Landry Jones #12 of the Oklahoma Sooners passes against the Florida State Seminoles at Doak Campbell Stadium on September 17, 2011 in Tallahassee, Florida.
(September 16, 2011 – Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images North America)
(PhatzRadio / USA Today) — TALLAHASSEE — Landry Jones didn’t shred Florida State’s defense the way he did a year ago, but he was sharp enough to become Oklahoma’s career passing leader Saturday night while leading the top-ranked Sooners to a 23-13 victory over the No. 5 Seminoles at Doak Campbell Stadium.
Jones’ superlative play trumped that of FSU redshirt freshman Clint Trickett, who brought the Seminoles back from a 13-3 deficit after EJ Manuel went out with a bruised shoulder in the third quarter.
Jones completed 30 of 40 passes for 380 yards and four touchdowns in a 47-17 blowout last year in Norman, Okla. He was 18-of-27 for 199 yards and one touchdown Saturday and passed Sam Bradford as OU’s top quarterback with 8,490 yards. Jones completed a 37-yard TD pass to Kenny Stills with seven minutes left to deliver the winning points.
BOX SCORE: Oklahoma, 23 Florida State 13
VIDEO: Highlights from Oklahoma vs. Florida State
PHOTOS: Images from Week 3
Florida State (2-1) had not allowed a point in the first half of its two previous games but saw that streak end on Oklahoma’s methodical opening drive. The Sooners (2-0) marched 80 yards in 15 plays and scored on Jones’ one-yard sneak.
“Landry had it in the fourth quarter when we needed it,” said OU coach Bob Stoops. “He stepped up.”
Seminole quarterback EJ Manuel had run only 10 times for 30 yards this season but almost matched that on his first carry against OU, gaining 26 yards on an option draw that set up Dustin Hopkins’ 53-yard field goal. Manuel finished the half with seven carries for 54-yards on the ground.
The Sooners had given Jones solid protection until Lamarcus Joyner’s pressure forced a pass that Nigel Bradham picked off late in the first quarter. But FSU’s hopes for a go-ahead touchdown vanished when Kenny Shaw caught, and then dropped Manuel’s 23-yard pass to the goal line after being caught in the middle of ferocious hits from Javon Harris and Tom Wort.
Shaw lay motionless for several minutes, but was conscious when he was eventually taken off the field by stretcher and sent to a local hospital for x-rays. He returned to the sidelines in the fourth quarter.FSU’s drive ended when Wort intercepted Manuel’s lob pass in the flat.
Back-to-back completions by Jones led to Jimmy Stevens’ 21-yard field goal with 4:32 left in the half. Manuel had the Seminoles moving until a miscommunication on a pass over the middle led to a Harris interception he returned 69 yards to the FSU 3-yard line. A holding penalty pushed the Sooners back and Stevens made it 13-3 at the break with a 29-yard field goal as time ran out.
Manuel completed four passes and ran for a first down in the third quarter but went to the locker room to have his left shoulder examined with 5:06 left. Trickett, who had completed 7-of-8 passes for three touchdowns this season, came on and led the Seminoles to a 46-yard field from Hopkins to make it 13-6 heading into the final quarter.
Shawn Powell’s 69-yard punt along with a penalty pushed Oklahoma back to its 2-yard line with 12:57 to play as Manuel returned to the sidelines. But Trickett was still at quarterback when FSU took over at its own 38-yard line following the Sooner’s punt. After a penalty and a sack left the Seminoles with 3rd-and-28, Trickett found Rashad Greene down the left sideline for a 56-yard scoring pass that scored the game.
“I didn’t feel nervous at all before the game but when coach tells you you’re going in, you begin to get a few butterflies,” Trickett said. “But it’s something I’ve been doing my whole life so you can’t be scared of it.”
Jones brought Oklahoma right back, capping an 83-yard drive with his bomb to Stills, who sat out OU’s opening game while serving a suspension for violating team rules.
“I think our team showed a lot of attitude and toughness on that drive,” Jones said.
Trickett’s pass on the ensuing series was tipped and intercepted by Javon Harris on the FSU 46-yard line with 5:34 to play. The Sooners pounded the ball on the ground and put the game away on Stevens’ 31-yard field goal with 2:01 to play.
“To finish the game like we did, I just really want to say how proud I am of the character and poise we showed in the fourth quarter,” Stoops said. ”
Oklahoma leads the series 6-1, and has won the last six, including a 13-2 victory in the 2000 BCS national championship game at the Orange Bowl.
“Our kids competed — they kept us in the game in the end,” said FSU coach Jimbo Fisher. “But it was the things we didn’t do. We had a lot of holding.”
The crowd of 84, 392 was the largest in Doak Campbell Stadium history and the most fans since a 2009 game against South Florida drew 83,524.
Cierre Wood #20 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish rushes past Johnny Adams #5 of the Michigan State Spartans to score a touchdown during the first half September 17, 2011at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.
(September 16, 2011 – Photo by John Gress/Getty Images North America)
Finally; Notre Dame wins against Michigan State 31 – 13
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — No surprises this time for Notre Dame. Just a victory that kept them out of an 0-3 hole and showed they can finish a game when they have a lead.
