In Sooner college football history, don’t forget to thank Texas Tech for one of the dumbest decisions in college football history in not giving Baker Mayfield a scholarship! Big dummies
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- Thread starter PryorFan
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That is just another reason why Texas Tech is.......Texas Tech.
And why wasn't Texas interested in him ?
Letting a home town boy leave Austin to play at OU ? Ouch !
Letting a home town boy leave Austin to play at OU ? Ouch !
I agree that TT should have had enough evidence first hand to warrant a scholarship given, but let's not get too carried away here.... Washington St was one of a handful that offered him a scholarship. In fact, Bob Stoops and company did not extend him one. He came from Westlake the same HS as Gilbert and everyone thought he was nothing but a system QB. Couple that w/ his size and there were others considered better. Huepel had his QB in Trevor Knight. The Bakers were all huge fans of OU and visited Norman many times. The OU coaches knew of Baker etc. Lincoln Riley offered him but Baker wanted to attend a bigger school etc. It's strange how it all comes full circle.
Would Baker have been the player he is today had he gone to another school? He is a great player at OU. Does he develop the same without the coaching, team and circumstances. Imagine if he had gone to a Charlie Strong Texas team. Would he be the Heisman front runner playing for a shot at a National championship or just another good player? I'm thankful we get to see the greatness!
I think the present day thinking of TTech letting Baker go being a dumb decision is funny. Hindsight is always 20/20. If I remember correctly, OU fans weren't exactly thrilled at the thought of a walk-on taking over the reigns of QB a few years ago. Not one single person predicted he would turn out to be the best player in college football in a few years.
Add to that, if Baker had stayed at TTech, then he most likely wouldn't even be close to the player he is today. He wouldn't have had the offensive talent surrounding him that has made him look like a star here at OU.
Mayfield seemingly has become the template for quarterback recruiting at OU as evident by the videos of Tanner Mordecai (class of 2018) and Spencer Rattler (class of 2019). Both are very mobile and are excellent passers.
Austin Kendall is said to have had an incredible redshirt season and while he’s not as mobile as Mayfield, Murray, Mordecai or Rattler, he can use his legs effectively...as Josh Heupel did.
Safe to say the quarterbacking at OU should remain top level after this season.
Austin Kendall is said to have had an incredible redshirt season and while he’s not as mobile as Mayfield, Murray, Mordecai or Rattler, he can use his legs effectively...as Josh Heupel did.
Safe to say the quarterbacking at OU should remain top level after this season.
Oh so true. When Heupel was snubbed for the Heisman, the whole team took offense, as the Heisman is now considered as much a team award as an individual award. And if Baker Mayfield should win it, it will obviously be due in no small part to his supporting cast.
I agree SIL to some degree. But Baker also led this team to several W’s that just any other QB would not have won w/ the same supporting cast
And he'll have his chance to win two more Huge games. It may prove better off that he gets snubbed once again for the H-man trophy (not likely)...
The best defense Baker has played against is Ohio State, ranked #8 in TOT defense. How will he fare against a Georgia team that has allowed the second fewest pass YPG in college football?
Better... The great defenses of the sucsucsuc are due to sorry offenses
Just checked, Rose Bowl tickets are plentiful and available through their designated seller Ticketmaster, though I didn't find any listed below a cool $379 per. seat
Good question of course but that dawg defense hasn't seen the likes of OUr offense, or should I say a consistently unstoppable explosive "force OUr will on you" offense which seems to be peaking and still climbing at this point. I AM FEELING GOOD MAN! Boomer!
I’ve never been to the Rose Bowl but I bet the tickets will be easy to get and cheap on game day at kick off .
I think the difference is Riley!s play calling. He has a knack of calling some great plays at just the right moment. I bet he designs a few plays based on some film sessions
Maybe but according to Jconn (who has his tix), the price more than doubled today shortly after he acquired his...
Well The Dawgs haven’t been relevant in a long while. Perhaps they’re a bit excited and are planning to travel well. Who knows really but that’s a big ass stadium. I still think one can get some tickets priced reasonably.
