The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Oklahoma claims Big 12 title
Mayfield leads victory after top receiver is injured.
Baker Mayfield passed for 288 yards and three touchdowns, and No. 9 Oklahoma defeated No. 10 Oklahoma State 38-20 Saturday in a matchup that decided the Big 12 champ in Norman, Okla.
The Heisman Trophy candidate performed well throughout, despite finishing the game without top receiver Dede Westbrook, a Biletnikoff Award finalist. Westbrook caught four passes for 111 yards before being knocked out of the game on a crushing hit by safety Jordan Sterns.
Samaje Perine rambled for 239 yards on 37 carries for the Sooners (10-2, 9-0), who won their 10th Big 12 title under coach Bob Stoops.
Afterward, Mayfield wore a pin from the school with both his and Westbrook’s names on it. Mayfield crossed out his own name with a marker to make sure Westbrook wasn’t forgotten.
“Dede is the best player in the country,” Mayfield said. “I still want to hold Dede’s hand all the way to New York.”
Mason Rudolph completed just 11 of 25 passes for 186 yards for OSU (9-3, 7-2).
His top target for the season, James Washington, caught just two passes for 50 yards on eight targets.
It was the second straight time the teams met in the regular-season finale to determine the conference champion. Oklahoma beat the Cowboys 58-23 last season.
(At) No. 16 West Virginia 24, Baylor 21: Skyler Howard threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score, and West Virginia held on for a victory over Baylor in a Big 12 finale.
Justin Crawford rushed for 209 yards to help the Mountaineers (10-2, 7-2) to their first 10-win regular season since 2007. They came from 11 points down in the first half to hand Baylor (6-6, 3-6) its sixth straight loss.
Baylor held the momentum for nearly three quarters in the final regular-season game for acting coach Jim Grobe, but that changed on two plays.
Howard, having one of his worst games of the season, threw to Gary Jennings over the middle and he turned it into a 58-yard scoring play.
After Baylor got the ball back, Marvin Gross stripped quarterback Zach Smith, and Darrien Howard recovered for West Virginia.
Skyler Howard scored on a 1-yard sneak on fourth down for a 24-14 lead.
Temple 34, (at) No. 19 Navy 10: Phillip Walker threw two touchdown passes, Temple’s defense stuffed Navy’s running game, and the Owls claimed their first American Athletic Conference title.
Late Friday
No. 4 Washington 41, No. 8 Colorado 10: Taylor Rapp returned one of his two interceptions for a touchdown, and Myles Gaskin ran for 159 yards to help Washington strengthen its case for a playoff berth with a victory in the Pac-12 Championship game in Santa Clara, Calif.
No. 17 Western Michigan 29, Ohio 23: At Detroit, Robert Spillane intercepted a pass with 51 seconds remaining, and Western Michigan (13-0) held off Ohio (8-5) to win its first Mid-American Conference title since 1988.