Six from 6: Baker Mayfield Left a Mark on Texas

SI Sooners commemorates this week's unveiling of the Oklahoma quarterback's Heisman Trophy statue by picking the top six moments of his OU career.

John E. Hoover | Apr 18, 2022

Oklahoma legend Baker Mayfield gets his Heisman Trophy statue on Saturday at halftime of the Sooners’ annual spring game. SI Sooners commemorates the event by reliving Mayfield’s six most memorable performances during his three seasons as the OU starter.

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No. 6: That Left a Mark

OU 29, Texas 24

Oct. 14, 2017

Cotton Bowl Stadium, Dallas

Oklahoma stormed to a 20-0 lead in the second quarter, but couldn’t have escaped a grand Texas comeback without the confidence, leadership and accuracy of Baker Mayfield.

Just minutes after Texas rallied to its only lead of the afternoon, 24-23, on Sam Ehlinger’s 8-yard touchdown run, Mayfield and the OU offense took over at the Texas 22-yard line.

He threw over the middle to tight end Mark Andrews for 8 yards, and Rodney Anderson ran for 11 yards to the OU 41.

Then, using an adjustment to the Longhorns’ coverage that had been noticed earlier in the game by Cale Gundy, Mayfield dropped back, faked a handoff to Trey Sermon and delivered a perfect strike to the wide open Andrews down the right sideline for the go-ahead touchdown with 6:53 to play.

The Sooners repped the combo route in practice all week, anticipating Texas’ zone coverage.

“I didn’t expect it to come that wide open,” Andrews said. “Great play call.”

Gundy’s adjustment put Andrews in between the Texas zones on a wheel route from the slot position. The short corner passed him off deep, and the deep safety bit first on Mayfield’s fake, then briefly chased Marquise Brown’s deep post before getting turned around. That left Andrews jogging downfield into the shocked Texas end of the stadium.

Mayfield, an Austin native, finished the day with 302 passing yards and two touchdowns.

“The best player in the country,” Texas coach Tom Herman said.

That’s exactly why Mayfield is getting a statue Saturday.

During the week leading up to the game, Mayfield had been given cause to ponder his ultimate impact at OU. Maybe he had considered a statue in Heisman Park. Maybe he hadn’t.

“You think about the OU-Texas game,” he said, “and you can leave a legacy and really leave your mark in games like these.”

Especially if that mark is a wide open Mark Andrews.

Mark Andrews takes off for the go-ahead touchdown.

Mark Andrews, OU-Texas — Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

The Texas end of Cotton Bowl Stadium's worst nightmare.

Baker Mayfield, Mark Andrews — Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Baker Mayfield and Mark Andrews hooked up 112 times for 1,765 yards and 22 touchdowns.

Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione (left) celebrates the Sooners' 2017 win over Texas with quarterback Baker Mayfield. — File Photo: John E. Hoover

AD Joe Castiglione congratulates Baker Mayfield on beating Texas.

Published Apr 18, 2022

JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.