Florida State Football: 10 Things You Need to Know About Oklahoma

For the first time in nearly a decade, the national spotlight will shine on the Florida State Seminoles when they welcome the top–ranked Oklahoma Sooners to Doak Campbell Stadium in an anticipated prime time showdown. 

College football may not have a playoff system, but the build up for this game certainly rivals a postseason atmosphere.  It is a huge non-conference game that will have strong BCS implications.

The winner puts themselves squarely in the position to be in the thick of the national championship race, while the loser falls back in the pack and will need a ton of help to resurface at the end of the season. 

The buzz in Tallahassee for this matchup has been gaining steam all summer long.  The Seminoles are looking to avenge last season’s 47-17 beatdown at the hands of the Sooners in Norman. 

With both teams returning a majority of their starters from a year ago, the ‘Noles know that their lofty preseason ranking will be put to the ultimate test on Saturday night. 

Here are 10 things you need to know about Oklahoma.

10. The No-Huddle Offense

Oklahoma wore out the ‘Noles defense last year with their uptempo no-huddle offense. After piling up over 600 yards of total offense in their opener against Tulsa, Landry Jones and company show no signs of letting up despite have a new offensive coordinator in Josh Heupel.

While Jones is the trigger man, he has plenty of help with a vast array of skill players who can hurt defenses in a myriad of ways. Ryan Broyles (more on him later) is one of the nation’s finest pass catchers. Kenny Stills returns after a solid freshman season catching 61 passes and five touchdowns. 

Fullback Trey Millard is an underrated yet integral part of the Sooners attack. He is an excellent blocker in the running game, yet an equally dangerous receiving threat to leak out in flats. 

Former walk-on running back Dominique Whaley came out of nowhere to gain over 100 yards and find the end zone four times in the thrashing of Tulsa. Sophomores Brennan Clay and Roy Finch should round out the committee in the Sooners backfield. 

Make no mistake, Jones is the engine that makes them go. When he’s on, he’s one of the best quarterbacks in the nation. The tempo is also a key factor that helps them blitz opponents.  Oklahoma averaged slightly less than 90 offensive snaps a game last season. 

In order to be successful against Oklahoma, the Seminoles defense will have to find a way to slow down their attack. 

9. The Impact of Losing Travis Lewis

Arguably the best player and the unquestioned leader on Oklahoma’s defense is senior linebacker Travis Lewis. 

Sooners fans held their breath when they found out the team’s leading tackler for the last three seasons suffered a broken foot early in fall camp. The injury was thought to keep Lewis sidelined for six to eight weeks. However, Lewis seemed determined to make it back before the showdown with the Seminoles.

After a dose of initial optimism with news of being pain-free came out on Sunday, those hopes were dashed when he tweeted he would indeed be out this weekend. 

Oklahoma has the luxury of plugging in sophomore Corey Nelson, a talented youngster who was one of the top prep linebackers in the class of 2010. Nelson last played in the state of Florida at last year’s Under-Armour All-America game. 

This trip to the Sunshine State will be more of a challenge. Without their most experienced defensive playmaker, it is up to Nelson to fill the void and step up in Lewis’ absence.

8. Trench Warfare

In big games like this, the battle to win the line of scrimmage becomes paramount. The Sooners are well-equipped with talent and experience on both sides of the ball. 

The interior of the offensive line is top-notch, led by junior center Ben Habern. However, the ugly nature of the positions lends itself to suffering injuries, and Oklahoma’s offensive line has taken its toll with injuries to projected tackles Jarvis Jones (out for FSU game) and Daryl Williams (questionable). 

Junior Lane Johnson, who’s played defensive end and tight end during his time in Norman, could be in the unenviable position of making his first start against a ferocious Seminoles front four that finished tied for the national lead in sacks last season.

On the defensive line, Oklahoma appears to be more settled. Veteran defensive ends Frank Alexander and Ronnell Lewis form a strong pass-rushing duo, and the emergence of tackle Casey Walker, a 310 pound run-stuffer, should ensure that the Sooners front four put plenty of heat on Seminoles quarterback EJ Manuel.   

7. Special Teams Standouts

Another intriguing part of this matchup of top five teams should be the battle for field position.  Both teams’ special teams units are among the best in the country.

After emerging from a battle with walk-on kicker Patrick O’Hara early last season, senior placekicker Jimmy Stevens returns after hitting 19/23 of his attempts in 2010.  Stevens has connected on 39/49 field goals in his career and is on the preseason watch list for the Lou Groza award given to the nation’s top placekicker. 

Punter Tress Way averaged 44 yards per punt in 2010, and was especially strong against Florida State in last year’s meeting. Way only punted three times that day, but made them count by averaging more than 52 yards per punt. 

Broyles is a dynamic return man capable of making teams pay for choosing to kick to him. 

