College Career
When Dupree arrived at the University of Oklahoma in 1982, head coach Barry Switzer said, "He was the best player on the field. Earl Campbell was the only other guy I ever saw who was like that—physically ready, as a true freshman, to be the best player on a great college team. Maybe even ready for the NFL at that age."
After the first three games of the season, Dupree had just twelve carries for 20 yards and the Sooners' record was 1–2. For the fourth game Switzer abandoned his favored wishbone offense and made Dupree the tailback in the I formation to take advantage of his skills. Dupree scored his first college touchdown against Texas on a 63-yard fake reverse.
On October 16, 1982, he ran for 158 yards against Kansas, including a 75-yard touchdown run. As a result, he was given the starting tailback position over Stanley Wilson and was named Big Eight Offensive Player of the Week. He made his first start against Oklahoma State and scored two touchdowns. Among all his other great runs, he also had a 77-yard punt return against Colorado, an 80-yard run against Kansas State, a 70-yard run against Missouri and an 86-yard run against Nebraska.
Despite not starting until the seventh game of the season, Dupree finished with 1,144 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns. He was named second team All-American, first team all-Big Eight Conference and Big Eight Newcomer of the Year.
On January 1, 1983, Dupree's freshman season ended with a 32–21 Fiesta Bowl loss against Arizona State, in which he rushed for an Oklahoma and Fiesta Bowl record 249 yards, but was criticized by Switzer for not practicing hard and for being overweight. Switzer told Dupree, "If you'd have been in shape, you'd have rushed for 400 yards, and we'd have won the game."
Dupree's much-anticipated sophomore season did not turn out as planned. Hampered by injuries, Dupree gained 369 yards on 61 carries with three touchdowns in the first four games of the season. After suffering a concussion in a loss against Texas, he vanished for a week. When he resurfaced in Mississippi, he announced he was leaving OU and transferred to University of Southern Mississippi. Told that because of NCAA rules, he would have to sit out the 1984 season, he left after three months.
| “ | For every Marcus Allen, Barry Sanders or Emmitt Smith, there's an Anthony Thompson, a Paul Palmer and a LeShon Johnson, guys who never matched their college success in the NFL. Some of the unfortunate ones were too small. Others were just a step too slow. But you'll also find a select few individuals who had all the tools. They're the ones who didn't achieve NFL success for reasons of circumstance. Such was the case with Marcus Dupree, a star running back who lit the college football scene on fire as a freshman in 1982. | ” |
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—Marc Connolly, ABC Sports Online |
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