Oklahoma vs Florida State: Landry Jones To Define Legacy

Seems like only yesterday that Sooner Nation was anguishing over the loss of an injured Sam Bradford, while loathing the decision-making of his replacement—one Landry Jones.

Those days are squarely positioned in the rear view mirror, as Jones has proven himself plenty capable; at times, even flashing the type of Heisman-esque "it" factor that supporters of the Crimson and Creme have come to expect from their signal callers.

What he has not yet done, however, is fully exorcise the remnants of his incessant road failures.

As a result, this is the most crucial game of Jones' career, not just for himself, but for his team. So much so, that it gives the Sooners a relatively clear distinction over Florida State in response to the question of "Who needs it more?"

Florida State isn't necessarily supposed to win this game, yet. They've been gone for a while. No one expects them to ascend to the pinnacle of college football with that sort of breakneck velocity—not until next year, anyway. For the 'Noles, 10 victories and an ACC championship does the trick.

Ten wins and a conference title would be an abject failure in Norman, Okla.

While one September loss would not necessarily derail Oklahoma's national championship aspirations in the literal sense, it would almost certainly strike a crippling blow.

The Sooners need their all-everything field general to be every bit as super in his white cape as he is in the red one. Jones has to confirm the championship swagger that appears to be dripping off of this team, by affirming the notion that he is a bona fide Heisman contender capable of winning in a hostile environment.

Failure to do so would seem to definitively signal otherwise.

Supporters will point to a solid performance in Stillwater, neutral site victories over Texas and Nebraska or even a Fiesta Bowl blowout of Connecticut. But none of that goes very far to refute the notion that Jones has been found wanting when the covered wagon hits the road.

True, Jones rallied the Sooners in the fourth quarter of Bedlam, engineering five scoring drives in the period, including touchdown tosses of 86 and 76 yards that were separated by only 29 seconds. But, he also threw three first-half interceptions—two on balls he was trying to throw away and one that Shaun Lewis returned for a touchdown—and did as much to keep the Cowboys in the game as to put the Sooners ahead.

True, Jones avoided turnovers in OU's Red River victory over Texas. Barely. Oklahoma was in control from the outset, but an overmatched group of Longhorns was allowed to hang around largely as a result of the Sooners' inability to capitalize on a Golden Hat full of opportunities. Finally, inexplicably, Jones fumbled the football on an apparent bootleg run/pass option—which, by Bob Stoops' own admission, was a terrible play call—managing only to knock it out of bounds just before Texas defenders closed in.

While Jones and the Sooners were able to avoid catastrophe, the clock was stopped as a result of the bungle, leaving Texas with 62 seconds to score. Fortunately for the Crimson and Creme, Aaron Williams muffed the ensuing punt, long snapper James Winchester recovered and the crisis was averted.

True, Jones and the Sooners spoiled the Huskers' going-away party en route to their seventh conference title under Stoops. But with three minutes remaining in the first half, Jones had thrown more interceptions (1) than the OU offense had run plays inside of the red zone (0). In fact, Nebraska threatened to take a commanding 24-7 lead, before Travis Lewis intercepted Taylor Martinez in the end zone with 3:58 to play in the half.

Oklahoma dominated from that point forward, and their quarterback never threw another pick. But, after seven titles in an 10-year span, the Sooners basically took up permanent residence in the conference championship game, hardly allowing a victory in Jerry's World to pacify concerns regarding Jones' apparent homesickness.

True, Jones overcame an early interception return for a touchdown to lead the Sooners to their first BCS bowl win since 2002. But, as nice as it was to get off of the BCS schneid, like the Red River Rivalry and the Big 12 Championship, a bowl game isn't a road game.

A 21-20 loss to true freshman quarterback Jacory Harris and the Miami (FL) Hurricanes in '09 was a road game.

Five interceptions in a 10-3 loss to Nebraska in '09 came in a road game.

A near disastrous 31-29 win vs. hapless Cincinnati in '10 was a road game, as were well documented flops in Columbia and College Station.

Oklahoma has adopted the slogan, "Chase for 8," in 2011. In doing so, they ear marked the Superdome in New Orleans as the only satisfactory ending to their chapter in the program's story book. In addition to this weekend's test, the Sooners have road trips to Baylor, Kansas State and, of course, a second consecutive trip up I-35 to face the Cowboys.

Winning on the road is non-negotiable if the Sooners are to fulfill such a lofty conclusion. In performing well in a win on Saturday, Jones will reinforce the confidence and belief that this particular group has become known for. But, if he performs poorly he could undermine those very intangibles.

The learning curve has straightened. The time is now. Landry has to provide his supporters with better ammunition after this weekend's tilt at Doak Campbell Stadium. If he doesn't, the ramifications may be far greater than an out of league September loss would lead some to believe.