Mayfield impresses in OU debut
Ex-Lake Travis star sets school passing record in opener.
Yes, it was only Akron, but Baker Mayfield sure looked good in his debut for 19th-ranked Oklahoma.
The former Lake Travis star who left Texas Tech and walked on in Norman broke a school record for passing yards in a season opener, throwing for 388 in the Sooners’ 41-3 stomping of the overmatched Zips. Sam Bradford held that mark (363), putting Mayfield in good company.
Mayfield, operating in OU’s new spread offense, completed 23 of 33 with three touchdowns and no interceptions or fumbles. He also ran for a score.
“It’s pretty exciting for me, but I’ve got to move on,” he told the media. “It could have been better, when you think about the first five drives. We didn’t get any yards. We’ve just got to capitalize and get better.”
Mayfield heated up in the third quarter, going 10 of 12 for 198 yards and two TDs.
Next up: A trip to SEC country to face No. 25 Tennessee.
Hail to the Chief: Didn’t take long for John Chavis to make a difference at Texas A&M. The superb defensive coordinator known as the Chief, who left LSU for A&M in the offseason, and his players completely stifled the high-powered Arizona State offense in a 38-17 win over the 15th-ranked Sun Devils.
A&M, whose defense was routinely torched last year, held ASU to 291 total yards, just 92 rushing, and forced two fumbles in the only matchup all year of teams from the two best divisions in college football. It gave the SEC West bragging rights, of sorts, against the Pac12 South.
Big Ten travails: Big name programs in the Big Ten stumbled badly out of the gate. No. 20 Wisconsin was worked over by No. 3 Alabama 35-17 in Arlington; Penn State was pummeled by, uh, Temple 27-10; and Nebraska lost in Lincoln to BYU 33-28 on a Hail Mary pass by a freshman QB on the last play of the game.
Toss in Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh’s opening-game loss to Utah, and it was a tough week for the league that did so well in last year’s postseason. Northwestern provided the Big Ten’s one shining moment with a 16-6 upset of No. 21 Stanford.
No. 1 Ohio State opens its season Monday night.
Rotten luck: Poor Taysom Hill. The explosive BYU dual-threat quarterback missed most of last season with a broken leg. He returned Saturday and was enjoying a phenomenal game against Nebraska when he fractured a foot that will keep him out for all of 2015. Hill was 21 of 34 for 268 yards passing and ran for 72 yards and two scores before going down. Again.
Boom factor: One reason Auburn is considered a national-title candidate is the arrival of defensive coordinator Will Muschamp. The former Longhorn headcoach-in-waiting knows defense, an area where the Tigers have struggled. The thought was: Combine Muschamp’s stingy defenses with Gus Malzahn’s flashy offenses, and you’ve got a title recipe.
Sizzling debut: Josh Rosen, a five-star quarterback out of Southern California, was one of the top prep recruits in the country in the class of 2015. Rosen picked UCLA, earned the opening-game start and did he ever leave a good first impression.
Rosen, looking like a polished vet, completed 28 of 35 passes for 351 yards, three touchdowns and no picks in a 34-16 win over Virginia.