2010 College Football Previews: Oklahoma Sooners A Touchdown Favorite Over Florida State Seminoles
September 9th, 2010- By Alex Groberman
In a match-up of powerhouses, the 10th ranked Oklahoma Sooners with host the 17th ranked Florida State Seminoles this coming Saturday. The Sooners were considered by many as possible National Championship contenders, but they are coming off a sloppy Week 1 performance where they were nearly upset at home by Utah State. This is the first match-up between the two teams since they squared off for the National Championship in 2000.
The Sooners are coming off a week where they needed a late interception by Utah State to secure a 31-24 victory in a game where they were favored by 34 points. Oklahoma racked up 422 yards in their victory with quarterback, Landry Jones putting up 217 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Jones also utilized his receiving threat, Ryan Broyles, effectively to the tune of 9 catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns. The Sooners also had 208 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground courtesy of running back, DeMarco Murray.
Defensively, the Sooners will need to buckle down against Florida State. In the first game of the season Oklahoma gave up 341 passing yards to a an inferior Utah State group. Considering how tough the Seminoles’ offensive line is, and how many issues there are with the Sooners’ secondary, a lot of the defensive burden will fall on the pass rush led by defensive end, Jeremy Beal.
Florida State on the other hand had no problems destroying their opponent, Stanford, to the tune of a 59-6 blowout. The Seminoles totaled up 481 yards for the game between their 296 passing yards and 185 rushing yards. Their offense
was sparked byquarterback, Christian Ponder, who threw for 167 yards and 4 touchdowns with only one interception. Ponder’s weapons came in handy in Week 1, as both receiver Taiwan Easterling and running back, Chris Thompson averaged over 13 yards per reception.
Defensively, the Seminoles may have problems containing all of the weapons on the Oklahoma roster. The Florida State defense ranked last in the ACC last season when it came to run defense, pass efficiency, and total defense. The team will have to improve on that if they hope to hang with a fired up Sooners offensive unit.
The Sooners are -8.5 for this game on Online Sportbooks and College Football Betting Lines , and the over/under is 38.5 Florida State is 2-5 against the spread in their last seven games with teams that have a winning record. At the same time, the Sooners are 2-5 against the spread in their last seven games and in their last seven non-conference match-ups.
