Stormin in Norman
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OU Football: Five Reasons Things Have Never Been Better in Norman

By Chip Rouse

Nov 28, 2015; Stillwater, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield celebrates in the crowd with fans following the game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Boone Pickens Stadium. The Sooners defeated the Cowboys 58-23. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 28, 2015; Stillwater, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield celebrates in the crowd with fans following the game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Boone Pickens Stadium. The Sooners defeated the Cowboys 58-23. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dec 31, 2015; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) reacts after a pass against the Clemson Tigers during the first half of the 2015 CFP semifinal at the Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 31, 2015; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) reacts after a pass against the Clemson Tigers during the first half of the 2015 CFP semifinal at the Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /

An All-American at the QB Position

There is little question that to be a championship team you must have a talented leader and performer at the quarterback position. Of all the individual pieces that make up a football team and must come together as one to have success in college football, quarterback is the most critical piece. Without consistent top play at this position, teams rarely, if ever, achieve championship status.

Oklahoma is blessed to have one of the top quarterbacks in the country orchestrating the offense for the 2016 season. Baker Mayfield was the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year last season. He threw for 3,700 yards and was fourth in the country with a completion percentage of 68 percent.

His athleticism also enables him to make plays with his legs when passing plays break down. Although this is a part of his game that the Sooner coaches would like him to be more risk averse with in the future.

It is hard to believe that the Sooner starting quarterback – the same player who finished fourth in the balloting for the 2015 Heisman Trophy – was a walk-on at Texas Tech his freshman season and actually walked on at Oklahoma after transferring to OU after one season at Texas Tech.

Nevertheless, Oklahoma has Mayfield now, and they could have him as the quarterback for two more season, thanks to a Big 12 ruling that granted him an extra year of eligibility because he was not under scholarship when he elected to transfer to OU. Mayfield was forced to sit out his sophomore season in 2014 under the NCAA transfer rule.

As Mayfield goes, so go the Sooners. And that is a very good thing for OU football and Sooner fans for the foreseeable future.

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