Heisman Trophy frontrunner Baker Mayfield plays his final game at Memorial Stadium on Saturday when Oklahoma hosts West Virginia. But the only player in FBS history to throw for at least 13,500 yards…
Sooners coach Lincoln Riley announced Monday that Mayfield would be stripped of his captaincy for the game and would not start after Mayfield grabbed his crotch at least twice and screamed obscenities at the Kansas sidelines in the third quarter of last week’s 41-3 Oklahoma win in Lawrence.
«It’s not what we want in this program,» Riley said. «And it’s not going to be acceptable here. This program has very high standards. This university has very high standards. And when they’re not met, there has to be consequences. But at the same time, he’s a young person. When I was his age, I made a lot of mistakes, too. I bet everybody in this room did. That’s part of it.»
Kyler Murray, a highly-touted transfer to Texas A&M, will start for the Sooners while West Virginia also starts its backup quarterback, Chris Chugunov, in place of the injured Will Grier.
The Mountaineers come into the contest in a four-way tie for third place in the Big 12 with Texas, Iowa State and Oklahoma State but will be without Grier, who had surgery to repair a broken middle finger on his right (throwing) hand suffered while diving for the pylon in the first quarter of a 28-14 home loss to Texas last Saturday.
Chugunov, who’d thrown 16 passes as a college player before Saturday, completed 14-of-26 attempts for 189 yards and a touchdown in relief of Grier, who finishes the regular season having completed 64.4 percent of his passes for 3,490 yards and 34 touchdowns with 12 interceptions.
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Chugunov has a talented trio of receivers to throw to in David Sills V, who leads the nation with 18 touchdown receptions, junior Gary Jennings (92 catches, 1,016 yards) and senior Ka’Raun White (57 catches, 970 yards, 11 TDs) while the Mountaineers’ defense, which ranks just 102nd in total defense (434.9 yards allowed per game), is led by senior linebacker Al-Rasheed Benton (94 tackles) and safeties Kyzir White and Kenny Robinson, who each have three interceptions.
Look for Mayfield to get a rousing ovation from the Sooner faithful when he makes his first appearance, and for good reason as he leads the nation in completion percentage (70.8), passing efficiency rating (199.3), passing yards per attempt (11.6), passing yard per completion (16.4) and pass plays of 20-plus yards (68).
The running game, which benefits from a big, physical offensive line, is also a good one featuring Rodney Anderson (749 yards, 7 TDs) and Trey Sermon (597 yards, 5 TDs) while wide receivers Marquise Brown (44 catches, 830 yards, 5 TDs) and CeeDee Lamb (36-649-6) and tight end Mark Andrews (47-787-5) lead a deep receiving corps.
Senior defensive end/linebacker Ogbonnia Okoronkwo leads the defense with a Big 12-best 8.0 sacks to go along with 17.0 tackles for loss and three forced fumbles.
1. Oklahoma has won 23 of its last 24 Big 12 games dating back to the 2015 season with the only loss on Oct. 7 to Iowa State, 38-31.
2. The Sooners lead the nation in yards per play (8.3) well ahead of second place UCF (7.6).
3. Mayfield has thrown at least one touchdown pass in a Big 12-record 37 consecutive games.
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