College Football Old School Game of the Week: Oklahoma Nips Tennessee in Orange Bowl

 

Oklahoma running back Steve Owens dives for a touchdown in the 1968 Orange Bowl.

When the Oklahoma Sooners met the Tennessee Volunteers in the 1968 Orange Bowl, they was a lot on the line as both teams entered the game with a chance at a 10-win season.

Oklahoma was led by first-year head coach Chuck Fairbanks, who had been promoted to become the Sooners head coach four days after the death of Jim Mackenzie in the spring of 1967.

Tennessee also came into the game with a 9-1 record under head coach Doug Dickey, who in his fourth season as the Volunteers head coach had led Tennessee to its first SEC championship in 11 years.

With quarterback Dewey Warren and future All-American Steve Kiner at linebacker, the Vols traveled to Miami to take on the Sooners in primetime on New Year's Day.

With the help of junior quarterback Bobby Warmack, the Sooners would go 9-1 during the 1967 regular season to win the Big Eight conference title and earn a trip to play in the Orange Bowl for the first time since 1962 and a chance to earn Oklahoma its first 10-win season since 1958.

The Vols would get the ball to start the game as their offense would be given great field position for their opening drive as Bill Baker returned the opening kickoff 34 yards to the Tennessee 46-yard-line.

From there, the Vols would drive to the Oklahoma 29-yard-line until Sooners defensive end Jim Files hit the arm of Warren during a pitchout to cause a fumble that Files recovered to give his offense the ball at their 32-yard-line.

The Sooners would drive 68 yards in nine plays with Warmack accounting for 57 yards of total offense on the drive as he completed two passes to wingback Eddie Hinton for 31 yards and ran three times for 26 yards, including one for a seven-yard touchdown to give Oklahoma a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.

The two teams would trade punts until the Sooners put together an eight-play, 87-yard drive which featured a 38-yard by Warmack and ended with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Warmack to Hinton on the second play of the second quarter to increase Oklahoma's lead to 13-0 as Mike Vachon would miss the ensuing extra point.

Tennessee would start its next drive in Oklahoma territory as Charles Fulton would return the ensuing kickoff 63 yards to the Sooners' 39-yard-line, only to see the Vols not take advantage of the opportunity as Karl Kresmer would miss a 51-yard field goal that would have been Tennessee on the scoreboard.

After an Oklahoma three-and-out, Tennessee would get the ball at their 30-yard-line as two runs by Walter Chadwick collected 18 yards until Warren was intercepted by Sooners defensive back Bruce Stensrud to give Oklahoma the ball at their 26-yard-line.

The Sooners would methodically drive down the field as they went 74 yards in 12 yards with running back Steve Owens capping off the drive with an one-yard touchdown that pushed Oklahoma's lead to 19-0 with 1:48 left in the first half as the Sooners failed to convert on a two-point conversion after the touchdown.

Oklahoma quarterback Bobby Warmack threw for 107 yards and a touchdown while running for 81 yards and another touchdown.

Tennessee tried to put some points on the board before halftime but Warren would throw another interception, this time on a deep pass intended for Ken DeLong which was picked off by Oklahoma safety Steve Barrett to allow the Sooners to run out the clock in the first half and go into the locker room ahead 19-0.

Oklahoma would go three-and-out to start the second half as the Vols would start its opening possession of the second half at the Sooners' 40-yard-line as Warren completed three passes for 24 yards to lead Tennessee to the Oklahoma 14-yard-line where they faced a 4th & 12.

Needing three touchdowns, the Vols would go for the 1st down but would fail to convert as Warren's pass intended for Chadwick fell incomplete to give the Sooners the ball at their 14-yard-line.

Oklahoma would drive to it 31-yard-line until Warmack was picked off by Tennessee strong safety Jimmy Glover, who returned the interception 36 yards for a touchdown to cut the Sooners' lead to 19-7 midway through the third quarter.

The Sooners would start their next possession at their 20-yard-line only for Warmack to be picked off again, this time by Jim Weatherford, whose 14-yard return gave the Vols the ball at the Oklahoma 17-yard-line. 

The Vols would convert the interception into a touchdown as Fulton would punch it in from five yards out to make it an one-score game at 19-14 with 5:07 left in the third quarter.

Following an Oklahoma punt, the Vols would get the ball back at their 18-yard-line as they would drive 73 yards in 11 plays to set up a 26-yard field goal by Kresmer which trimmed the Sooners' lead to 19-17 with 12:23 left in the fourth quarter.

Having scored 17 unanswered points, momentum was clearly on the side of the Vols, especially after their defense forced a three-and-out to give their offense the ball back at their 15-yrd-line with a chance to drive down the field and take the lead.

However, Oklahoma defensive back Bob Stephenson would intercept a Warren pass intended for DeLong and return it 25 yards for a pick-six to increase the Sooners' lead to 26-17 with 9:35 to go in the game.

Tennessee would start its next possession at its 23-yard-line as the Vols would drive to the Oklahoma 38-yard-line where they faced a 4th & 3 when Dickey decided to go for the 1st down which he got when Warren completed a 11-yard pass to DeLong to give Tennessee a fresh set of downs at the Sooners' 25-yard-line.

Five plays later, the Vols were faced with another 4th down situation, this time at the Oklahoma two-yard-line and needing just one yard to convert.

Warren would give the ball to Chadwick who would pick up the 1st down to give the Vols a 1st & goal at the one-yard-line as Warren sneaked it in for the touchdown to make it a two-point game at 26-24 in favor of the Sooners with 4:05 to play.

The Sooners would get the ball at their 21-yard-line to start their next drive with hopes of picking up a few 1st downs to run out the clock.

The drive got off to a good start as Owens ran for 12 yards on the first play from scrimmage to give Oklahoma a 1st down at its 33-yard-line as the sophomore running back would get the ball on the next three plays, gaining nine yards to set up a 4th & inches at the Sooners' 43-yard-line with 1:44 to go in the game.

Instead of punting the ball away, Fairbanks decided to go for the 1st down in hopes that his offense would get the one yard needed to give the Sooners not only a fresh set of downs, but allow them to run out the clock.

But the gamble would backfire as Tennessee linebacker Jack "Hacksaw" Reynolds would stop Owens for no gain to give the Vols the ball at the Oklahoma 43-yard-line with a chance to pick up a few yards to set up a potential game-winning field goal attempt.

Karl Kremser would miss what would have been a game-winning field goal in the final seconds of the 1968 Orange Bowl.

A six-yard run by Warren, followed by a two-yard loss by Fulton and an incomplete pass would set up a 4th & 6 as the Vols would try to pick up the 1st down as they were too far out of field goal range.

Tennessee would pick up the 1st down as Warren completed a 10-yard pass to DeLong to give the Vols a 1st down at the Oklahoma 29-yard-line as the Vols would run one more play, a two-yard run by Richard Pickins, before calling on Kresmer to attempt a 44-yard field goal with 14 seconds to go.

However, Kresmer's kick would sail wide right of the uprights, allowing for Oklahoma to run out the clock and came away with the 26-24 win to give the Sooners their first 10-win season in nine years.