Baker Mayfield Sheds Early Nerves Before Raining Mayhem on Visiting Zips

It was not a pretty beginning for the 85,000-plus Sooner Nation faithful, but once quarterback Baker Mayfield got things going in his Oklahoma debut on a warm Saturday night on the Oklahoma plains, the fans got a good look at the explosive playmaking capability of the new Air Raid offense.

A little more than 1o minutes into the game, all the much-publicized new Sooner offense had managed to deliver was a net three yards of total offense in three possessions and three punt opportunities for true freshman Austin Seibert.

On their fourth possession of the first quarter, OU took advantage of a 15-yard personal foul call against Akron and a 35-yard pass play from Mayfield to senior Durron Neal to move the ball from the Sooner 28-yard line to the Akron 22. Four plays later, Seibert booted a 35-yard field goal with 3:58 to go in the opening quarter, his first as a collegian, to give OU a 3-0 lead that it would not surrender.

Sep 5, 2015; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) runs with the ball against the Akron Zips during the second quarter at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

That was concerning enough to the season-opening crowd at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, but it was almost another full quarter before the Sooners would record their first touchdown of the season for a 10-0 advantage. Oklahoma punched in another score right before the half on a 29-yard touchdown strike from Mayfield to junior-college transfer Dede Westbrook to stretch its lead to 17-0.

Akron’s only score of the night came on a gift from the Sooners. Sterling Shepard fumbled on a punt return right before the half that led to a 26-yard field goal and enabled the Zips to get on the scoreboard.

All was OK in Soonerland in the second half, as the Oklahoma defense dominated and the offense rolled in the final 30 minutes. The Sooners adding another 24 points over the final two quarters while shutting out the visitors from Akron.

Mayfield, who had grown up a Sooner fan despite living in Texas, said during preseason training camp that he didn’t really fight nerves before games. The junior quarterback made eight starts two seasons ago as a freshman walk-on at Texas Tech and led the Red Raiders to a 7-0 start that season.

“You don’t set records here everyday…I was proud he didn’t try to make too much happen, even when we struggled early.” —Lincoln Riley on quarterback Baker Mayfield

His debut as the OU starting quarterback was a little different, though, and Mayfield acknowledged to reporters after the Sooners 41-3 win on Saturday night that he was fighting a few butterflies.

“I had a lot of jitters before the game,” Mayfield said in postgame comments.

It may have taken a while to get his stomach settled and his feet on the ground, but once the new Sooner starting quarterback got his rhythm going, the newly tinkered Oklahoma passing game turned into a full-fledged assault. Mayfield rolled up 388 passing yards, completing 23 of 33 pass attempts and throwing for three touchdowns. The passing total set a new Oklahoma record for a season-opening game, eclipsing the mark of 363 yards set by Sam Bradford in 2007 in his first game as the OU starting quarterback.

New offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley had a lot of positive things to say, despite the sputtering start, in his postgame press conference. “You don’t set records here everyday,” Riley said about the play of Mayfield in his first start as a Sooner. “There have been some good offenses around here. I was happy he settled in. I knew he would be pretty amped, and I was proud he didn’t try to make too much happen, even when we struggled early.

“I thought he, like the rest of the offense, hung in there, and I was proud of the way he finished the game.”

So, all is well that ends well with Mayfield and the new Oklahoma offense. For now, anyway.

One down, with 11 more to go. The first real test of the season looms dead ahead as the Sooners prepare for a major road test with much-improved Tennessee.