Tramel's ScissorTales: OU football's Michael Turk gets Cheez-It hotel room, NIL deal

Bowl games just got a lot cheesier. 

I know. Hard to fathom how they could be more cheesy than middle-aged men walking around doing nothing in pastel-colored sportscoats, and silly team outings in which players get hypnotized so they can dance like goofballs. 

But it’s happened. Thanks to Cheez-It, which sponsors both Orlando bowl games, including the OU-Florida State Cheez-It Bowl. And Cheez-It is no marketing lightweight. Part of the Kellogg Company of Battle Creek, Michigan, Cheez-It, has produced a Cheez-It room at each of the four team hotels (including Louisiana State and Purdue for the Citrus Bowl), and a designated player for each team was given the gaudy room. 

OU’s beneficiary? All-Big 12 punter Michael Turk, a social-media phenom because of YouTube. They know how to market in Battle Creek. 

The special hotel room is decked out in red and yellow-orange Cheez-It branding. Massive rug. Bedding. Curtains. Wall décor. Lampshades. Alarm clock. Sensory overload. No chance Turk gets any sleep this week. But he won’t be hungry. 

Cheez-It's PR machine says it’s “like waking up inside a Cheez-It box,” which might be true. Depends on how much scent of salt and cheese they spread over the room. 

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Cheez-It is hosting pep rallies Wednesday at Pointe Orlando, and a fan from each of the four Orlando bowl teams will be selected to spend the night in a Cheez-It suite in Camping World Stadium, from which they also will get to watch the game. 

I’d probably rather just get a bag of Cheez-Its for my trouble, but to each his own. 

"I'm thankful that I got it," Turk said after practice Tuesday. "It's a good stay. Everything is cheesy."

Turk's favorite item in the room? 

"I would say the Cheez-It robe," Turk said. "Probably the robe or the alarm clock that says 'I woke up feeling the cheesiest' at 6 a.m. That was fun."

Meanwhile, some Florida State players feigned outrage that receiver Mycah Pittman got the room for the Seminoles. And others had to check it out. 

“I had to go video Mycah,” said quarterback Jordan Travis. “You know he likes to video everything.” 

Seminole offensive coordinator Alex Atkins said Pittman no doubt will produce his own video. “He probably got his own private camera crew in there 24 hours,” Atkins said. 

Cheez-It official knew who they were selecting. 

The four players selected also are set to sign name, image and likeness deals with Cheez-It. It’s marketing at its best. 

“I have not yet got to see it other than the video,” FSU coach Mike Norvell said. “My daughter got to go; she wanted to see it. So Mycah was kind enough to let her see that. She said it's plenty of orange. It's pretty remarkable. I guess dark is still dark at night, but it's a pretty bright room.” 

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Brent Venables, Ted Roof have Florida State history 

Brent Venables has been gameplanning to stop Florida State’s offense in the Cheez-It Bowl. Nothing new there. 

This is the 12^th time in 13 seasons a Venables defense has been pitted against the Seminoles. 

The Sooners played Florida State in 2010 and 2011, Venables’ final two seasons as Bob Stoops’ defensive coordinator at OU. Then Venables spent 10 years as the Clemson defensive coordinator, and his Tigers played the Seminoles every season except the pandemic year of 2020, as both were in the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. 

The Seminoles have gone through three head coaches in that time — Jimbo Fisher, Willie Taggart and now Mike Norvell — so the Florida State systems have changed. But Venables’ defense has been consistent. 

“His defense is going to attack, and they are going to bring pressure all over the field,” said Norvell, whose Seminoles lost 30-20 to Clemson a year ago. “They lead the Big 12 in tackles for loss. They are going to try to create havoc in what they do. There are some similarities.  

“But … this team is unique to itself. And as guys fit into it, they try to play to the skills and talents of the players that they have. So that's been our focus. We know they are going to attack, we know they are going to bring pressure. They do a good job schematically in their plans of attack. So we have to be ready to adapt and adjust throughout the course of the game.” 

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Incredibly, Venables’ defensive coordinator, Ted Roof, has more ACC experience than does Venables. Roof coached at Georgia Tech from 1998-2001, at Duke from 2002-07 (the last four as head coach), back at Georgia Tech from 2013-17 and at Clemson in 2021. 

So Roof has seen Florida State from the highs of Bobby Bowden’s dynasty in the late 1990s and Fisher’s national title in 2013, to the lows of Bowden’s descent and Fisher’s flameout. 

Roof said the 2022 Seminoles are looking more like the Florida State glory teams. 

“You know, they have improved so much this year, so much from last year to this year,” Roof said. “Top 20 in rushing offense, they lead the free world in third-down conversion. Averaging almost 37 points a game, playmakers all over the place and a lot of improvement in the offensive line. So yeah, they look like, play like, what we're used to playing when we played Florida State … from all the years in ACC with Coach Bowden and Jimbo.” 

Florida State offensive coordinator Alex Atkins has had limited exposure to Venables other than last season but knows of Venables’ reputation. Atkins called Venables and Roof “great defensive minds.” 

“Coach Venables has done a good job,” Atkins said. “He been calling defense for a long time. He's going to be prepared and well prepared, and he's going to know what we want to take away. We just got to be on point to make sure we're disciplined and we're not going backwards and making sure we're in the right place.  

“The good thing about Coach Venables is he is multiple. He will present you with multiple looks, but he also knows the vulnerabilities of his defense. He knows what you are going to get. He knows what you are going to try to attack and what you are going to try to leverage. So, those guys play fast and react to it quickly.” 

