Year-by-Year: 1981

Wishbone Watts Airs Out Florida State

Oklahoma     18
Florida State 17

Oklahoma wishbone quarterback J.C. Watts went to the air in the fourth quarter to defeat Florida State, 18-17, in an exciting finish.

Florida State held a 17-10 lead with 3:19 remaining and Watts, who had fumbled four times and lost three, had been stymied by the Seminoles' number one-ranked defense.

But in the final minutes, he passed for 74 yards on a 78-yard Sooner drive, including a 1-yard touchdown to split end Steve Rhodes at the 1:33 mark. With the Seminoles guessing rush, Watts lofted a two-point conversion pass to tight end Forrest Valora for the lead.

The Seminoles had one last shot to win, but Bill Capece's 62-yard field goal attempt just missed.

Florida State, 10-1 coming into the game, scored first when Ricky Williams culminated a 70-yard drive with a 10-yard run. Oklahoma's Mike Keeling made good on a 53-yard field goal attempt right before the intermission to cut the lead to 7-3.

The Sooners took the second-half kickoff 78 yards, with David Overstreet scoring from the 4. Florida State then evened it up at 10-10 and the end of the third on a 19-yard Capece field goal.

Four minutes into the fourth, a botched Sooner punt snap was recovered in the endzone by All-American cornerback Bobby Butler and the Seminoles had a 17-10 lead.

GAME STATISTICS

                            Oklahoma        FSU

First Downs                  18             23

Rushing Attempts          55             60

Rushing Yards              155           212

Passes Attempted         12             15

Passes Completed          7              11

Had Intercepted            0               0

Passing Yards              128             51

Total Offense               284           263

Punting/Avg.              2/37.0       4/42.5

Fumbles/Lost                7/5           1/0

Penalties/Yards            4/32          5/58    

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Oklahoma          0          3          7          8          18

Florida State      0          7          3          7          17

SCORING SUMMARY

FSU: R. Williams 10 run (Capece kick); OU: Keeling 53 FG; OU: Overstreet 4 run (Keeling kick); FSU:  Capece 19 FG; FSU: Butler fumble recovery (Capece kick); OU: Watts 11 pass to Rhodes (Watts pass to Valora) ... MVPs: J.C. Watts (Oklahoma) and Jarvis Coursey (Florida State)

Oklahoma Head Coach Barry Switzer

Florida State Head Coach Bobby Bowden