LAWRENCE, KAN. -- The race for the Heisman Trophy has become so one-sided, Baker Mayfield’s only competition might have become himself after OU’s 41-3 blowout victory over lowly Kansas Saturday night inside Memorial Stadium.
Mayfield struggled out of the gate thanks to cold temperatures and high winds.
The Heisman front-runner put together an anything but Heisman-like first half against the Jayhawks completing just 7-of-13 passes for 105 yards.
Mayfield did have his moments.
On 4th-and-3 from KU’s 34-yard line, Mayfield scrambled to his right, backed up, bought time, and found a wide-open Rodney Anderson who had carved out space to himself.
Anderson caught the pass and raced 34 yards for a touchdown and gave OU an early 7-0 lead.
After that score, OU’s offense went 3-and-out on the next three offensive possessions, before being given the gift of the football on KU’s 11-yard line thanks to an interception from Emmanuel Beal.
The Sooners went just three plays again, but this time, they were in the endzone with a 14-3 lead.
The offense continued to sputter when they called a timeout to stop the clock with 2:47 left in the half. Lincoln Riley wanted to give his offense one more chance to get back on track.
The Sooners go the ball back at their own 3-yard line. Three plays and an unsportsmanlike penalty call on center Erick Wren and the Sooners were punting the ball right back to the Jayhawks.
But Mayfield and the Sooners got one more chance. With :50 remaining in the half, OU took possession at their own 16-yard line. It took the Sooners just 3 plays, a roughing the quarterback penalty and a holding penalty, both on KU’s Hasan Defense, and 40 seconds for the Sooners to go into the halftime locker room up 21-3.
Mayfield had gotten on track and he didn’t let up after halftime.
A sack and a personal foul on Bobby Evans derailed OU’s first drive out of the locker room, but on the Sooners’ second drive, Mayfield led OU on a 7-play, 82-yard drive that took just 3:08 to put the Sooners up 28-3.
The Heisman front-runner completed 6 straight passes for 81 yards.
But with OU on their way to a blowout win, it happened.
It wasn’t a flag-planting. This wasn’t a pregame ‘forgot who your daddy was’ comment. But it wasn’t much different.
Mayfield reached down and grabbed his crotch, while also shouting toward the KU bench, after he came back to the sideline following his 3-yard touchdown pass to Mark Andrews.
But against Kansas, with so little to talk about in the Heisman race, his crotch grab became a big deal.
“Now right there, that’s inappropriate, uncalled for. And that right there NFL GM’s are gonna see that and they’re going to mark it down saying, ‘that’s not what we want in the National Football League’,” said ESPN play-by-play announcer Dave Pasch.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, it was Baker’s crotch! Right Jameis Winston?
Look, I haven’t seen the game back. I’m still sitting in the Memorial Stadium pressbox hunting and pecking this story to you.
But this was the same broadcast team who ended the 34-yard TD pass to Anderson with the following exclamation point: “And that’s why Baker Mayfield’s gonna win the Heisman.”
Tonight could have been an exclamation point on Mayfield’s Heisman campaign. Instead, we’ve got controversy.
Mayfield, Riley and the University of Oklahoma’s sports information department knew it was bad controversy.
I mean, the have officially launched Baker’s Heisman campaign already.
The crotch grab was addressed by Riley in the postgame before Mayfield had a chance to meet with the media.
“It was a chippy game, and it was chippy from the second that their guys decided they didn’t want to shake our hands at the coin toss. The chipiness started there,” said Riley. “But despite all that, there’s no excuse for it. Baker is a competitive guy and let the emotions get the best of him; but again, a very, very chippy, emoitional game. But again, we can’t have that and he can’t do that.”
“I got caught up in a competitive, chippy game, but what I did tonight was unacceptable,” added Mayfield. “I apologize, it’s disrespectful, it’s not the example I want to set. It’s not the legacy I want to leave at OU. I truly do apologize. “When I think about the kids that are watching, that’s not something I want to do. To the partents out there, I’m sorry, that’s not anything you want your kids to watch or to have as a role model. I really do apologize from the bottom of my heart.”
Look, Baker Mayfield is who he is. Opposing fans hate him. OU fans love him.
Type in ‘Greg McElroy’ into your Twitter search bar and you’ll find dozens and doznes of still photos of McElroy flipping off Auburn fans.
If he was truly clutching his pearls as some have made it out to be, well, he can unclench now.
No one is surprised Baker Mayfield would do something like this in a game. Mayfield is cocky, he’s brash, he’s polarizing.
To paraphrase what Pasch said on the Sooners’ first touchdown of the night: That’s also why Baker Mayfield is going to win the Heisman Trophy.
You get what you get with Mayfield, who is a lot like football in this day and age.
Neither is for the faint of heart.
