Oklahoma Tops FSU for National Championship

Jan. 3 -- There’s no dispute: The unbeaten and underdog Oklahoma Sooners are the national champions after beating defending champion Florida State 13-2 in the FedEx Orange Bowl in Miami tonight.

No. 1 Oklahoma used a stifling defense and exceptional special teams play to shut down FSU’s explosive, top-ranked offense and the nation’s most prolific passer, Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke.

Weinke, who threw for 4,167 yards in the regular season, was 25-for-52 with 274 yards passing, two interceptions and one fumble tonight. He led an offense that mustered just 301 total yards offensively and appeared dazed and confused without leading receiver Marvin “Snoop” Minnis, who sat out the game after being declared academically ineligible on Dec. 20.

Oklahoma quarterback Josh Heupel, the Heisman Trophy runner-up and Player of the Year, was 25-for-39 for 214 yards passing and had one interception as the Sooners (13-0) completed their perfect season.

With their commanding win, the Sooners silenced both their critics and the controversy over who was entitled to the national championship. No. 2 Miami, which beat Florida Tuesday night in the Nokia Sugar Bowl, believed it should share the national championship if No. 3 Florida State (11-2) had won.

Underdogs Finish on Top

The championship belongs solely to an Oklahoma team that, despite going 12-0 in the regular season, was 10½ point underdogs coming into this game. The Sooners began the season ranked No. 19 in the The Associated Press’ preseason poll but won four straight games over highly ranked teams in October to pave the way to the title game.

With the win, Oklahoma earned its seventh national title — and first in 15 years — and completed a perfect season under second-year coach Bob Stoops, who is credited with reviving a once-thriving program that had skidded in recent years.

Florida State, looking to become the first back-to-back national champion since Nebraska in 1994-95, narrowly averted a shutout when Oklahoma punter Jeff Ferguson wisely fell on the ball in the end zone and took a safety following a bad snap. That play with 55 seconds remaining gave FSU its only points of the game.