Saturday, September 17, 2011 08:00 PM (ET)

Recap: Oklahoma 23, Florida State 13

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 17, 2011

Landry Jones threw a go-ahead touchdown to the newly reinstated Kenny Stills and No. 1 Oklahoma kept its BCS title dreams alive with a hard-fought 23-13 victory over No. 5 Florida State in Tallahassee on Saturday.

Oklahoma (2-0) improved to 14-3 under Bob Stoops after an off week and is on track to reach its first national title game since a 13-2 win over Florida State in the 2001 Orange Bowl.

The Seminoles (2-1), meanwhile, couldn’t pull off the upset and fell to 1-6 all-time against top-ranked teams.

Oklahoma’s defense, bolstered by All-American linebacker Travis Lewis’ early return from a broken toe, forced three turnovers and knocked Florida State quarterback E.J. Manuel (shoulder) out of the game late in the third quarter.

The first matchup between top five teams in Tallahassee in more than a decade drew the largest crowd in school history (84,392) and the game didn’t disappoint.

Florida State tied it at 13 with 9:32 left in the fourth on a sensational 56-yard touchdown pass from backup Clint Trinkett to Rashad Greene on 3rd-and-28.

But Jones responded immediately. The Heisman Trophy candidate lofted a perfectly thrown 37-yard touchdown pass to Stills, who outjumped Greg Reid and tapped his toes in the left corner of the end zone. It was the first action of the season for Stills, who missed the opener as punishment for his DUI arrest in January.

There was a scary moment early in the second quarter when Florida State wide receiver Kenny Shaw left on a stretcher after taking a helmet-to-helmet hit at the goal line. Shaw got sandwiched by a pair of defenders as he leaped for what would have been the go-ahead score. Shaw gave a thumbs up as he was carted off and had movement in all extremities.
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