The Irish used two touchdown runs from Cierre Wood, an electrifying 89-yard kickoff return from freshman George Atkinson III and a key late interception from Robert Blanton to beat No. 15 Michigan State 31-13 Saturday for their first win.
“We wake up every morning and prepare to win,” said Blanton, part of an Irish defense that limited the Spartans to 29 rushing yards and only a field goal in the second half. “We just had to show we could go out and get the job done.”
The Irish also showed they can stop a play off a fake field.
The Spartans (2-1) stunned Notre Dame in overtime a year ago with a game-winning TD pass off a fake field goal and tried to surprise the Irish again after lining up for a field goal near the end of the first half.
Notre Dame (1-2) was ready this time. On fourth-and-goal from the 2, Ethan Johnson broke up a shovel pass attempt and the Irish led 21-10 at the half.
“It just looked like a shovel play up inside,” Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said. “We had some time to talk about it and just remind our guys to be gap conscious and do their jobs. We just did our job on that and obviously came up with a big play.”
Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio took the blame for the play failing.
“Field goal at the end of the half, my call, didn’t work. Three points. But I don’t think that’s why we lost the game,” Dantonio said. “But I’ll take the blame for that.”
Michigan State’s Kirk Cousins, who had 11 straight completions at one juncture of the second half, was 34 of 53 for 329 yards but he was intercepted at the Notre Dame 6 with just under four minutes left by Blanton, who returned it 82 yards to the 12.
The Spartans had just recovered a fumbled punt by Notre Dame’s John Goodman at the Irish 21 and were ready to set the stage for another frantic finish between the rivals. But with the Spartans trailing 28-13 and having a first and goal at the 3, Blanton came up with a juggling interception and then took off on his long return that sealed the win.
“There was a crowd in there and in hindsight, I probably should not have thrown it,” Cousins said.
Notre Dame was coming off a crushing loss at Michigan, giving up 28 fourth-quarter points and a game-winning TD pass with two seconds to go.
Only two previous Notre Dame teams had started a season 0-3 and Kelly didn’t want to be part of that history.
“We stressed all week that you have to make your own luck. And we did,” Kelly said. “Our guys haven’t lacked confidence, they just needed to finish. At halftime, I think I said, ‘Finish, finish, finish,’ more times than I’ve said anything else. Finish the game and find a way to win.”
Michigan State was hurt by its own sloppiness – 12 penalties for 86 yards. Cousins completed 12 of his passes to B.J. Cunningham as the Spartans were forced to go to the air and play catch up.
“I think Notre Dame’s coverage did a nice job of taking the longer stuff away and we didn’t always have time to throw deep. If you are giving us 8-10 yards, we are going to take it,” Cousins said.
“Getting behind early made it harder to execute the running game for us. We will get back on track. We will run the ball better next week. We just came up short. We got to the 5-yard line or closer twice and came away with no points and you can’t expect to win doing that.”
Notre Dame quarterback Tommy Rees overcame a first-half fumble and interception and finished 18 of 26 for 161 yards.
Notre Dame pushed the lead to 28-10 in the third quarter when Rees hit Michael Floyd on a 22-yard pass and then lofted a perfect 26-yarder to TJ Jones for a touchdown. The Irish were penalized on the ensuing kickoff for unsportsmanlike conduct after Jones made a hand signal following his catch.
Cousins came right back after a 42-yard kickoff return by Nick Hill gave the Spartans good field position. His 21-yard pass to Todd Anderson and an 11-yarder to Cunningham gave the Spartans a first down at the Irish 8.
But after the drive stalled, MSU lined up for a field goal, only to have their attempt at trickery turned away.
After Notre Dame took an early 7-0 lead on a Wood TD run, the teams traded turnovers twice.
Rees took a hard blindside hit from Kevin Pickelman and fumbled with MSU’s Jerel Worthy recovering. But just moments later, Notre Dame freshman defensive end Aaron Lynch drove into Cousins from behind, forcing a fumble and Johnson recovered for the Irish. But three plays later Rees’ pass was picked off by Kurtis Drummond and returned 34 yards to the Irish 27, setting up Conroy’s 40-yard field goal that made it 7-3. It was Notre Dame’s 12th turnover of the season.
But 12 seconds later, Atkinson – the son of the former NFL star defensive back – took the ensuing kickoff, broke to the sideline and sprinted in for the touchdown. It was Notre Dame’s first kickoff return for a TD by a freshman since Raghib Ismail returned two against Rice in 1988.
“That kickoff return was a huge play for them and I think it kind of deflated us momentarily on the sideline,” MSU linebacker Max Bullough said. “When a team can make plays like that in their own stadium, it is tough to beat them.”
Whether Notre Dame can build on the victory remains to be seen. On this one, the Irish got some validation for their effort.
“We’re 1-2 right now and we’re not happy with it, but it’s great to get a win,” said Johnson, who also recovered a fumble in addition to snuffing the fake field goal. “You have to enjoy the wins and get over the losses.”
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