It’s amazing how differently 7-6 would feel instead of 6-7. But that’s how important the Cheez-It Bowl will be for the Oklahoma Sooners. A win extends their streak of winning seasons to 23. A loss would break a streak started by Bob Stoops and continued by Lincoln Riley.
Brent Venables is building something, and that something will take some time. Still, closing out an inconsistent season with a win would be huge for the Sooners as they look ahead to 2023.
The Florida State Seminoles finally put together a strong year after back-to-back losing seasons under Mike Norvell. The Seminoles are looking for their first 10-win season since 2016 when Jimbo Fisher was still at the helm.
For a random bowl game, this contest has stakes for both sides. Given the offensive firepower of the two teams, the Cheez-It Bowl has the potential to be one of the better bowl games in 2022. ESPN predicted another one-score loss for Oklahoma in a 44-37 shootout.
Ranking each of the bowl games for CBS Sports, Oklahoma vs. Florida State comes in at No. 11.
Florida State fans wish there was a button they could hit that would start the season over with the Seminoles playing at this level right now. If that happened, the ‘Noles would probably end up winning the ACC and could even sneak into the College Football Playoff because it’s been one of the best teams in the country for over a month. There were close losses to NC State and Clemson in October, then five straight wins to finish the season, most in blowout fashion. QB Jordan Travis has ascended to another level and is one of the most exciting players to watch in the country.
So while there’s a chance this game turns into a blowout, even though Oklahoma is only 6-6, it has an offense capable of scoring in a hurry. This game has the potential to be an exciting shootout if the Sooners are healthy. I understand there’s also a good chance I look like a moron for ranking this game so highly if Bad Oklahoma shows up and Florida State wins by a billion. Whatever happens, at least I feel confident the final score won’t be 13-2. – Tom Fornelli, CBS Sports
With [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] at quarterback, there hasn’t been a “bad Oklahoma.” In the only games where they were blown out, they didn’t have Gabriel at the helm for the entire game. The Sooners averaged 37.1 points per game in the 10 games they had Dillon Gabriel for all four quarters. There’s no reason to suspect the offense won’t be good.
Florida State boasts a good defense, but the Sooners proved they could score on anyone in 2022 when Gabriel navigated the offense. Oklahoma’s question is more about what the defense does against the Seminoles’ offense because they’ve struggled all year to stop good offenses.
This one will be a shootout.
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