I understand your point, but it kind of makes it sound like you think he would have been a bum if he stayed/played at a lesser school like Tech. As a True Freshman, he won Big XII Offensive Freshman of the Year, so I think he still would have been a very good player wherever he ended up. His own work ethic,/internal drive and moxie would have gotten him to a pretty good level by itself.
And hindsight has no bearing on the view of Tech making a dumb decision not to offer Baker a scholarship after his his 2013 season. I think any reasonable person would think that earning Big XII Offensive Freshman of the Year earned him a scholarship. Tech indeed made a dumb decision.
As for no one predicting he would become the best player in college football... Of course no one did. That would be bizarre to predict that of anyone. No one predicted that of Sam Bradford, Jason White or Josh Heupel either. However, I do recall a lot of Sooner fans being happy he came to OU if for nothing else, it provided quality, experienced depth at QB and competition that could possibly push Trevor Knight to being the best he could be.
Nah man I don't think he would have been a bum. But I don't think he would have put up even close to the same numbers as he has at OU. The talent he has around him at OU has allowed him to elevate his performance and numbers where TTech would have never allowed.
And ya, OU fans were happy Baker provided some depth behind Trevor. But when he won the starting job as a walk-on, there is plenty of OU fans who looked at it as an example of how badly and Heupel had recruited to the position and developed the QBs. It was looked at as the QB position overall was in bad shape. So ya, to think TTech was one of the dumbest decisions in college football history by letting Baker go is nothing more than using 20/20 hindsight.
Not offering the reigning Big XII Freshman of the Year, who's already on your team, a scholarship is not one of the dumbest decisions in college football history? He had already proven his ability to play at a high level for that school as a True Freshman, and he did his damage from the start of the season, not by getting acclimated to the system and coming in the latter half of the year.
I can't think of a dumber one, and I don't think any "Player X didn't get any offers out of high school" examples compare. High School players are always going to be more of a risk than a guy who has proven he can do it on the major college level.
What Baker accomplished in 2013 at Tech would lead a logical person to believe that he was likely to have a very good career. Much moreso than Trevor Knight's lightning in a bottle game against Alabama. Trevor never looked anything like that in any other game in his career. Baker looked good for most of a season as a True Freshman (Trevor was a redshirt thus more should be expected anyway).
And I knew plenty of OU fans who thought that Baker would have a shot to win the job vs. Trevor (myself included).
As for the talent around Baker, have you forgotten that he was running for his life for most of the 2015 season, or that OU lost all of his proven weapons before this year? I think Baker has made others look good at least as much as others have made him look.
But yes, there was concern over the state of OU's talent and coaching, and it was more widespread than just concern about QB talent and coaching. There were questions about the talent of the entire roster and coaching staff.
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Eh, I think kliff saw the size of Bakes balls and got scared
This.
Per the SI story, there was some bad blood brewing between Baker’s dad & Kliffbury. Bottom line, he didn’t want him on the TT team.
You think it's the dumbest decision in college football history because of what Baker has done since he left TTech, not because he was freshman of the year. Baker didn't even lead the team in QB stats in 2013. Plus they had Mahomes on scholarship to take over after Webb left. Webb was a freshman I think in 2013, and Mahomes was gonna be the QB they signed in the 2014 class. It's not like Mahomes turned out to be a chump. In 2015 he threw for 4600+yards, and in 2016 he threw for over 5000yards!! So what exactly would Baker had done for TTech that Mahomes didn't already do?? THAT'S why it's not the dumbest decision in college football history.
This is not totally fair. Texas Tech at the time had 2-3 QBs that honestly were as good/better, and 2 of those guys are now in the NFL (Mahomes and Webb). Also, please remember that while Mayfield is very good, he benefits from Oklahoma's system and talent in which a lot of QBs - guys who were never a 1st round pick like Mahomes or a 3rd round pick like Webb or anything close - put up huge numbers and won the Big 12. To put it another way ... would Mahomes - who is taller than Mayfield and has a much stronger arm - have kept Oklahoma from being totally outclassed by Clemson 2 years ago? Keep in mind: Mahomes was drafted higher than Watson - who absolutely shredded OU after OU fans spent weeks predicting that Mayfield would outclass him - precisely for his stronger arm.
