College Football Classic Rewind:OU Stymies ‘Noles to Win National Championship
The 2001 Orange Bowl was the designated national championship game for the 2000 season and it featured a team that was expected to be in the game and another team that was not expected to be there.
Ever since Barry Switzer resigned as head coach following the 1988 season, the Sooners went 61-50-1 in the next 10 seasons and played in only three bowl games.
After the 1998 season, Oklahoma hired Florida defensive coordinator Bob Stoops, who had helped the Gators win the 1996 national championship, in hopes of restoring the Sooners to prominence.
Stoops went 7-5 in his first season as head coach but things took off in 2000 as the Sooners went undefeated thanks to a high-powered offense led by quarterback Josh Heupel, who finished second in the running for the Heisman Trophy and a defense that allowed under 16 points per game on average during the season.
Despite being 12-0 and #1 entering the title game, the Sooners were 10 ½ point underdogs to their opponent, the Florida State Seminoles.
Florida State was the defending national champion and were perhaps the most dominant team during the 2000 season.
The offense, led by Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke, averaged 42.4 points per game while the defense held opponents to an average of 10.3 points per game as the Seminoles won at least 10 games for the fourteenth consecutive season, all under the direction of head coach Bobby Bowden.
Despite their dominance, most experts believed that the Seminoles should not be in the title game because they lost one game, a 27-24 nail-biter to arch-rival Miami, who also finished the season with one loss and believed by most experts to play opposite Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl.
However when the BCS final rankings were released, FSU was ranked ahead of Miami, and it was the ‘Noles who got a chance to win back-to-back national titles.
While they were heavily favored, the Seminoles faced two issues as they entered their title tilt with the Sooners.
Offensive coordinator Mark Richt had accepted the head coaching job at the University of Georgia, perhaps distracting him from constructing a good game plan against the Sooner defense, and wide receiver Snoop Minnis, Weinke’s best target, had been ruled academically ineligible and had to sit out the game.
These two issues looked to cause problems for the Florida State offense, but It certainly did not look like that the Seminoles offense would have such trouble as Weinke connected with Atrews Bell for a 35-yard gain on the first play of the game.
But the Sooners defense rose up and forced the Seminoles to punt following the big play to start the game.
Both teams traded punts until Oklahoma’s second possession when Florida State cornerback Tay Cody stripped Andre Woolfolk of the ball after the Sooner receiver had made a 22-yard reception.
The fumble was recovered by Clevan Thomas at the Sooners’ 47-yard-line, giving the Seminoles an excellent opportunity to take the early lead.
But on the first play following the turnover, Florida State gave the ball right back to Oklahoma when linebacker Torrence Marshall picked off a Weinke pass and returned it back to the Sooners’ 47-yard-line.
The Sooners got three points off the turnover as Tim Duncan drilled a 27-yard field goal, which was set up by a 36-yard pass from Heupel to Josh Norman, to give Oklahoma a 3-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
On their next offensive possession, the Sooners drove from their own 26 to the Seminoles’ 15-yard-line in 10 plays, but disaster struck on the 11th play when Heupel threw a bad pass that was intercepted by Cody for the Seminoles’ takeaway of the game.
However, the turnover came at a price for Florida State as Cody injured his abdomen on the play and did not return to the game.
Torrence Marshall was named the MVP of the Orange Bowl in Oklahoma's 13-2 victory.
The second quarter was a stalemate was neither offense could get on track and both teams trading punts.
The only scoring opportunity during the quarter was by Florida State as they drove from their own 47-yard-line to the Oklahoma 13-yard-line where the Seminoles were faced with a 4th & 1.
Bowden decided to go for the field goal but the decision backfired when kicker Brett Cimorelli missed his 30-yard field goal attempt and the score remained 3-0 in Oklahoma’s favor as the first half come to an end.
Oklahoma received the second half kickoff and after Antwone Savage returned the kickoff 36 yards, the Sooners took up seven minutes off the clock as they drove from their own 46-yard-line to the Florida State 16-yard-line until the drive stalled.
Duncan came on to attempt a 37-yard field goal and it appeared that he made the kick as the ball went over the top of the upright.
However, the referees ruled that the kick was no good and the Sooners’ lead remained at 3-0.
The Sooners would get another chance for points on their next drive as a 39-yard completion from Heupel to Curtis Fagan helped Oklahoma to the Florida State 25-yard-line.
But Heupel missed an opportunity for the first touchdown of the game as he missed a wide open Savage in the end zone a few plays later.
