Please Pass The Defense

To win the door prize at the Cotton Bowl luncheon on New Year's Eve, all Oklahoma wide receiver Mark Clayton had to do was catch a pass from Sooners quarterback Nate Hybl (right). Across the nearly football-field-sized ballroom of the Dallas Hyatt Regency, Hybl threw a perfect spiral to Clayton, whose name he'd drawn from a punch bowl moments before. Clayton caught the ball to claim a cordless phone. Too bad Oklahoma's offense wasn't as efficient the next day. The 25-yard completion over the chicken fran�ais and green beans was longer than all but one pass Hybl threw against Arkansas. With a scant 231 yards of total offense, the Sooners had to rely on their stellar defense, which produced nine sacks and held the Razorbacks to an average of less than one yard per play, to beat Arkansas 10-3.

" Oklahoma has the best defense I've seen in 20 years," said Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles, who coached the Razorbacks from 1958 to '76. In fact Sooners linebacker Teddy Lehman clinched the win when he forced freshman quarterback Matt Jones to fumble near midfield with 1:42 to go. If the Oklahoma offense had been as proficient this season, the Sooners might have repeated as national champions.