On January 1, 1986, Barry Switzer’s Oklahoma Sooners triumphed over the Penn State Nittany Lions with a 25-10 victory in the Orange Bowl. This win allowed OU to redeem themselves after losing to Washington in the same bowl the previous year.
The Sooners were unanimously crowned National Champions, and quarterback Penn State earned the title of Most Valuable Player. Recently, I had the chance to reconnect with Sonny Brown and reminisce about those incredible moments from nearly four decades ago. Craig: Can you believe it’s been forty years?
Sonny: (laughs) No. It has been a while, but I’ll always cherish the memory of that season.
Craig: Talk about some of the guys you had on the defensive side of the ball. It was much more than just “Boz” wasn’t it? Sonny: What made it special was you had veteran guys and younger guys all mixed together. Brian (Bosworth) was a year behind me, Tony Casillas and Kevin Murphy were a year ahead of me but then Darrell Reed was just a freshman and guys like Dante Jones. Because we were all at different stages of experience, it allowed us to carry on that high level of play for a series of years.
Craig: It felt like to me when Troy Aikman went down that it almost made you guys even circle the wagons more that season and increase your focus and intensity. Would you agree? Sonny: I agree. You nailed that. I still say to this day that if Troy doesn’t get hurt, we win that game. Our offensive was clicking and rolling.
Miami was talented and they had our number for a few years, but defensively we went to work. We prepared even harder. I think individually we took more ownership of things.
Craig: When I speak to Coach Switzer, I always get the sense he feels that although you won it all in 1985, that you left some titles on the table. Sonny: Listen, we never should’ve lost to Washington. That would’ve been a ring. We definitely had the teams and talent to win two or three in a row. Craig: In 1985, that’s when the national media went crazy with “The Boz.” What did you make of all of that hype and insanity? Sonny: He was just Brian. I joke to him about the Boz thing. That’s the only thing us players knew, was Brian. The Boz thing was created for the media. It had nothing to do with us.
Craig: Final question. Do you think Coach Venables can get things rolling after one full SEC season under his belt? Sonny: I think Brent is one hell of a coach. When Lincoln Riley departed, a lot of those kids left. He was behind the eight ball. Last year, he had a ton of injuries to deal with. I just feel that now, he’s got the ground firmly under his feet, and he’s getting a steady round of players that can come in and really produce. The schedule will be tough, but I feel extremely confident in the coaching staff and players and what they can accomplish in the fall.
