Bud Wilkinson's FOOTBALL LETTER 1951 Season Forecast Norman, Okla . extremely lucky to go through the season Dear Sooner: and not have any key players injured when It's a pleasure to write to you again and we needed them for critical games. our 1951 football prospects with to discuss Although I doubt very much if it's in the you. cards for us to have another miraculous sea- We're going to field another new team son like 1950, we can still have a good year again this fall . It will be the most inexperi- if our new team will show the same hustle enced squad we've had since I've been here. and morale as the fighting squad of '50. with squad men We are plugging our losses I thought last year's team proved that foot- will . strangers to and sophomores who be ball is still primarily a game of spirit. most of you until you've seen them play several times. But I think you're going to Last year we lost ten starters. This year like them. Win or lose, I think they're go- we've lost seven starters from our offensive . . . A Game of Spirit" ing to hustle and improve with every game. team, RE Frankie Anderson (All-Ameri- I thought we were unusually fortunate can), RT Dean Smith, RG. Clair Mayes in the spring . RE John with our last year's team, far more for- (all Big Seven), C Harry Moore (all Big ankle operation operation right tunate than we can hope to be again this Seven), LG Norman McNabb (all Big Reddell also had a knee team that season, and we face about the same ob- Seven), QB (all Big Seven) after catching for the Sooner in June. stacles this year as last. Our physical and Fullback (All American). won the NCAA baseball title strength was only modest. We lost 7-13 to Also, we lose such fine reserves as RT J. W. Although no coach can tell for sure how Kentucky in the Sugar Bowl. We were Cole, Dean Smith's alternate, and LG Joe serious will be his losses to the armed ser- behind in the fourth quarter against Texas Horkey, McNabb's alternate. vices, because of the uncertainty of the seri- varsity Aggies, Texas, Kansas and Kentucky, yet We lose far more than that, too. Our en- ous international situation, all our saved the first three with fighting rallies. tire tertiary defense, HBs Tommy Gray and players are in either Army, Navy or Air We were tied 21-21 with Nebraska at the Ed Lisak and Safety Buddy Jones, gradu- ROTC save RG Jim Davis, who has a half on our field and although we won, ated . This leaves our defense wide open medical discharge, and LT Art Janes, who Nebraska scored five touchdowns on us . behind the line-backers . We are so inex- is a veteran of World War 11 . We lost Juel Colorado gave us a bruising battle before perienced there that we may try a trio of Sweatte, freshman halfback from George- bowing to us at Boulder, four touchdowns sophomores. town, S. C ., and fastest man on our squad, to three. Never in the last four years have to the Naval Reserve when he was called Jones, our little All-American safety, is a we had so many close games. Only superb to active duty. particularly costly loss. For the past three hustle and fight prevented our 1950 team The Big Seven Conference has legalized years he's been our safety . He was in on from having a mediocre year. And we were the participation of freshmen on varsity nearly all of our 31 consecutive victories teams, starting this autumn. All freshmen 1948-1950. He played safety for us during who enrol here this fall will immediately both our Sugar Bowl victories over North become eligible for football and I hope Carolina and Louisiana State. He was dur- many of them will play in varsity games. able, too. He missed our bowl defeat last January 1 to Kentucky but it took a twisted While our 1951 team will be the greenest knee to put him on the shelf. We'll miss we've had since I came to , we Gray's speed and Lisak's bee-line tackling, feel that our halfbacks, guards, tackles and possibly our quarterbacks will be adequate. too. We definitely lack depth at offensive cen- We keep four offensive starters, LE Kay ter, and we lack strength at end, fullback Keller, Co-captain and LT and in Buddy Jones' old spot at safety . (All-American), LH (all Big I believe that Nebraska and Kansas will Seven) and RH Merrill Green. Also rugged be the teams to beat in the Big Seven with line-backers from last year return, Co-cap- Colorado a distinct dark horse possibility. tain and . I think the rest of us will be bunched. Ne- Four of our front-line men this fall are braska returns Bobby Reynolds and plays recovering from operations or have broken Oklahoma, Colorado, and Kansas on her bones mending. If any one of them should home field at Lincoln. I think the Corn- be lost, that loss would be keenly felt. They huskers will have the best club in the Big are RH Merrill Green who had an ankle Seven. Kansas will be dangerous. operation in the spring, RG Melvin Brown, We will get lots of help from our last who broke his leg in spring practice, and year's freshmen, sophomores this fall. As . . . Top Line Coach Defensive Guard Ed Rowland who had an freshmen last year they divided th : t;-

