Now Comes the Real Guessing Game

To get to the Orange Bowl, top-ranked Oklahoma had to stop the speedy receivers of Texas and Kansas State, as well as the powerful running game of Nebraska.

In No. 3 Florida State, the Sooners (12-0) face an offense led by Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke, a unit that Oklahoma 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 the 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 [Weinke’s] 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.”