Tsn's Bowl Preview

Sporting News, The, Dec 25, 2000 by Tom Dienhart

Key matchup

OKLAHOMA FRANK ROMERO

Poor Frank Romero. He's young and has loads of potential, but he has yet to see a player of Jamal Reynolds' caliber. Reynolds, the national defensive player of the year, was held without a sack by Miami's Bryant McKinnie and Florida's Mike Pearson. Both of those tackles, though, are future first-round

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FLORIDA STATE DE JAMAL REYNOLDS

NFL picks. Romero will need help from a fullback or tight end to keep Reynolds, who has 15 sacks in the last 13 games, from disrupting Oklahoma's game plan. The Sooners might use a guard or center in drops to help. Oklahoma allowed 17 sacks this season and only 30 in the last two seasons.

Season results

Oklahoma (12-0)                    Highlight game:

vs.   UTEP             W   55-14   Texas A&M. The
vs.   Arkansas State   W   45-7    Sooners trailed, 31-
vs.   Rice             W   42-14   21, in the fourth
vs.   Kansas           W   34-16   quarter at raucous
vs.   Texas            W   63-14   Kyle Field before
at    Kansas State     W   41-31   LB Torrance Marshall
vs.   Nebraska         W   31-14   completed a 14-point
at    Baylor           W   56-7    swing and gave OU
at    Texas A&M        W   35-31   the lead for good
vs.   Texas Tech       W   27-13   with a 41 -yard
at    Oklahoma State   W   12-7    interception return
vs.   Kansas State     W   27-24   for a touchdown.

SEMINOLES

When Florida State has the ball

Florida State's running game

It looked ugly when the season began, then slowly developed into a steady force that balanced the offense. The Seminoles had a string of three consecutive 200-yard rushing games in the last month of the season, which, not coincidentally, is when they made their rise in the computer polls. TB Travis Minor (969 yards, five TDs) gives FSU a steady, durable and deceptively quick back with the moves to break big runs and the power to get tough yards. The middle three of the line--C Jarad Moon and Gs Justin Amman and Montrae Holland--got better as the year progressed, and FSU began to run more consistently between the tackles. So what happens if Minor gets hurt? Nick Maddox, who has bounced back and forth from wide receiver to tailback, and freshman walk-on Greg Jones are the only backups.

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Oklahoma's run defense

The numbers aren't impressive, and the Sooners looked susceptible to big backs late in the season, but the results am all that matter. Oklahoma crowds the line with a simple philosophy: Get more players up front than the offense can block, then let the best linebacker trio in the country make plays. LBs Rocky Calmus, Torrance Marshall and Roger Steffen are fast and physical and have strong cover skills, which will be very important when FSU swings its backs in the flats. The Sooners use many linemen, and their best rotation consists of Es Corey Heinecke and Corey Callens and Ts Bary Holleyman and Ryan Fisher. Don't expect Heinecke and Callens to have much success against Seminoles Ts Brett Williams and Char-ron Dorsey, but FSU's inside three are vulnerable to blitz packages.