Reports last week of Landry Jones’ demise were obviously greatly exaggerated.
All the talk going into No. 10 Oklahoma’s game against No. 17 Florida State was about the Seminoles’ Heisman candidate QB Christian Ponder and Jones’ shaky first game against Utah State.
But by halftime at Owen Field the Sooners had put this one away and by game’s end it was Jones who had easily won this QB duel and quieted any critics who had questioned his future as the Sooner QB.
The Sooners routed the Seminoles 47-17, with Jones completing 30 of 40 passes for 380 yards and 4 touchdowns and a swarming Oklahoma defenses shutting down a touted FSU passing attack. Ponder found himself sitting on the ground more times than the Seminoles moved the chains.
On the other hand, the Sooners got 28 first downs and employed a fast-pace passing attack that the Seminoles defense and their coordinator Mark Stoops never seemed to get a handle on.
“It was like a train running full-speed ahead,” Seminoles cornerback Ochuko Jenije said of the OU offense.
In this one, big brother Bob Stoops got the upper hand early and never let go.
If there was anything unsatisfying about this Oklahoma win for (Bob) Stoops, it was that it came at the expense of his little brother.
“It’s a rotten place to be because I appreciate the way our team played and all that, but you just cannot separate blood,” Bob Stoops said. “I just don’t like it. I knew that coming into the game I didn’t, and I’m positive of it now after the game.”
This was a rematch of the 2001 Orang eBowl/BCS Championship game, but unlike that defensive game, this turned into a blowout early as Oklahoma scored touchdowns on its first four possessions.
“We knew who we were, we knew what we were capable of, and we came out here and showed what we’re capable of today,” Jones said.
Sooner offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson mixed up the play calling effectively. The Sooners got into a rhythm with short, swing passes and screens near the line of scrimmage before striking down the field for scores. Jones completed 14 straight passes at one point, starting at the end of the Sooners’ opening drive and continuing past when he’d pushed the lead to 27-7 with his third touchdown pass.
Ponder’s candidacy for the Heisman Trophy may have ended Saturday. He was 11 for 28 for 113 yards with interceptions on back-to-back throws in the third quarter for Florida State (1-1). He completed less than half of his passes for the first time since the 2008 season.
“It kind of just snowballed and I take a lot of blame for that,” Ponder said. “A lot of mistakes out there today and I put my team in a bad position to not score points. I really think it’s my fault.”
The beginning looked promising for the Seminoles as they had four first downs on their opening possession, but picked up only five more over the next 2 quarters against an Oklahoma secondary that had been burned for 341 yards and a handful of big plays a week earlier in a 31-24 win against Utah State.
“I wasn’t worried about last week,” Bob Stoops said. “I know what we’re capable of when we’re able to play all of our defense, use our blitzes, use our different coverages schemes. And I thought we did them well.
“Christian Ponder’s a great player. To hold him down the way we did, you have to be playing good defense because he’s an excellent player.”
This was the Sooners’ 32nd straight win at Owen Field, extending the nation’s longest home winning streak as a late celebration of Stoops’ 50th birthday earlier in the week.
Stoops said he’d been holding back a chunk of his team’s offensive playbook in Week 1, but not so against his little brother — and with his mother and sisters in attendance.
“We brought it all out tonight,” he said, “and fortunately it worked.”
Jones finished 30 for 40 without an interception. His 321 yards by halftime were the second-most in a half in Oklahoma history, behind only 2008 Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford’s 350 in the first half of a 79-10 blowout against North Texas in the 2007 season opener.
Ryan Broyles caught 12 passes for 125 yards and a score. Tight ends James Hanna and Trent Ratterree had their first career touchdown catches for Oklahoma, and DeMarco Murray added two 1-yard TD runs.
Jermaine Thomas had a 1-yard touchdown run to finish Florida State’s opening drive, but the Seminoles didn’t score again until Dustin Hopkins’ 52-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. Their biggest play of the game came on a E.J. Manuel’s 47-yard touchdown pass to Taiwan Easterling as time expired.
“When you play good football teams and they get hot you have to match them, and you have to match them in all three phases,” said Jimbo Fisher, who suffered his first loss as the Seminoles’ coach after winning his debut last week. ” … We matched them one time on offense and then we got pushed back on field position and didn’t execute.”
The Sooners’ starters stayed in the game until midway through the fourth quarter, coming out only after freshman running back Brennan Clay was carted off the field after he’d caught a 6-yard pass from Jones. He made a gesture with his right arm as he was placed onto a cart to be taken off the field, and Bob Stoops said he was taken to the hospital as a precaution after X-rays taken at the stadium were negative.
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