OU’s Baker Mayfield looks to build on a sensational sophomore season.
NORMAN, Okla. — Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield entered the 2015 season with a question mark hanging over his head. But entering No. 3 Oklahoma’s clash with No. 15 Houston on Saturday at NRG Stadium, he has a target on his back.
Mayfield threw for 3,700 yards and 36 touchdowns a season ago, good enough for a fourth-place finish in the Heisman Trophy voting.
Similar to Greg Ward Jr.’s presence in the Cougars’ offense, Mayfield is at the center of everything the Sooners do. And with a full year as OU’s starter under his belt, Mayfield expects to enter 2016 more confident than ever.
“I think I’m twice the player that I was last year, and I think that the coaches and some of the players around me would agree,” said Mayfield, who never has lacked for confidence. “In the physical aspect, I think I’m making more accurate throws and smarter decisions. At the same time, I’m checking out of plays and putting our team in the best situation to win.”
Excited to face Ward
Mayfield, a junior who went to Lake Travis High School (about three hours from Houston), will have his work cut out for him trying to match Ward’s talent and athletic ability.
“You get excited going up against a player of that caliber,” Mayfield said. “A guy like Greg who’s one of the top QBs in the nation — you always have fun with that, knowing the competition is that high, and that kind of makes you play a little bit harder.”
Mayfield’s stats tell one story, but it was his flair for the dramatic in 2015 — most notably, in a doubleovertime comeback victory at Tennessee in September and his game-clinching, off-balance touchdown pass that beat Baylor in Waco — that propelled him into the national spotlight.
Limiting those types of plays will be a major factor in whether Houston, presently an 11-point underdog, is able to pull off the upset. OU coach Bob Stoops, entering his 18th season in Norman, says his players feed off the energy of Mayfield, who transferred after playing his freshman season at Texas Tech in 2013.
“When they see him making plays, the defensive guys definitely get charged up,” Stoops said. “He creates excitement for everyone.”
The Sooners face arguably college football’s most grueling schedule through the first five weeks. After Houston, OU hosts Louisiana-Monroe before getting Ohio State, TCU on the road, then archrival Texas.
But Mayfield emphatically said his team isn’t overlooking the Cougars.
“Houston beat the crap out of Florida State last year,” Mayfield said. “They won their last game. They went 13-1. They had a better record than us, and they won their bowl game. If anybody in our locker room is looking past them, that’s on them. Because we’ve emphasized the fact that they’re a very good program and they’re going to be ready to play us.”
Help in the backfield
Of course, Mayfield won’t be alone when the Sooners travel about 430 miles south to Houston. He says he’s looking forward to the luxury of leaning on his running game.
Led by junior Samaje Perine, who is just over 1,000 yards from the program’s all-time rushing record, and sophomore Joe Mixon, OU’s tailbacks are as formidable as any in the nation.
“I’m definitely going to lean on that,” Mayfield said. “That’s going to open up a lot of the passing situations, hopefully give us some one-on-one type deals on the outside for our receivers to go make plays.
“I believe we have the best running back room in the country. Why not rely on that and let them pound it out?”
Perhaps the biggest change for the Sooners on Saturday versus one year ago is Mayfield’s comfort level with offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley. The two developed a chemistry that led to 40-plus points in six of the Sooners’ last eight contests in 2015 and the fourth-highest scoring offense in college football.
If the Cougars have a path to victory, disrupting that rhythm and flow figures to play a major part.
“All this time with coach Riley, you can tell he’s now an extension of coach Riley in what he sees and what we’re trying to accomplish and what we’re trying to do,” Stoops said of his QB. “You can tell he’s just so much more comfortable.”