OU Football Point After: What You Should Know From Season-Opening Win

Saturday night’s slow-developing Oklahoma blowout of outmanned Akron marked win number 169 in Bob Stoops’ 17 seasons as the Sooners’ head coach and win number one for Baker Mayfield as the OU starting quarterback.

For a while in the Sooners’ 121st football season opener, it appeared the Oklahoma had not solved its quarterback issues that led to a highly disappointing eight-win 2014 season.

The Sooners went three-and-out on their first three possessions of the game, gaining a total of just 18 yards. It was more than 10 minutes before OU picked up its first first down, and the Sooners recorded just two in the entire first quarter and were held to 54 yards of total offense.

Sep 5, 2015; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) passes the ball while being pursued by Akron Zips defensive lineman Jamal Marcus (34) during the first quarter at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

While OU’s new Air Raid offense was having trouble taking off, the Sooner defense was making things even tougher for the Akron offense. The Zips gained just 10 yards total in their first four possessions, and didn’t pick up a first down until the last play of the first quarter on a 42-yard pass play from quarterback Kyle Pohl to Jerome Lane that put the ball at the OU 5-yard line.

The Sooner defense held the Zips out of the end zone, aided by a 5-yard delay-of-game penalty, forcing the visitors to attempt a 21-yard field goal, which missed, bouncing off the left upright.

The score was just 3-0 after the first 15 minutes, and that was the closest Akron would get as the Sooners offense began coming alive in the second stanza.

The Sooners scored twice in the second quarter to take a 17-3 lead at the intermission. OU nearly tripled its offensive output in the second quarter, and continued that momentum over into the second half, adding three more touchdowns and a field goal on 328 yards of total offense while holding the Zips scoreless over the final 30 minutes.

The final score of 41-3 marked the 89th time in Bob Stoops 213 games as OU head coach that the Sooners have reached the 40-point level.

Sep 5, 2015; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners running back Joe Mixon (25) runs the ball against the Akron Zips during the third quarter at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Here some other compelling highlights from the Akron game that you should know:

First-year starting quarterback Baker Mayfield passed for 388 yards in his OU debut. That exceeded Sam Bradford’s record of 363 yards passing in a season opener. Mayfield also became only the fourth Sooner quarterback to throw for more than 300 yard in their first game playing for Oklahoma. Blake Bell (413 yards vs. Tulsa in 2013), Bradford (2007), Jason White (2001) and Josh Heupel (1999) are the others.

Mayfield completed his first pass as an Oklahoma Sooner on the team’s very first possession, firing a 15-yard strike to wide receiver Jarvis Baxter. It was also Baxter’s first reception for OU.

Redshirt freshman Joe Mixon wowed the crowd in his first game as a Sooner, totaling 142 yards rushing and receiving, including a 76-yard touchdown catch on OU’s first play from scrimmage in the third quarter. That was the longest pass play by Oklahoma in over two seasons. Blake Bell and Jalen Saunders connected on a 76 touchdown pass in 2013 in a win over Texas Tech (for whom Baker Mayfield was the starting QB).

Mixon had 115 receiving yards, the most by an OU running back since

Trey Millard

had more than 100 receiving yards against Texas in 2012.

Sep 5, 2015; Norman, OK, USA; Akron Zips quarterback Tra

Ten different Oklahoma receivers caught passes against Akron, including six players who made their first career catch as a Sooner (Mark Andrews, Jarvis Baxter, Daniel Brooks, Jeffrey Mead, Joe Mixon and Dede Westbrook) .

Westbrook’s first of three catches was a one-handed over-the-shoulder grab for a 29-yard touchdown.

True freshman Austin Seibert was two-for-two in field goal tries in the game (a 35-yarder in the first quarter and one from 41 yards in the fourth). Seibert also handled the punting duties, averaging 49.7 yards on six punts. Seibert is the first true freshman in program history to start the season opener as both the placekicker and punter.

The Oklahoma defense kept Akron out of the end zone except for a 26-yard field goal in the second quarter. The Sooners held the Zips to just 226 yards of total offense and just 88 yards passing. This was quite a turnaround from the 276 passing yards per game OU averaged in 2014.

OU produced 539 yards of total offense, the 16th time in school history the Sooners have eclipsed the 500-yard mark in the season opener.

Attendance for the game was reported as 85,370, the largest crowd for a season-opening home game in OU football history. It also was the ninth largest single-game attendance mark in program history. It was the 99th consecutive sellout at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

The Sooners are now 16-1 under Bob Stoops in season openers and 91-8 at home since Stoops became head coach in 1999.

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