Oklahoma Football Is Back By Noel Sutcliff Correspondent      Oklahoma is back from the dead, well at least back from the 1980s when they last won the national championship. Back then, Boomer Sooner, Oklahoma’s fight song, blared out after every Sooner score. While it is no Who Let the Dogs Out, it should play on from now until the college football season kicks off next August.      Each time that anthem plays, the heartbeat of a college football program that has won six national championships continues to beat. The Sooners were left for dead when they suffered through countless miserable seasons after Barry Switzer left in 1988. He coached the last time they won the national championship in 1985 and had a unique approach to football, both on and off the field.      Before there was prominent offensive air attacks like Florida, Florida State, Purdue and Northwestern—there was the wishbone. The wishbone is an offense with three running backs, in which the quarterback had the option of who to give the ball to. It keeps the ball on the ground and minimizes interceptions. Teams don’t run it as often anymore, because the major change in College football is the speed of the athletes. Notre Dame and Washington ran it this year with success, but not like Oklahoma did in the ‘80s.      What happened to Oklahoma was that the program suffered NCAA sanctions in 1988, about the time Barry Switzer decided to leave town. Many college athletic programs have committed violations over the years. Notre Dame, Michigan, Miami, UNLV, Kentucky, Minnesota, Oklahoma State, Arizona State and SMU are ones that quickly come to mind.      College football can’t afford to have Oklahoma go the route of a team like SMU. While Oklahoma did not commit such serious infractions as SMU, they still had trouble recruiting. Southern Methodist University in Texas, where football is a religion, was a football powerhouse in the ‘80s. They had Eric Dickerson who turned out to be a pretty solid running back and they had Craig James blocking for him. The NCAA found, among other infractions, that SMU’s boosters gave $60,000 to the players to come to the school. The NCAA placed SMU on the "death penalty" which subsequently shut down their entire football program.      The NCAA also banned them from appearing on TV, which was when ESPN was coming about and severely hurt the school’s recruiting chances. They also banned SMU’s football team from participating in games and scrimmages during the 1987 season. SMU was so devastated that they sat out the entire 1988 season without playing a single game.      In the six years prior to the "death penalty" SMU was 53-15-1. Since 1988 they have won 19 out of 83 games. Since the NCAA placed SMU on the "death penalty" they have backed down from placing teams on such a severe probation.      So play on Boomer Sooner and let the Oklahoma football program live on. Back to top   |   Home Webmaster: Sal J. Barry   Copyright © 2001, Columbia Chronicle Columbia Chronicle articles, photos, and graphics are the property of the Columbia Chronicle and may not be reproduced or published without written permission from the staff, editors, or faculty advisor. The Columbia Chronicle is a student produced publication of Columbia College Chicago and does not necessarily represent, in whole or in part, the views of Columbia College administrators, faculty or students.

January 16, 2001 This week in Sports: An All-Star Performance Julian's blue collar phenom I hate that 'thing' The building of a program ...and the man behind it The Sports Guys Takes Local college hoops: UIC wins in four OT's Oklahoma football is back Quick hits Search our archive: The Columbia Chronicle is an award-winning college newspaper written and distributed weekly by the students at Views expressed here are not necessarily those of the Journalism Department or the college. Visit the Columbia College Chicago Web Site