AucUST-SEPTEMBER, 1951

preview of each of our ten opponents and all the up-to-date football statistics-Na- Schedule for '51 tional, Big Seven, and O.U.-that anybody Sept. 29 William and Mary at Nor- could possibly want to know about. It sells man for $1 per copy. If you would like a copy *Oct. 6 Texas Aggies at College send your check, or dollar bills to Ath- Station, Texas letic Business Office, University of Okla- Oct. 13 Texas at , Texas homa, Norman, Oklahoma, and you will Oct. 20 Kansas at Norman (Dad's Day) receive as many copies as you desire by Oct. 27 Colorado at Norman return mail. (Homecoming) Our 1951 squad by positions : Nov. 3 Kansas State at Manhattan, I_E-'**Jack Lockett, Hugh Ballard Kansas Columbia, Mis- *Bill Beckman, Eugene Ball Nov. 10 Missouri at (soph), souri (squad), Buster Eoff (soph), Auston In- Nov. 17 Iowa State at Norman gram (squad) . (Band Day) LT-**Jim Weatherall, **Art Janes, Nov. 24 Nebraska at Lincoln, Ne- *George Cornelius, Doc Hearon (soph), braska 1 Oklahoma Aggies at Nor- (freshman), John Stice Dec. Jerry Wilkes man (soph). "'Night game LG-Joe Brock (soph), **Bert Clark, All Norman kickoffs at 2 :00 p.m. JACK LOCKETT . . . Veteran End Dale Crawford (squad), Harry Lee (soph), Billy Bookout (soph). games permitted them by the Big Seven Conference, losing 9-10 to Tulsa University FB-*Buck McPhail, Joe Gaynor (soph), at Tulsa, defeating Oklahoma A&M here Raymond Powell (squad). 53-13 . * one letter. ** two letters. squad this fall again is pri- Our varsity Sincerely yours, marily a home state outfit. We will have 37 players from Oklahoma, 10 from Texas, signed 2 from Arkansas, 3 from Tennessee. Eight Bud Wilkinson of our eleven starters in last spring's alum- ni game were native Oklahomans while a This is the first of Bud Wilkinson's let- ninth, Tackle Jim Weatherall, lived at ters for 1951. Individual copies were sent Shidler, Oklahoma City and Hooker, Okla- to those alumni not receiving Sooner Maga- homa, although he played his highschool zine. The remainder of his letters will be football games at White Deer, Texas. sent in the usual 4-page format to Alumni Although our advance season ticket sales Association ] immediately follow- has been the best in the history of the school, ing each football game and will not appear there are still thousands of seats unsold . in the magazine. No portion of this letter However our crowds should be good this may be used by newspapers or radio.-Ed. fall and if you haven't purchased seats for KAY KELLER Norman games, you had better order right . . . An End Starter' away . Write Kenneth Farris, our business manager of athletics here. J . D. Roberts (soph), Bob Gaut (squad), For a much more complete description Art Gilliam (soph), Von Worten (squad) . C-*Tom Catlin, Ed Sampson (squad), of our new squad, including pictures and biographies of each player, I should like to Bill Covin (squad), Sam Allen (squad) . recommend that you purchase a copy of RG-*Melvin Brown, (soph), Ross Ausburn (soph), **Fred our new 96-page football press book, writ- Smith, Allie Robards (freshman) . ten by Harold Keith, our sports publicity RT-Roger Nelson (soph), Jim Davis man. This book also contains an exhaustive (squad), *Ed Rowland, Harold Coffman (soph) . RE-*Kay Keller, *, Jen- 1950 Results nings Nelson (soph), *Jerry Ingram, Dick O.U. 28, Boston College 0 Ellis (squad). O.U. 34, Texas Aggies 28 QB-*, Jack Van Pool 14, Texas 13 O.U. (soph), Jack Ging (soph), Billy Ballard O.U. 58, Kansas State 0 O.U. 20, Iowa State 7 (soph), Blythe Carney (squad) . O.U. 27, Colorado 18 LH-*Billy Vessels, **Dick Heatly, O.U. 33, Kansas 13 Larry Grigg (soph), Jack Santee (squad) . O.U. 49, Nebraska 35 RH-*Merrill Green, **Frank Silva, O.U. 41, Oklahoma Aggies 14 O.U. 7, Kentucky 13, Sugar Bowl 'Keller was injured in early drills in Sep- MELVIN BROWN tember- and may be lost for most of the year. . . . Strength in the Line

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