Oklahoma's Finest: WR Marvin Mims Wasn't Perfect, but He was Finally Prodigious

Mims went over 1,000 yards for the season in OU's loss at Tech, and he leads all volume receivers nationally by averaging 19.3 yards per catch.

NOTE: Part 2 of a series spotlighting the Sooners' best performances of 2022.

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Marvin Mims finally had the season he’s been wanting.

Mims’ 162 yards receiving on Saturday night in Oklahoma’s loss at Texas Tech put him over 1,000 yards for the 2022 season — 1,006, to be exact — a number that has felt long overdue.

The junior from Frisco, TX, leads the Sooners with 52 receptions this year, a career high. It’s the third year in a row he’s paced the OU receiver corps.

While 52 catches is hardly a huge number — he ranks fourth in the Big 12 for catches (Iowa State’s Xavier Hutchinson ranks first with 107), it’s good progress. For a 4-star prospect who set numerous state receiving records in high school, it probably felt good to catch more than 30 or so passes like he did his first two years. 

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“Just making plays when the opportunity presents itself,” Mims said Saturday night.

Mims also averages 15.2 yards per punt return, a figure that would lead the Big 12 if he had enough returns to qualify statistically.

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Mims had a team-leading 37 receptions for 610 yards as a true freshman and set a Big 12 freshman record with nine touchdown catches. He was supposed to explode in 2021, but his targets were down, and he caught a team-best 32 passes for 705 yards — 22.0 yards per catch — and scored five TDs.

Mims hasn’t had a perfect junior season, committing an uncharacteristic five drops, according to Pro Football Focus. At least three of those could have been touchdowns. PFF ranks Mims 53rd nationally (among wide receivers with at least 50 receptions) with an overall receiving grade of 75.2.

Still, Mims leads the nation (among wideouts with at least 50 catches) with an average of 19.3 yards per catch.

“You know, just playing the game, play by play,” Mims said. “Something happens, you make a mistake on a play, (don’t) get in your head. Just keep going. Keep pushing.”

Mims now has 2,321 career receiving yards, which ranks eighth in school history — just ahead of Malcolm Kelly (2,285) and Dede Westbrook (2,267). His career total for receptions of 121 ranks 17th in OU history, and his touchdown count of 20 ranks 10th.

Mims' career total of 2,321 yards currently ranks No. 8 in school history

Mims’ career average of 19.2 yards per catch is the best in the modern era — better than Ceedee Lamb (19.0), better than Marquise Brown (18.3), better than Westbrook (18.0) — and ranks only behind Keith Jackson (23.7), Tinker Owens (23.1) and Buster Rhymes (22.4) from the wishbone era.

With a good bowl game, the 5-foot-11, 182-pound Mims could move past Brown in receiving yards (2,413) and he could crack the top 10 in career catches and top seven in career TDs.

And he's done it all with three different quarterbacks in three years.

Mims said Saturday he’s not sure yet what his plans are beyond the bowl game — he’s “definitely” playing in the bowl game, he said — but he’ll make a decision soon “maybe before the bowl,” he said.

“Could be could be before then. Could be after then,” he said. “I mean, I've haven’t even started the conversations with family and coaches and all that stuff. So no, I haven't I haven't decided yet.”

Saturday’s effort was his ninth career 100-yard game (that’s tied with Westbrook for sixth in school history), and was one yard of his career high (163) set earlier this year against Kent State.

Mims’ skills were on full display on his jaw-dropping deep ball down the right sideline in the second quarter, when he pinned Dillon Gabriel’s pass against the defender’s back with one hand before securing possession as he went to the ground.

“Terrible release by me,” Mims said. “Dude got arms on me, pushed me pretty wide. So I knew I have to get back into him. And then we talk a lot about jumping through the defender if the ball’s a little underthrown or short or not exactly where it needs to be. So I jumped through him. I got the PI call. But I was still able to make a play on the ball. So it was basically on his back. I was able to grab it with one hand, tuck it in.

“It was like a trap. And it got kind of loose, because I didn't expect it, and I caught it in midair and like, pulled it in.”