An overflow crowd of 82,000 was on hand in the Sugar Bowl as Bud Wilkinson’s second-ranked Oklahoma Sooners put a record 35-0 whipping on LSU behind the sensational quarterbacking of Darrell Royal.
The Sooners, with Royal pitching frequently to George Thomas and Leon Heath, both of whom scored twice, rolled up 286 yards rushing and set a Sugar Bowl scoring record. The win also pushed the Sooners’ winning streak to 21 games.
For 15 minutes the LSU line actually outperformed Bud Wilkerson’s alternating units. On its first two possessions, the Tigers reached the Sooners 15, then the 35; while Sooner quarterback Darrell Royal had to change things up to cope with the LSU defense. “Our drop-back passes were completely useless because they knew exactly what was coming,” Royal said. “The passes I did complete were a new set of plays that we didn’t practice.”
Early in the second quarter, Royal went to his alternate plan, lateralling to halfback Lindell Pearson, who threw to a wide-open Bobby Goad 40 yards downfield on the 8. Despite that big play, LSU held on fourth down inside the 1.
However, after a lost fumble by the Tigers, the Sooner struck with back-to-back scores from George Thomas - one on a 27-yard Pearson pass and one on a 5-yard run. And the rout was on.
Early in the second half, after a long LSU punt, Sooner fullback Leon Heath wheeled out of the Sooner split-T and blazed 86 yards, the longest scoring run of all the previous Sugar Bowls, to effectively end the game.
Another lost fumble and interception near the LSU goal led to two more Oklahoma touchdowns, ballooning the score.
In the first 15 games the Sugar Bowl had a remarkable matchmaking record with an average of seven points separating the opponents. However, the 1950 game remains the worst scoring differential in Sugar Bowl history.
28 авг 2024
