Mayfield, Oklahoma top Ohio St. in top-5 showdown

Darnold leads USC past Stanford in Pac-12 battle

COLUMBUS, Ohio — After dismantling Ohio State on the road Saturday night, Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield sprinted around the field waving a Sooners flag before stopping to emphatically plant it in the middle of the huge block “O’’ at midfield as his teammates cheered.

Mayfield figured he owed it to the Buckeyes, who beat up the Sooners in Norman last year and then stuck around to embarrass them by singing the Ohio State alma mater on the field. This time, Mayfield flipped the script, looking the part of a Heisman Trophy candidate in leading the No. 5 Sooners to a 31-16 thumping of the sluggish and mistake-prone No. 2 Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium.

“We should have won by more,” Mayfield said.

Ohio State’s title hopes didn’t evaporate, but the Buckeyes (1-1, 1-0 Big Ten) will have to solve myriad offensive mistakes and play much better to get back in the hunt for the College Football Playoff. True freshman J.K. Dobbins again was a bright spot for the Buckeyes, rushing for 72 yards and a touchdown, but quarterback J.T. Barrett couldn’t hit the big passes when he desperately needed them to extend drives. He often resorted to pulling the ball down and taking off himself.

Mayfield threw for 386 yards and three touchdowns in shifting the Sooners into overdrive and piling up the yards in the second half as the Buckeyes’ offense sputtered. Oklahoma (2-0) took its first lead of the game near the end of the third quarter and

ASSOCIATED PRESS OKLAHOMA CORNERBACK JORDAN THOMAS (RIGHT) knocks the ball away from Ohio State receiver Terry McLaurin during the first half of Saturday’s game in Columbus, Ohio.