1970: After 17 years at Midwestern’s stadium, the Oil Bowl moved back to its original home, Coyote Stadium, this year. Tim Trimmier of Texas and Brent Blackman of Oklahoma put on a passing show, each throwing for four touchdowns. Texas built a 32-6 lead and then had to hold on for dear life to overcome Oklahoma 38-28. Facing second-and-17 at the Texas 17, Trimmer threw 63 yards to Perry Young to get out of the hole and keep Oklahoma from getting the ball back. The San Antonio Lee quarterback’s 25-yard TD pass to Charlie Davis with three seconds to go iced the victory.
1971: Haskell’s Charlie Franklin and Wichita Falls High’s Lawrence Williams led a Texas defense that intercepted five Oklahoma passes in a 15-0 win. Franklin, the defensive MVP, returned one interception 45 yards for a touchdown and was named the defensive MVP. Mike Thomas of Greenville scored on a 33-yard run and was named the offensive MVP. Grant Teaff, who would go on to become a legendary coach at Baylor, was one of the Texas coaches. The fans who witnessed this game, however, will not remember it for Franklin, Williams, Thomas, Teaff or even the final score. This one will be remembered for a murder than occurred in the north end zone of Coyote Stadium during the opening quarter. E.J. Young, a 47-year-old employee of Maskat Shrine Temple, was shot three times and killed.
1972: Marty Akins of Gregory-Portland threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Ronnie Littleton of Wichita Falls with 1:22 to play and then hooked up with Dallas Carter’s Joe Rust for the two-point conversion to rally Texas to a thrilling 21-20 win. This came against an Oklahoma defense that had Leroy and Dewey Selmon of Eufaula and Jimbo Elrod of Tulsa Central. Oklahoma also had offensive starts. Tony Brantley of Oklahoma City threw two touchdown passes — a 2-yarder to Tinker Owens of Miami and a 42-yarder to Steve Largent of Putnam City. Littleton was voted the game’s MVP after rushing for 127 yards and catching the winning TD pass.
1973: After being snubbed by the Oklahoma All-State Game, Pat Ryan of Putnam City came to Wichita Falls on a mission. And he made Texas pay. Ryan passed for 192 yards and a touchdown and ran for another TD in Oklahoma’s 37-27 win. The Oklahoma defense held Texas to just 50 yards rushing and forced three fumbles.
1974: Rodney Allison of Odessa High threw two touchdown passes of 58 and 20 yards to Mike Renfro of Fort Worth Arlington Heights and also scored on a 19-yard bootleg to lead Texas to a 20-13 win. Wes Hankins of Bristow and Kyle Phillips of Woodward threw TD passes for Oklahoma in the game, but Carl McCormack of Fort Worth Southwest intercepted Phillips in the end zone late in the game to preserve the Texas victory. Allison and Renfro shared the offensive MVP. Oklahoma’s Jeff Ward of Moore was the defensive MVP. Zac Henderson of Burkburnett averaged 46.4 per punt on five kicks and landed several inside the Oklahoma 20.
1975: In the first Oil Bowl played on the artificial turf of Memorial Stadium, Kenneth King of Clarendon ran for 140 yards and was instrumental in all three touchdown drives that gave Texas a 20-6 win. Two players off Wichita Falls Rider’s 11-1 team of 1974 scored touchdowns for Texas. Brian Nelson had a 60-yard TD reception, and quarterback Mike Patterson ran 24 yards for a score. King was the offensive MVP, and linebacker David Hodge of Brazoswood was the defensive MVP.
1976: Quarterback Darrol Ray of Killeen directed first half touchdown drives of 76, 38, 71 and 72 yards as Texas won 37-28. J.C. Watts of Eufaula quarterbacked Oklahoma in the game and threw a 38-yard pass to Kenneth Blair to set up his team’s first TD. Freddie Hurd broke an Oil Bowl record with a 77-yard touchdown run. Ray was the offensive MVP, and Lance Taylor of El Paso Coronado was the defensive MVP.
1977: Legendary coach Gordon Wood of Brownwood predicted an explosive offensive show in this game. He was half right. Darrell Shepard of Odessa completed nine of 17 passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns to lead Texas to a 34-8 rout. Shepard threw TD passes to Eric Herring and Tim Orr, while the Texas defense — led by Will Rub, Tim McCollum, David Taveirne, David Darr and Doug Carr, kept Oklahoma off the scoreboard until the final minute.
1978: Ron Reeves of Lubbock Monterey came on in relief and quarterbacked Texas to a 27-5 victory. Reeves, who originally been penciled in only to play linebacker, took over for Brazoswood’s Mike Brannan in the second half and hit 6 of 10 passes for 139 yards. He scored on runs of 1 and 6 yards and hit Robert Mitchell of Houston with a 33-yard scoring pass. Phil Weatherall of Greenville led Texas in rushing with 93 yards on 11 carries. Tackle Paul Kerestine of Denton led the Texas defense that allowed quarterback Craig Lance to pass for just 36 yards and run for only 24.
1979: Playing in a stadium that had been devastated by a tornado just four months earlier, Oklahoma ended a five-game losing streak with a 14-6 win. Defensive MVPs Steve Hogue of Ada and Paul Parker of Tulsa Washington helped stop Texas drives at the Oklahoma 9 and 12 in the first half. Stefe McKeaver of Altus scored Oklahoma’s only touchdown of the game on a 1-yard dive. Doug Furnas of Commerce kicked field goals for 29 and 25 yards. Juan James of Okmulgee trapped Texas’ J.C. Morris in the end zone for a safety. Morris was the offensive star of the game with 111 yards on 12 runs, including a 33-yarder for Texas’ only TD.