EDMOND – The University of Central Oklahoma football team won its second national championship in 1982. That squad is the subject of this week's Friday Feature.
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Central used its stout defense to overcome Colorado Mesa 14-11 in the NAIA national championship game, which aired live from Edmond's Wantland Stadium on the USA Network.
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The Bronchos were led by longtime head coach Gary Howard, who in 1982 entered his sixth season. After Howard took over in 1977, he took the Bronchos to the national championship game in 1979, with Central coming up short 20-14 in the title match against Texas A&M Kingsville.
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Howard went 5-5-1 in his first year, 7-3 in his second turn, and 11-2 in 1979. Then back to 5-4 in his fourth year and 7-2 in his fifth year. There may have an indication of another good run in year six.
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This is what Howard told The Vista ahead of the season:
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"I'm happy that at least we know we have an opportunity to have a good football team. The times that we've had a good team centered around the fact we were experienced and had an attitude that we wanted to win very badly. But you have to be a hungry football team. You must want to win and be willing to pay the price. We're headed in that direction."
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The regular season did head in that direction, though it wasn't in convincing fashion.
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The Bronchos won the season opener, 15-7, at Northwestern Oklahoma State in Alva, but lost the next week in Weatherford by a slim 12-7 margin to Southwestern. After a couple victories over Henderson State (24-3) and Howard Payne (42-7), the Bronchos dropped a 42-26 decision in Tahlequah to Northeastern State, giving up a 26-7 lead late in the third quarter, and stood at 3-2 just after the halfway point of the season.
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Central then reeled off four straight wins to end the regular season. The Bronchos beat East Central 21-19, Eastern New Mexico 48-12, Cameron 38-6, and Langston 52-6. The dominant stretch left the Bronchos with a 7-2 record and left its postseason fate in jeopardy.
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Then after two-week layoff and some happenings in other games around the country, Central moved up two spots in the national poll to No. 7 and squeaked into the NAIA Playoffs.
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Now in the playoffs, the Bronchos didn't care how they got there or what their resume looked like. They were there. And the first opponent, Colorado State Pueblo, didn't know what hit them when the teams met in Colorado.
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Less than a minute into the action, Central quarterback Randy Page found receiver Willie Henderson on a touchdown pass and the Bronchos never looked back. Central posted 584 yards in total offense that day before the final horn on a 61-20 victory.
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The semifinals awaited Central after that and it was a rematch from the Northeastern State game earlier in the season. Again, Central blew a 26-7 lead and lost 42-26 in Tahlequah. The instra-state foes were all to familiar with one another and the Bronchos were ready for revenge.
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Part of Central's problem in the first defeat in Tahlequah was turnovers. It had six more in the rematch and faced a 10-0 deficit. But the Bronchos persevered.
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Central scored 21 unanswered in the second quarter and after NSU closed it to within a score, 21-17, a fourth-quarter 55-yard punt return by Henderson to the opposing 2-yard-line set up a Page-to-Henderson touchdown pass that sealed the victory and put the Bronchos in the national championship game for the second time in four years.
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Central then earned the right to host the final and would face Colorado Mesa.
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The Bronchos entered the national championship on a six-game win streak and was averaging 41.3 points per game during that span. So of course, it was time for what was maybe the worst offensive game of the season, right?
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The Bronchos posted just 165 yards of total offense in the game and had 191 passing yards.
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But the defense though came through. Allowing just 13.3 points per game during the six-game run up to the national championship, Central's defense ratcheted up its intensity for the finale. The Bronchos held Mesa to 227 yards of total offense and just 15 yards passing. Mesa was only 2-for-12 for the game and the Bronchos managed two interceptions when the ball was in the air.
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The latter of the two remains to this day the biggest interception in school history.
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CSU trailed 11-7 when Randy Preston picked off a pass and returned it 41 yards to the Mesa 13-yard line. The Bronchos punched in the winning score moments later, going up 14-11. CSU's defense then held off the final Mesa efforts, and the Bronchos won their second national championship in school history.