One of Venables’ strengths is his consistency. In this case, that means Florida State knows more about Venables than Venables knows about Florida State.  

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The List: OU-Florida State series 

OU and Florida State meet Thursday night in the Cheez-It Bowl, and the Sooners and Seminoles have a short, but distinguished, series history. The Cheez-It Bowl is the first matchup that didn’t involve at least one top-10 team. 

Here are the seven OU-FSU games, ranked in terms of drama: 

1. Orange Bowl, 1980 season: The second-ranked Seminoles entered 10-1 with a memorable season – back-to-back wins over then-No. 3 Nebraska and No. 4 Pittsburgh. Florida State also beat Louisiana State and Florida. Alas, a 10-9 loss to Miami kept the Seminoles out of the national championship Sugar Bowl against Georgia. OU entered 10-1, with only a 20-13 loss to Texas keeping the Sooners from being undefeated. Florida State took a 7-3 halftime lead and a 17-10 fourth-quarter lead, the latter on a botched punt snap. But J.C. Watts drove the Sooners 78 yards in the final three minutes, and his 11-yard touchdown pass to Steve Rhoades got OU within a point. Watts and Forrest Valora teamed on a 2-point conversion to produce an 18-17 lead for the Sooners, who then survived a 62-yard field-goal attempt by Bill Capece on the final play of the game. 

2. 2011 season at Tallahassee: The Sooners’ only game ever in the Florida Panhandle was a doozy, played on September 17. No. 10 OU broke a fourth-quarter tie with Landry Jones’ 37-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Stills, and Jimmy Stevens’ dead-duck 31-yard field goal gave the Sooners breathing room for a 23-13 victory over the 17^th-ranked Seminoles. 

3. Orange Bowl, 2000 season: The Sooners won the national championship with a 13-2 victory over the favored Seminoles, who were in the season of an unparalleled, 14-year run. The OU defense dominated, but the offense produced just two field goals until Quentin Griffin capped a short drive with a touchdown run in the fourth quarter. 

4. 1976 season at Norman: Bobby Bowden eventually became a coaching legend at Florida State, but his second Seminole game was a 24-9 loss on Owen Field. This was OU’s second game without the great seniors of 1975 (Joe Washington, Dewey and Lee Roy Selmon, Steve Davis, Tinker Owens, etc.), and the Sooners weren’t quite as dominant. Horace Ivory reeled off second-quarter touchdown runs of 37 and 23 yards to give OU a 17-6 lead, but the Sooners never put away the Seminoles. 

5. 1964 season Gator Bowl: Florida State waxed Gomer Jones’ Sooners 36-19 with a passing frenzy – Steve Tensi completed 23 of 36 passes for 303 yards and five touchdowns, four of them on fourth down. Eventual NFL star Fred Biletnikoff caught 13 passes for 192 yards and four TDs. The Sooners got a 95-yard touchdown pass from Ron Fletcher to Ben Hart, but the Sooners played without four stars. Tackle Ralph Neely, fullback Jim Grisham and halfbacks Lance Rentzel and Wes Skidgel were ruled ineligible the night before the game, having signed undated professional contracts. 

6. 1979 season Orange Bowl: The unbeaten and fifth-ranked Seminoles made their major-bowl debut against No. 4 OU, 10-1, and the Sooners dominated, 24-7. Watts and Billy Sims each ran for more than 100 yards, safety Bud Hebert had three interceptions and the OU defense held FSU to 182 total yards. 

7. 2010 season at Norman: Just as Bobby Bowden 34 years earlier, Jimbo Fisher’s first FSU team made a trip to Owen Field. Those 17^th-ranked Seminoles were tied 7-7 late first quarter, but Jones threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Broyles, and the Sooners scored 27 points in 15:16 of game time to take a 34-7 en route to a 47-17 rout. Jones completed 30 of 40 passes for 380 yards, outdueling eventual first-round draft pick Christian Ponder, who completed 11 of 28 for 113 yards. 

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Mailbag: Austin Stogner 

The return of tight end Austin Stogner to OU – he left the Sooners a year ago for South Carolina but is returning via the transfer portal – outraged at least one Sooner fan. 

Bill: “OK, I know you are going to rake me over the coals about this, but here goes: So Austin Stogner got homesick and wanted to come ‘home’? I realize that times have changed, but somehow I don't feel a bit sorry for his homesickness. If I were in Brent Venables' place, I would have trouble welcoming him back into the fold. Why?  Because he left of his own wishes. I would have to say, ‘Sorry. Your spot has been taken.’ I know several good, young men that wish they had never heard of a place called South Vietnam but they were there, not because they wanted to be, but because Uncle Sam, not themselves, wanted them there. Many of them did, indeed, return, but only in body bags. I have been married to my wife for over 50 years, and worked for the same company for 30 years. I guess I simply think that one's word is his bond. Leads to stability, among other things.”  

Tramel: I told Bill go back and re-read what he wrote, to think about how a kid deciding where to play college football compares to Vietnam. That's an abomination to the people who served in Vietnam. 

I didn’t point out that if he’s been married 50 years, and he worked at the same company for 30 years, there seems to be a 20-year gap. Was it early retirement? Was it a career change? Does word-is-your-bond have some kind of statute of limitations?  

You want to talk religion? This seems like a prodigal son story. 

You want to talk football? Venables needs a tight end. 

You want to talk business? Nobody broke a contract. That’s for the coaches to do. 

There are many things to be upset about on Planet Earth. Austin Stogner returning to OU is not one of them. 

Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.