Oklahoma Sooners win national championship

MIAMI (AP) â€” Torrance Marshall and top-ranked Oklahoma made their statement real early. <br><br>``I tried to intimidate from the coin toss,'' the Sooners linebacker said. ``I told Chris Weinke

Thursday, January 4th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MIAMI (AP) â€” Torrance Marshall and top-ranked Oklahoma made their statement real early.

``I tried to intimidate from the coin toss,'' the Sooners linebacker said. ``I told Chris Weinke that he stole my boy's trophy.''

By the end of the Orange Bowl, as Heisman runner-up Josh Heupel stood in the end zone and led the school band in the fight song, all the hardware belonged to Oklahoma.

Marshall earned the MVP award for leading a defense that denied No. 3 Florida State a share of its second straight national title, and the Sooners seized the top prize with a 13-2 win Wednesday night.

Oklahoma (13-0), 10 1/2 -point underdogs against the Seminoles (11-2), also made the issue of a split title a moot point. They were a unanimous No. 1 in The Associated Press media poll and were automatically crowned in the coaches' poll under the Bowl Championship Series format.

``Our players recognize that the history of Oklahoma is winning championships,'' Sooners coach Bob Stoops said. ``We already had six, now we have seven.''

Oklahoma won its first title since 1985, smothering a team that led the nation in total offense and averaged 42 points per game.

The Seminoles wound up at No. 5 â€” the first time since the 1987 season they finished out of the top four spots.

``When I look at it now, I think it should have been Miami and Oklahoma,'' Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden said. ``We didn't look like we belonged here.''

Miami (11-1), which beat Florida a day earlier in the Sugar Bowl, had hoped a win by the Seminoles would give it the AP title.

Instead, Hurricanes coach Butch Davis watched the Sooners win the lowest-scoring Orange Bowl since Penn State beat Missouri 10-3 in 1970.

``Give Oklahoma credit,'' said Davis, whose team finished No. 2. ``To finish 13-0 against a strong schedule and to perform the way they did this evening is highly commendable.''

Only a bad snap over punter Jeff Ferguson's head in the final minute, which resulted in a safety, prevented Oklahoma from handing the Seminoles their first shutout since 1988, a 31-0 loss in the season opener.

``I think we had confidence right from the get-go, right when we found out who we were going to play,'' co-defensive coordinator Brent Venables said. ``We just did a variety of things.''

As expected, the Seminoles came out throwing. And when Heisman winner Weinke hit Atrews Bell for a 35-yard completion on the first play of the game, Florida State fans started shouting, and the Seminoles' band began blaring the school's famous war chant.

It would be the last time all night they would be so loud.

By the time Ontei Jones picked off Weinke's pass in the end zone with 16 seconds left, it was all over and the Sooners' band had struck up several choruses of ``Oklahoma.''

Marshall wound up as the Orange Bowl MVP after making six tackles and coming up with an interception.

``Everybody doubted us all year, but this is a great group of football players here,'' he said.

Weinke finished 25-for-51 and threw two interceptions. Star running back Travis Minor was reduced to 20 yards on 13 carries.

``We couldn't seem to click or get on a roll,'' Weinke said.

The Seminoles were minus their top receiver, All-American Snoop Minnis, who was academically ineligible â€” he could only watch on the sidelines as his team sputtered.

``I was frustrated, Chris was frustrated. They did a good job frustrating all of us,'' Florida State offensive coordinator Mark Richt said.

Last month, Richt took the job as head coach at Georgia. He stayed on with the Seminoles through this game and admitted his attention was diverted.

``I'm sure that's going to be said,'' he said. ``I did the best I could. I wouldn't recommend it to anybody. It's an awful lot to try to get accomplished for one person. I'm sorry that we just didn't finish on a strong note.''

Heupel outplayed Weinke in the matchup of seniors, completing 25 of 39 passes for 214 yards and keeping the Seminoles off balance all evening.

``We don't care what the media or oddsmakers think,'' Heupel said. ``We believe in ourselves.''

Tim Duncan kicked two field goals and Quentin Griffin scored the clinching touchdown on a 10-yard run up the middle with 8:30 to play.

The Seminoles' best chance to score came midway through the second quarter. But as has often happened in their past, the kicking game failed.

Brett Cimorelli missed badly from 30 yards, kicking a knuckleball that sailed wide right â€” of course â€” and the Sooners held their 3-0 lead.

Oklahoma led 6-0 when All-American linebacker Rocky Calmus made a key play, forcing Weinke to fumble near the Seminoles 20 midway through the fourth quarter.

Roy Williams recovered for the Sooners, and they quickly scored a touchdown that made it 13-0.

``Great preparation, great game plan, great DBs,'' Calmus said. ``We just had to get into our comfort zone and relax. We knew it would be a defensive game.''

The Seminoles finished with 301 yards, far below their average of 549.

``We simply could get nothing going offensively,'' Bowden said. ``They did a great job of confusing us defensively.''