Duncan came onto the field to attempt another field goal and this time he left no doubt as his n kick sailed through the uprights for a 42-yard field goal to increase the Oklahoma lead to 6-0 with 4:24 left in the third quarter.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Seminoles were able to put together their best drive of the game as Weinke lead the offense from their own 19 to the Oklahoma 35-yard-line.
But this promising drive ended with no points as the Seminoles turned the ball over on downs as Robert Morgan was unable to make a diving catch in the end zone on second down at the 35-yard-line and then Weinke’s fourth down pass that was intended for Anquan Boldin was broken up by Derrick Strait, giving the ball back to the Sooners.
Then on the next Seminoles offensive possession, the Sooners defense made the biggest play of the game as linebacker Rocky Calmus hit a scrambling Weinke, jarring the ball loose which was recovered by safety Roy Williams at the Florida State 15-yard-line.
Two plays later, running back Quentin Griffin ran it in from 10 yards out for the game’s first and only touchdown of the game to give Oklahoma a 13-0 lead with 7:46 left in the fourth quarter.
Chris Weinke struggled mightly against the Sooner defense in the 2001 BCS Title Game.
The fumble and the subsequent touchdown was the backbreaker for the Seminoles as they were unable to put together any good drives in the last minutes of the game.
If it weren’t for a bad snap that went over the head of Oklahoma punter Jeff Ferguson and into the back of the end zone for a safety, the Seminoles would have been shut out for the first time since their 31-0 drubbing at the hands of Miami in the 1988 season opener.
Instead, they got two points, still 40 points below their season average and gained only 301 yards of total offense, 248 yards below their season average, as the Sooners earned their seventh national championship with a 13-2 victory over the heavily-favored Seminoles.
Ever since this game, the two programs have gone in opposite directions as the Sooners have complied a 109-26 record, won six Big XII conference championships, and have played in seven BCS bowl games, including the National Championship game three times.
However, the Sooners have been unable to claim another national title under Stoops’ reign.
On the other hand, the Seminoles have fallen from the ranks of college football’s elite programs in the last decade.
Since their loss in the 2001 Orange Bowl, the Seminoles have gone 72-46, had to vacate 12 victories from the 2006 and the 2007 seasons because they used ineligible players, and won only three ACC championships.
But with a victory over #1 ranked Oklahoma this Saturday, Florida State could return to the ranks of the elite college football programs in America.
Dont snapCwe need all the (about) sane readers you can get!
I have learn a few good stuff here. Definitely price bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how much effort you set to create the sort of wonderful informative website.
Simply want to say your article is as astounding. The clarity on your post is simply nice and that i can suppose you’re an expert on this subject. Fine with your permission allow me to seize your feed to stay up to date with forthcoming post. Thank you a million and please carry on the enjoyable work.
advertising and *********** with Adwords. Well I?m including this RSS to my e-mail and can look out for a lot extra of your respective fascinating content. Make sure you update this again very soon..
Excellent blog here! Also your internet site loads up fast! What provider will you be using? Can One obtain a affiliate hook up to your host? Only if my website loaded as quickly as yours lol
It?s really a great and useful piece of info. I am satisfied that you just shared this helpful info with us. Please stay us up to date like this. Thank you for sharing.
It’s appropriate time to make a few plans for the long run and it is time to be happy. I’ve read this put up and if I may I wish to recommend you some attention-grabbing issues or advice. Maybe you can write subsequent articles relating to this article. I want to read more things about it!
While this point is common in today’s world, it is continuing to be something that needs to be commented on. This was a superb article.
Your write-up has verified valuable to me. Its very informative and you might be naturally really knowledgeable in this location. You might have opened my eyes to varying views on this topic with interesting and solid content material.
Great site for this topic. Anyway please visit my website for some more info and great tips.
Author has many informative facts, I’ve learned a immense amount. I’m confused as to why I didn’t add it as a bookmark before because it’s surely a url I want in my daily visit list. Thanks again, keep up the good work
Very nice post. I simply stumbled upon your blog and wished to mention that I’ve really loved browsing your weblog posts. In any case I will be subscribing to your feed and I am hoping you write once more soon!
whoah this weblog is magnificent i love reading your posts. Stay up the good work! You realize, a lot of people are searching round for this information, you can help them greatly.
I would like to thnkx for the efforts you have put in writing this web site. I’m hoping the same high-grade blog post from you in the upcoming as well. In fact your creative writing abilities has encouraged me to get my own blog now. Really the blogging is spreading its wings quickly. Your write up is a good example of it.
