29		at Nebraska		Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)	W 20–0	17,000
October 6		Texas A&M*		Owen Field Norman, OK	L 14–19	20,000	[7]
October 13		vs. No. 10 Texas*		Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (rivalry)	L 7–12	45,000	[8]
October 20		Kansas		Owen Field Norman, OK	W 39–7	13,000	[9]
October 27		at Kansas State		Memorial Stadium Manhattan, KS	W 41–13
November 3		TCU*	No. 14	Owen Field Norman, OK	L 7–13	21,000	[10]
November 10		Iowa State		Owen Field Norman, OK	W 14–7	13,163
November 17		at Missouri	No. –14	Memorial Stadium Columbia, MO (rivalry)	L 6–14
November 24		No. 6 Oklahoma A&M*		Owen Field Norman, OK (Bedlam)	L 0–47	33,000
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[11]

Rankings

See also: 1945 college football rankings

The first AP poll came out on October 7. The Sooners made their first appearance in the poll on October 28 and made their last appearance on the poll released on November 11.

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked т = Tied with team above or below

	Week
Poll	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final
AP	—	—	—	14	—	14т	—	—	—

NFL draft

Main article: 1946 NFL draft

The following players were drafted into the National Football League following the season.^[12]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL team
6	42	Thurman Tigart	Guard	Boston Yanks
15	133	Tom Tallchief	Tackle	Pittsburgh Steelers
23	220	Derald Lebow	Back	Los Angeles Rams
32	300	John West	Back	Los Angeles Rams