Oklahoma Football: 7 Things the Sooners Absolutely Must Do to Beat Florida State

The Oklahoma Sooners and Florida State Seminoles square off in the second Top 5 throwdown of the short season. The Week 3 matchup pits a loaded Sooners offense led by Heisman candidate QB Landry Jones against an fast, athletic defense featuring the 2010 NCAA sack leader, DE Brandon Jenkins.

E.J. Manuel waited patiently for his time to take over the 'Noles QB spot from NFL first-rounder Christian Ponder and has the team bustling with potential. The relatively inexperienced offense is coming together quickly, just in time for the biggest game on their schedule.

Oklahoma's defense has taken some shots over the summer. LB Austin Box tragically passed away and three-time tackle leader LB Travis Lewis will miss several games with a broken foot. Meanwhile, both starting safeties were lost to the NFL Draft.

Both teams looked good in their Week 1 games, but what must the Sooners and head coach Bob Stoops do to come out of Tallahassee with their BCS championship hopes intact?

Start Strong

In only his second year, head coach Jimbo Fisher has the Seminoles ready to challenge for a BCS title, something FSU fans haven't been able to say in over a decade. Coming off an impressive win over South Carolina in the Chick-fil-A Bowl and a 10-win season, the game against the top-ranked Sooners will be the biggest in Tallahassee in some time.

Needless to say, the energy of the players and fans will be ratcheted all the way up to 11.

The Sooners must start strong on offense and get at least a field goal on their opening drive. A slow start akin to the Tulsa game (5 plays, 20 yards, punt) will give FSU an even bigger boost of confidence. Bob Stoops has a tendency to come out conservative but needs to let Landry Jones get the ball down field early.

An opening drive score will take some of the wind out of FSU's sails and bring them back down to Earth.

Blitz-N-Press

In FSU's Week 1 game against University of Louisiana-Monroe, E.J. Manuel looked shaky to say the least. His 65 percent completion isn't terrible, but he missed wide open receivers several times and threw an interception in the end zone on a badly forced ball. 

His offensive line had trouble keeping defenders out of the backfield which sent E.J. running often.

The best way to take advantage of a nervous quarterback is with an array of creative blitzes combined with press coverage from skilled cornerbacks.

Or, as I like to call it, the 'ole Blitz-n-Press.

Luckily, the Sooners have two more-than-capable corners in Jamell Fleming and Demontre Hurst who can handle themselves on an island. Pressure in Manuel's face will force bad balls to his receivers and produce deflections and interceptions for the defensive backs.

On obvious passing downs, look for defensive coordinator and zone-blitz mastermind Brent Venerables to bring the house from all directions.

Spy E.J. Manuel When Not Blitzing

When the Sooners decide to only rush the front four and drop the rest into coverage, one person must always have their eye on E.J. Manuel. The dual-threat QB showed a propensity to run from an often-collapsing pocket against ULM and if there isn't anyone there to track him it will cause headaches for the defense.

The FSU skill positions aren't going to instill too much fear into the minds of the defensive backs, so Stoops can afford to leave one of the more athletic linebackers, Corey Nelson possibly, close to the line in case Manuel takes off. DE Ronnell Lewis also has the ability to chase down a scrambling passer.

Historically, Stoops teams have had some trouble with mobile quarterbacks but leaving someone behind to spy the athletic Manuel will solve the problem.

Pound the Middle

FSU looked vulnerable up the middle against ULM as the Warhawks avoided the speed on the outside of the Seminoles' defense by running right at the defensive tackles. They were able to get four, five and six yards fairly consistently. 

In OU's opener against Tulsa, junior walk-on Dominique Whaley worked mostly between the tackles on his way to a 131 yard, four touchdown performance. He was shifty but also barreled through countless tackles.

Whaley shared carries with sophomore Brennan Clay who also looked slippery inside.

A heavy dose of running up the middle will give an advantage to the third OU back, Roy Finch, who's elusiveness and speed make him dangerous running outside.

A 4-1 ratio of inside runs to outside runs will have the Sooners marching up and down the field.

Double-Team Bert Reed

Senior receiver Bert Reed represents the only real deep threat for the OU defense. Reed is a tremendous talent, able to regularly make circus grabs with defenders draped all over him.

Although shutting down a talent like this will be impossible, limiting his targets with bracket coverage will diminish his impact greatly.

At 6'6" and 216 pounds, WR Rodney Smith might cause some problems, but he has nowhere near the talent of Reed and can be handled like any other receiver.

Behind these two, it is a mixed bag of inexperienced freshman and sophomores. Taking away Reed will force the rest of the group to make up the difference which could spell disaster for the 'Noles.

Use Plenty of Screens and Draws

It is no secret that FSU can rush the passer. The Seminoles led the nation last year with 48 sacks, 13.5 coming from DE Brandon Jenkins. Opposite Jenkins at DE is German-born beast Bjoern Werner who will cause plenty of problems himself. A crop of quick, athletic linebackers also add to the mix getting after the quarter back.

Never fear, Sooner Nation. The classic anti-pass rush scheme is a simple one: screens and draws. Both plays allow the pass rush to come right through, thinking they have an easy sack, only to sneak a player right behind them and up the field. These types of plays have been featured in the OU offense for years now.

After getting burned a few times, those feisty defensive ends will start to second guess shooting up the field after the QB, giving Landry Jones more time to pick out receivers.

Look for RB Roy Finch and FB Trey Millard to catch several balls out of the back field and make the FSU defense pay.

Wrap Up Greg Reid

Greg Reid has proven to be one of the scariest punt and kick returners in the nation. His ability to slip through coverage teams is one of FSU's greatest assets, giving them great field position on a constant basis.

However, every Greg Reid highlight is actually more of a lowlight of the kick coverage team. He made long returns against ULM as they tried to grab him by the shoulders or head. With a guy like Reid, you must tackle fundamentally. His low center of gravity (he is 5'8") make him impossible to simply arm tackle or push over. The Sooners have to wrap him up like they learned in middle school: grab him by the legs and hold on for dear life.

Or just kick it out of bounds every time and save yourself the trouble.

Prediction

These teams might seem evenly matched on paper, but when you look to the field of play it really isn't close. The two schools faced off last year with the Sooners winning 47-17. FSU scored their final touchdown as time expired in the fourth quarter against the Sooners' second string defense, so it was actually more like 47-10.

Considering the beat down the Sooners gave FSU last year, it is hard to pick against them. The Seminoles saw a significant downgrade at quarter back from Christian Ponder to E.J, Manuel while the Sooners either maintained or upgraded at almost all positions.

OU is hurt without their two seniors linebackers, but the Seminoles (or any team for that matter) won't be able to keep up with the vaunted Sooner air attack.

The Sooners won by 30 last year. OU got better. FSU didn't. The logic is simple, folks.

I'll go with 41-27 Sooners.

More from Eric Pennell

Eric Pennell is an up-and-coming columnist at Bleacher Report covering the NBA, College Football and EPL Soccer. Follow him on     Twitter.

Check below for more articles from Eric...

Oklahoma Postgame: Landry Jones, Sooners Offense Bland on Purpose

Surprises on No. 1 Sooners' Latest Depth Chart

College Football Kickoff 2011: Top 10 Seniors in the Big 12

Oklahoma Sooners Football: 6 Studs Poised for Breakout Seasons