As strong as their kicking game was, their kick coverage was dreadful allowing four touchdowns.  With the dangerous Greg Reid awaiting them in Tallahassee, the Sooners have to keep him contained in order to win the field position battle. 

6. Family Affair

Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops said the blowout victory over the Seminoles last season “felt miserable,” because of the pain he inflicted on a familiar face.

His younger brother, Florida State defensive coordinator Mark Stoops, watched his unit wilt against the Sooners high powered offense in only his second game in charge of the Seminoles defense. 

To Mark Stoops’ credit, the Seminoles defense improved vastly over the remainder of 2010, and with a bevy of talented playmakers returning in 2011, the ‘Noles defense is a huge reason for the optimism beaming out of Tallahassee. 

While Bob Stoops’ may not like it, the chess match between his offense and his brother’s defense looks to once again be the deciding factor in this matchup. 

5. Stoops Against FSU

Even though this is a non-conference matchup and his team may not be familiar with the atmosphere that awaits them at Doak Campbell Stadium, Bob Stoops knows all too well the raucous crowd that will greet the Sooners on Saturday night. 

Dating back to his days serving under Florida coach Steve Spurrier as a defensive coordinator for the Gators, Stoops has a 5-1 record in his coaching career against the Seminoles. 

Those wins include two victories in national championship games. In the 1996 national title game, Stoops helped Florida capture their first national title in school history, and in his second year in charge at Oklahoma in 2000, the Sooners knocked the defending national champion Seminoles with a 13-2 victory in the Orange Bowl. 

4. Ryan Broyles

The Seminoles boast one of the finest group of defensive backs in the country.  However, the electric Broyles poses all kinds of threats to any secondary he faces.

A finalist for the Biletnikoff Award last year, Broyles torched the Seminoles secondary to the tune of 12 catches for 124 yards and a touchdown. Over his career, Broyles has over 3,500 yards receiving and 36 touchdown catches.    

Also a threat as a return man, what makes Broyles so difficult to defend is his versatility.  Oklahoma's offensive staff moves him around to gain the most favorable matchup. When they need a clutch reception, he can move inside, outside or into the slot.  

If the Seminoles can't slow down the Sooners top playmaker, it could be another long night for Florida State's defense.  

3. Playing for a Fallen Teammate

The 2011 Sooners are playing with heavy hearts. Austin Box, a projected starting middle linebacker for Oklahoma this season, passed away in May.  

"We're all shocked and heartbroken," Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops said in a statement. "Austin was a great young man, a great young man to coach and a great teammate."

Box was a popular player among OU fans and his teammates. Box battled injuries his entire career, but managed to start five games a year ago and had eight tackles in the Sooners Fiesta Bowl victory over UConn.

While the Sooners forge ahead this season, the memory of their fallen teammate is never far away.  

Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables summed up Box’s importance to the team this season. 

“He was my left hand man in that meeting room and he still will be. There will be nobody in that seat but Austin’s spirit.”

2. The Sooners Struggles on the Road

Oklahoma extended the nation's current longest home winning streak to 37 games with a 47-14 win over Tulsa on Sept. 3. With a sparkling 55-2 record under Bob Stoops at the friendly confines of Memorial Stadium, the Sooners struggles away from home become magnified.   

The numbers may appear misleading at first.  The Sooners offense averaged just under 41 points a game at home in 2010.  On their five road games, that number dipped to slightly less than 36 points per game, which doesn't appear to be a huge drop off.   

However, a deeper look suggests that the Sooners road struggles came against teams with bigger crowds. In their two losses last season at Missouri and at Texas A&M, both had crowds over 70,000 strong. The Sooners high powered offense was held to an average of 23 points in those two contests.

It isn't just Oklahoma's offense that struggles away from home. In their five road games, the defense gave up an average of just under 33 points a game, which is almost two touchdowns more than they gave up at home.

With an expected crowd of over 83,000 expected at Doak Campbell Stadium on Saturday night, Oklahoma will have to overcome their road woes in order to improve to 2-0 this season.    

1. Big Game Experience

The top-ranked Sooners are no strangers to big games. Although they have struggled in bowl games and on the road, they took steps to curbing those trends in their last three games of the 2010 season (all against ranked opponents, one on the road and two neutral site wins).

However, during Bob Stoops' tenure at Oklahoma, he has never won a non-conference matchup on the road against a top five opponent.

Florida State's last win against a top five opponent came in 2007 when they upset second-ranked Boston College 27-17. They went 2-2 last year in matchups against ranked opponents, but their losses were to the Sooners and ACC champion Virginia Tech.  

In what is shaping up to be the most important game of the young 2011 season, the Sooners are bringing a team loaded with talent and experience that is hungry to silence its critics.   

Jimbo Fisher and the Seminoles are anxious to show the nation that the Seminoles are finally back among the nation's elite. With the eyes of the nation on Tallahassee, one team will emerge as a legit contender to make it to the BCS national championship game.