When the Cheez-It Bowl kicks off, college football fans should be in for a high-scoring affair. The matchup between the Oklahoma Sooners and Florida State Seminoles on Dec. 29 will serve as an appetizer to the College Football Playoff.
Florida State had a resurgent season, finishing 9-3, and it had a top-20 offense and defense this season. Led by Jordan Travis and Jared Verse, the Seminoles rattled off five straight wins to close the regular season, winning by an average margin of victory of 28.2 points per game.
Oklahoma had a disappointing season. It went 6-6 and 0-4 in one-score games. It was a frustrating 3-6 finish in Big 12 play after starting the year 3-0 with each win coming by 30 or more points. The Sooners’ offense was good enough in several of those losses, but the defense struggled to get stops in losses to Kansas State, Baylor and Texas Tech. Against West Virginia, the defense was good for three quarters, but the offense struggled on a wet day in Morgantown.
Which Oklahoma team will the Florida State Seminoles see in the Cheez-It Bowl? That remains to be seen, especially with players opting out of the bowl game at critical positions.
Nevertheless, the Sooners should have enough offensive firepower to have a shot to finish the season above .500, with Dillon Gabriel and Marvin Mims leading the way. And that’s why this game has been viewed so favorably despite Oklahoma’s struggles in 2022. In College Football News’ bowl rankings for 2022, Pete Fiutak had the Cheez-It bowl as the seventh-best game in this year’s bowl season.
Oklahoma got its win over Oklahoma State, avoided the embarrassment of not going bowling, came really, really close in the three losses in the last four games – it dropped all of them by three points each. It’s a program that seems like it’s ready to get to next year already, but it’s got the offense to make this wild.
On the flip side, all of the great things FSU did over the second half of the year won’t be undone with a loss, but it wouldn’t be a good look considering Mike Norvell is 0-for-bowls in his six-year career before this season.
There should be lots of offense, lots of energy in the stadium, and lots of storylines going into 2023 no matter what. – Pete Fiutak, College Football News
The Sooners’ defense will have a tough task against Jordan Travis, and Oklahoma will start two new offensive tackles for the game after Anton Harrison and Wanya Morris opted out. Tyler Guyton figures to be one of the starters, and then it will come down to Jacob Sexton, Jake Taylor and Aaryn Parks on the other side.
The Sooners’ offensive line will have a difficult challenge trying to slow Jared Verse, who has 7.5 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss on the season.
Oklahoma and Florida State could serve as a springboard for the Sooners to get back into Big 12 title contention in 2023. It will be an intriguing matchup between two proud programs when they kick off in the Cheez-It Bowl.
[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz7cqqgxy50qwt player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]
Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. Let us know your thoughts, and comment on this story below. Join the conversation today. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.