Seminole offense presents total package

MIAMI (AP) _ To get to the Orange Bowl, top-ranked Oklahoma had to defend the speedy receivers of Texas and Kansas State, as well as the powerful running game of Nebraska. <br><br>Now comes the total package.

Sunday, December 31st 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MIAMI (AP) _ To get to the Orange Bowl, top-ranked Oklahoma had to defend the speedy receivers of Texas and Kansas State, as well as the powerful running game of Nebraska.

Now comes the total package.

In No. 3 Florida State, the Sooners (12-0) face an offense led by Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke, a unit that coach Bob Stoops says is the most balanced and dangerous his team has faced.

``They've got the Heisman Trophy winner at quarterback back there _ excellent player, strong arm, very accurate,'' Stoops said. ``Travis Minor is an excellent running back who's capable of big plays, and you've got big-play receivers on perimeter.''

The job of figuring out how to stop that combination falls to Stoops' brother, Mike, and Brent Venables, who are co-defensive coordinators.

``You've got to play games, you've got to use educated guesses, you've got to try to disguise what you're doing, try to put some confusion in his mind,'' Mike Stoops said Saturday.

``And even if you guess right and want to drop people out of there because you think he's going to pass, you have to stop 'em.''

The Seminoles (11-1) aren't' fancy, just effective. They most often use two backs, which makes it difficult to get to Weinke, who threw for 4,167 yards and 33 touchdowns. If defenses choose to spread out and worry most about the passing game, Florida State will pound away with Minor, who is averaging 5 yards per carry.

The Seminoles will be without All-America receiver Snoop Minnis, who was declared academically ineligible, but they have a number of other receivers available.

``They'll challenge his backup, and his backup will play the game of his life. We have to be prepared for that,'' Mike Stoops said.

Oklahoma's offense, led by Heisman runner-up Josh Heupel, has gotten most of the notice during the first 12-0 season in school history. But the defense has played a major role in that success, particularly in the second half of the year.

After giving up two touchdowns and 167 yards on Nebraska's first two series, Oklahoma held the Cornhuskers to 161 yards and zero points the rest of the day in a 31-14 victory.

Linebacker Torrance Marshall returned an interception 41 yards for the go-ahead score against Texas A&M.

The Sooners scored only 12 points in the final game of the regular season, against Oklahoma State. But the defense allowed just seven points.

In the Big 12 championship game against Kansas State, Oklahoma limited the Wildcats to 239 yards _ 185 below their average.

``I wish I didn't think what I thought, which is they are darned good,'' Bowden said of Oklahoma's defense. ``You know, you get to this ball game here or if you get to the Super Bowl, you'd better be able to play defense.''

The unit is anchored by the linebackers, Marshall and All-American Rocky Calmus. The secondary is young, with just two seniors on the two-deep depth chart, but the group has 19 interceptions.

``Their entire unit plays hard down after down,'' Florida State offensive coordinator Mark Richt said. ``And they probably catch the football as a defense better than anybody I've seen in a long time.''

Much is made of Florida State's speed across the board, but Richt said he hasn't seen many cases of offensive players running away from Oklahoma defenders.

``No one's ever described us as slow,'' Bob Stoops said. ``I like our team speed. I believe we'll match up well that way. It still gets down to competing and making plays once you're out there.''