The Sooners have been blessed with some of the college game’s best at the position. This has been especially true during the first two decades of the 2000s.
The role of the OU quarterback has changed dramatically over the years. In the Bud Wilkinson and Barry Switzer eras, the forward pass was only a secondary element of the offense as the Sooner quarterbacks were used more as facilitators — and freqently as ball carriers themselves — of the powerful Oklahoma running game.
The first three of Oklahoma’s seven Heisman Trophy winners were all products of the prolific Sooner ground game and two of the three — Billy Sims and Steve Owens — rank among the team’s top-five career rushing leaders.