Hello, You’ve carried out a remarkable job. I’ll certainly digg it along with my estimation suggest to my girlfriends. Most likely theyll be made good success because of this site.
wonderful writing, very ingenious. I love it greatly. I come acoss the web site by Bing web engine. I will read your blog post oftenly and recommend it to my pals. Please maintain it to remain fresh. Continue the truly amazing work. C A sweet girl
Furthermore, my experience comes with identifying the competitive
advantage for any few different companies and crafting that advantage into a online marketing strategy
to develop new company. Each auction may be conducted having a different list of terms including bid increments,
quantity of auction rounds and expense reimbursement for that stalking horse.
Birthdays, Anniversaries, Housewarmings, Weddings, Baby Showers, Christmas and
Valentines Day.
Here is my website: http://www.irejs.pl
And in the course of these analysis, it emerges that many dollar spent in the pursuit of an online degree is planning to increase one’s lifetime earnings repeatedly fold.
She invites you to definitely visit her site where she is going to share a proven strategy to start an business online.
” The company sees innovation as one of its core organizational competencies.
Feel free to visit my webpage; http://poloneses.pl
This may be a big concern for you if you cannot afford comprehensive insurance and want coverage for yourself regardless of fault.
However, despite requiring a bit of extra effort, you really
should visit more than one site to get a
complete view of cost and options. There a lot of companies offering affordable car insurance quotes over the phone and also via websites.
Review my webpage :: alturl.com (Ona)
Using ingenious technology and innovation the Romans made an Empire
that withstood the test of your energy. You can run your home based business
perfectly in the event you become cordial to
the customers. ” The company sees innovation as one of its core organizational competencies.
Feel free to surf to my web page: j-r-w.pl (Craig)
In this section of the article, l want to look at a
few loose ends that may prevent you from getting
dirty cheap auto insurance quotes. There can be web sites that even supply comparative quotes that put proposals from several insurance insurance providers side by side so
you may evaluate your own alternatives properly. Once you have
chosen the best insurance agency that offers auto insurance for teens,
you should know more about some of the discounts they offer.
my homepage … bob-bruhin.com (Yasmin)
Magnificent beat ! I wish to apprentice while you amend
your web site, how can i subscribe for a blog website?
The account helped me a acceptable deal. I had been a little
bit acquainted of this your broadcast offered bright clear idea
Nice respond in return of this issue with firm arguments and telling
all regarding that.
These backpacks usually come in various styles, colors, sizes
and price tags. People who tend to overpack their personal effects are
always caught up in this dilemma. Adult comfort – It is all
well and good to have your baby comfortable, but if your back carrier
is not comfortable then you will not be going far (or
you will only be doing it once.
Hi there! I simply want to offsr you a huuge thumbs up for your great info you have
goot right here on this post. I am returning to your blog for more soon.
I love what you guys are up too. This type of clever work
and coverage! Keep up the superb works guys I’ve incorporated you guys to blogroll.
I honestly believe that Adrian Peterson, Arian Foster, Ray Rice, Marshawn Lynch,
or Jamaal Charles should be your focus in the first round.
With the help of online resources you can easily find several
online gaming sites. Ole Miss and Mississippi State moving
the Egg Bowl away from Jackson, Miss.
First of all I want to say excellent blog!
I had a quick question which I’d like to ask if you do not mind.
I was interested to find out how you center yourself and clear your head before writing.
I have had a tough time clearing my mind in getting
my thoughts out there. I truly do take pleasure in writing but it
just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes tend to be lost
just trying to figure out how to begin. Any
recommendations or hints? Thank you!
Feel free to visit my site :: how to make blog
Useful info. Fortunate mе I discovered your web site
unintentionally, аnd I’m shocked աhy thiѕ twist οf fate ɗid
not tooҡ рlace in advance! I bookmarked іt.
Good info. Lucky me I ran across your website by chance (stumbleupon).
I have saved it for later!
It’s going to be ending of mine day, but before finish I am reading this fantastic paragraph to improve my experience.
Definitely imagine that which you said. Your favorite justification appeared to be on the net
the simplest thing to take into accout of. I say to you, I definitely get irked whilst folks consider worries that they plainly do not understand
about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top and also outlined out
the whole thing without having side-effects , folks can take a signal.
Will probably be back to get more. Thanks
Hey, I think your site might be having browser compatibility
issues. When I look at your blog in Opera, it looks fine but when opening
in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick
heads up! Other then that, amazing blog!
Thank for sharing nice post.
Awesome post.
马上又要谴责了，只会谴责，真他妈丢人，还大国，跟清朝有什么区别，卖南沙求和