Texas Tech had a better QB situation than OU did at the time. OU had more talent and a better system than Texas Tech has ever had - except maybe back when Tech still had Spike Dikes and Oklahoma had the likes of Schnellenberger and John Blake and even that's a maybe - to show off Mayfield's talent. Big deal.
Mayfield has put up huge numbers and won the Big 12. When was the last Oklahoma QB to NOT accomplish that? Even converted WR Paul Thompson did that! Let's see Mayfield win a postseason game against a top 5 team - something that no OU QB has done since, well, Josh Heupel to be honest - before claiming that switching him out for the #10 overall draft pick was such a horrible decision.
Texas Tech had a better QB situation than OU did at the time. OU had more talent and a better system than Texas Tech has ever had - except maybe back when Tech still had Spike Dikes and Oklahoma had the likes of Schnellenberger and John Blake and even that's a maybe - to show off Mayfield's talent. Big deal.
Mayfield has put up huge numbers and won the Big 12. When was the last Oklahoma QB to NOT accomplish that? Even converted WR Paul Thompson did that! Let's see Mayfield win a postseason game against a top 5 team - something that no OU QB has done since, well, Josh Heupel to be honest - before claiming that switching him out for the #10 overall draft pick was such a horrible decision.
I remember Baker in the Tech games before he got unexplainably screwed over. He scrambled well and had a gun of an arm. I am certainly very much proud of what he has done as a Sooner. He is a leader plain and simple. Maybe too wound up at times but he can also refocus like best of them.
I will say this, after looking at Mahomes numbers, I will concede that Baker likely would have put up sick numbers if he had stayed at TTech as well. But he likely would NOT have been viewed nationally as the top player in college football like he is at OU. Look at the numbers between Mahomes and Baker the last 2 seasons....
2015
Patrick Mahomes 364/573 4653yds 63.5% 36TDs 15Ints
Baker Mayfield 269/395 3700yds 68.1% 36TDs 7Ints
2016
Patrick Mahomes 388/591 5052yds 65.7% 41TDs 10Ints
Baker Mayfield 254/358 3965yds 71.0% 40TDs 8Ints
Both of those years Baker was a Heisman finalist. Mahomes didn't even crack the top 10 in Heisman voting. Baker became the best player in college football BECAUSE he is playing at OU. Had he stayed at TTech, he wouldn't be viewed remotely close to the same way even if he was to put up the same kinds of numbers.
So the whole ordeal should be viewed MORE like Baker's decision was one of the best decisions in college football, and LESS like TTech making the worst decision in college football history.
2015
Patrick Mahomes 364/573 4653yds 63.5% 36TDs 15Ints
Baker Mayfield 269/395 3700yds 68.1% 36TDs 7Ints
2016
Patrick Mahomes 388/591 5052yds 65.7% 41TDs 10Ints
Baker Mayfield 254/358 3965yds 71.0% 40TDs 8Ints
Both of those years Baker was a Heisman finalist. Mahomes didn't even crack the top 10 in Heisman voting. Baker became the best player in college football BECAUSE he is playing at OU. Had he stayed at TTech, he wouldn't be viewed remotely close to the same way even if he was to put up the same kinds of numbers.
So the whole ordeal should be viewed MORE like Baker's decision was one of the best decisions in college football, and LESS like TTech making the worst decision in college football history.
EVERY QB since Bradford says hello. There is no doubt that Riley’s playcalling has had an effect on Bakers performance. But he has had a complete overhaul of his WRs & RBs & still got things done. The missing ingredient most have missed is the O-Line. It’s the best Oline OU has had in 10 years. Remove the line and Baker is just another scrambling struggling QB. But don’t tell me Bakers efforts, results & leadership is just another QB from TT or Paul Thompson because that is an absolute inaccurate analysis
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