'We can play with anybody': Brent Venables, Sooners to face Florida State in Cheez-It Bowl

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NORMAN — OU might not be the best this season, but the Sooners have the chance to be the cheesiest.

Coming off a 6-6 regular season, their worst since 1998, OU will play in the Cheez-It Bowl against Florida State at 4:30 p.m. Dec. 29 in Orlando, Florida.

Four of the Sooners’ losses came by a combined 16 points.

“Put it all together, we can play with anybody,” Sooners coach Brent Venables said. “This is a game that will challenge us with discipline, physicality, scheme.”

The Sooners are in the bowl for the second time.

OU lost to Clemson in the 2014 game, then known as the Russell Athletic Bowl.

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Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis (13) is congratulated by offensive lineman Maurice Smith (53) after scoring a touchdown in the second quarter against Florida on Nov. 25 in Tallahassee, Fla.
Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis (13) is congratulated by offensive lineman Maurice Smith (53) after scoring a touchdown in the second quarter against Florida on Nov. 25 in Tallahassee, Fla.

Venables was the defensive coordinator for Clemson in that game.

Both programs used that game as a springboard to success.

The Sooners made either a College Football Playoff or a New Year’s Six bowl in each of the next six seasons before missing out on a high-level bowl last year.

The Sooners have won their last six all-time matchups against the Seminoles after dropping the first-ever meeting between the programs in the Gator Bowl following the 1964 season.

Four of the seven previous meetings between the teams have come in bowl games — all in Florida. In addition to that loss in Jacksonville in the first meeting, the Sooners have beaten Florida State three times in the Orange Bowl in Miami.

That includes the 13-2 win that gave the Sooners the 2000 national championship.

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Florida State head coach Mike Norvell walks off the field after a 49-17 win against Louisiana on Nov. 19.
Florida State head coach Mike Norvell walks off the field after a 49-17 win against Louisiana on Nov. 19.

The Seminoles won their first four games of the season before getting three consecutive losses — all to then-ranked opponents — by a combined 18 points.

After that, though, Florida State ripped off five consecutive wins to finish the regular season 9-3.

The Seminoles are in a bowl for the first time since the 2019 season in Mike Norvell’s third season there.

The Sooners are in a bowl for the 24th consecutive season. Only Georgia, who is in a bowl for the 26th consecutive season, has a longer active streak.

This is the first time since the current streak began that the Sooners will have played in back-to-back bowl games outside of the current New Year’s Six, College Football Playoff or Bowl Championship Series games.

Now that the bowl matchup is set, attention turns to who will play for the Sooners.

Several players have already announced their intentions to enter the NFL Draft, among them offensive tackles Anton Harrison and Wanya Morris, running back Eric Gray, and defensive lineman Jalen Redmond.

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OU coach Brent Venables will try to avoid the Sooners' first losing season since 1998.
OU coach Brent Venables will try to avoid the Sooners' first losing season since 1998.

Venables said none of those players would participate in the bowl game.

Several other players, most notably wide receiver Theo Wease and third-string quarterback Nick Evers, have announced their intentions to enter the NCAA transfer portal.

Wide receiver Marvin Mims, tight end Brayden Willis, and cornerback C.J. Coldon were among the players who stated their intentions to play in the bowl after the Sooners’ loss to Texas Tech in the regular-season finale.

Venables said both the lead-up to the bowl and the game itself would be important for the program’s future.

“This is a developmental game,” Venables said. “The way that you improve and get better is by playing.”

Cheez-It Bowl

OU VS. FLORIDA STATE: 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 29, at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla. (ESPN)

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football: Sooners will face Florida State in Cheez-It Bowl