Baker Mayfield

Baker Mayfield
Oklahoma Sooners No. 6
Position Quarterback
Class Sophomore
Major Business
Career history
College
High school Lake Travis High School
Personal information
Date of birth April 14, 1995
Place of birth Austin, Texas
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight 209 lb (95 kg)
Career highlights and awards
  • First walk-on true freshman to start a season opener at a BCS school
  • 2011 4A Texas State Championship
  • Big 12 Conference Freshman Offensive Player of the Year (2013)
  • Burlsworth Trophy semi-finalist (2013)
Stats at ESPN.com
Stats at Rivals.com

Baker Mayfield (born April 14, 1995 in Austin, Texas)[1] is an American football quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners. Mayfield is notable for being the first walk-on true freshman to start a season opener at a BCS school.[2] Mayfield transferred from Texas Tech following self-reported scholarship issues and a stated lack of desire to compete for the starting position.[3]

High school

Mayfield was the starting quarterback for Lake Travis High School. While at the position, Mayfield lead Lake Travis to a 25-2 record in two seasons and won the 2011 4A State Championship. He finished his high school career totaling 6,255 passing yards, 67 touchdowns and only 8 interceptions.[1]

College

Shortly before the start of the 2013 season, Mayfield was named to the starting quarterback position following a back injury of projected starter and former Lake Travis quarterback Michael Brewer.[4] Mayfield is believed to be the first walk-on true freshman quarterback to start a season opener at the quarterback position.

In his first start against SMU, Mayfield passed for 413 yards, four touchdowns, and zero interceptions. His 43 completions of 60 attempts broke a school record held by Billy Joe Tolliver, and fell only four completions short of the NCAA Division I single-game record for completions by a freshman.[5][6] For his performance, Mayfield was named Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week - the first freshman Texas Tech quarterback to be named so since current Red Raider head coach Kliff Kingsbury in 1999.[7] The game featured the last four former Lake Travis quarterbacks combined on both teams: Garrett Gilbert, Michael Brewer, Mayfield, and Collin Lagasse.[8]

Following the Red Raiders' second victory over Stephen F. Austin, Mayfield's then 780 season yards and seven touchdowns already exceeded the 755 yards and six TDs accrued by Texas Tech's last true freshman quarterback, Aaron Keesee, in 10 games.[9] After being afflicted by injury and losing the starting job to fellow true freshman Davis Webb, Mayfield finished the season with 2315 yards on 218/340 completions with 12 touchdowns and 9 interceptions.

Mayfield was named one of 10 semifinalists for the Burlsworth Trophy in November. The award is given to the best walk-on player in Division I football.[10]

Mayfield earned Big 12 Conference Freshman Offensive Player of the Year for the 2013 season. Mayfield announced that he would be leaving the program due to a 'miscommunication' with the coaching staff.[3][11] Mayfield enrolled at OU in January 2014, but had not contacted the Sooner coaching staff. Mayfield further elaborated in an interview with ESPN that he sought to transfer due to scholarship issues and a perception that he had earned the starting position and that further competition was not "really fair".[3]

In February 2014, head coach Bob Stoops confirmed that Mayfield would be walking on for the Oklahoma Sooners. Mayfield will not be eligible to play until the 2015 season, and will lose a season of eligibility due to Big 12 Conference transfer rules following an unsuccessful appeal of his transfer restrictions.[12]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Baker Mayfield Profile". Texas Tech University. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  2. ↑ Fenelon, Andy. "Freshman walk-on Baker Mayfield has 5 TDs for Texas Tech". NFL.com. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Trotter, Jake. "Q&A: Former Texas Tech QB Baker Mayfield". ESPN. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  4. ↑ Trotter, Jake. "Source: Tech to start Baker Mayfield". ESPN. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  5. ↑ Dodd, Dennis. "Kingsbury the kingmaker finds another one in head coaching debut". CBS Sports. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  6. ↑ "2011 Football Bowl Subdivision Records" (PDF). NCAA. p. 2. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
  7. ↑ Stevenson, Stefan. "Mayfield earns Big 12 honor, a first for Texas Tech since Kingsbury in ‘99". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  8. ↑ Bromberg, nick. "Texas Tech-SMU matchup features the last four Lake Travis High School quarterbacks". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  9. ↑ "1984 Year Summary". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  10. ↑ "Mayfield named semifinalist for the Burlsworth Trophy". KCBD. Nov 19, 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  11. ↑ Aber, Ryan (11 December 2013). "Big 12 football: OU, OSU place combined eight players on All-Big 12 football team". NewsOK.com. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  12. ↑ Shadid, Trent (February 5, 2014). "Bob Stoops confirms Baker Mayfield's transfer from Texas Tech". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 7 February 2014.