How Well Did OU Play Against Florida State Last Year?

In a word: awesome.

But, of course, you already knew that. However, there is now a bit of an objective rating that can shed a little light on just how awesome the Oklahoma Sooners played in their 2010 matchup against Florida State. Brian Fremeau of Football Outsiders recently published his list of best game performances of 2010 (offensive, defensive, and overall) using his FEI rating. The 47-17 victory was ranked as the 5th best game performance of any team during the college football season. Bravo, Sooners. Bravo.

What is FEI (Fremeau Efficiency Index)?

It "quantifies the success rate of a team scoring while in possession of the ball and preventing scores while not in possession of the ball over the competitive course of a game." This discounts what occurs in garbage time, and then weights the results based on the quality of the opponent. Basically, it rewards you for playing well against good teams, and poorly against bad teams.

Will This Carry Over Into This Year?

Probably not. Although, it should be noted that both teams were projected to return 18 starters. Therefore, with the exception of a few players, this should be as close to a rematch as you can conceivably get in college football. One thing to note is that in both the FEI ratings, and the S&P ratings (uses play-by-play data), Florida State's defense was ranked no better than 32nd nationally, which possibly held back a team with a Top-10 offense statistically. This could have been due in part to adjustments to a new defensive scheme and a lot of young players. So, expect some improvement on that side of the ball from the Seminoles. The final thing to note is that the Seminoles will be breaking in a new quarterback, as Christian Ponder has moved on to the NFL to become teammates with Adrian Peterson. Likely starter EJ Manuel has some experience (attempted 199 passes), but according to the Tomahawk Nation writeup, he has a 4-9 TD-INT ratio in contested game action. I could be wrong, but I would be surprised to see the Florida State offense performing like the 8th best unit in the country with a new starter at the most critical position on the field.

Hopefully that's a nice little preview to get you a little more excited for the big showdown this September.