NFL Draft News & Analysis

Oklahoma-Baylor grades: Mayfield leads the way for Sooners

NORMAN, OK - NOVEMBER 12: Quarterback Baker Mayfield #6 of the Oklahoma Sooners scores in front of safety Orion Stewart #28 of the Baylor Bears November 12, 2016 at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)

Oklahoma Sooners 45, Baylor Bears 24

Here are the top-graded players and biggest storylines from Oklahoma’s 45-24 victory over Baylor.

Oklahoma Sooners

Quarterback grade: Baker Mayfield, 78.9

Mayfield continues big time play and leads Sooners to seventh straight win

Mayfield was extremely efficient in this game, finishing with just six incompletions on 26 attempts (one drop and one throwaway). His deep ball was as good as ever, as he hit on four of six passes for 140 yards and a touchdown on passes more than 20 yards downfield. He really took advantage when Baylor blitzed him (26.7 percent of dropbacks), completing all eight passes for a ridiculous 195 yards (24.4 yards per attempt) and two touchdowns.

mayfield-pressure-chart

Top offensive grades:

HB Joe Mixon, 89.5
QB Baker Mayfield, 78.9
LT Orlando Brown, 78.8
HB Samaje Perine, 77.3
WR Dede Westbrook, 76.9

Two-headed monster rushing attack returns in full force

With Joe Mixon coming back from suspension and Samaje Perine returning from injury, the Sooners rushing attack was at full strength for the first time in a while. Perine looked very good, rushing for 100 yards on 23 carries and forcing two missed tackles along with scoring two touchdowns. But Mixon stole the show yet again, gaining 187 total yards on 19 touches (14 rushes, 5 catches). Mixon forced six missed tackles, and scored this touchdown, which was one of the highlights of the game.

mixon-run

Top defensive grades:

LB Jordan Evans, 90.8
LB Emmanuel Beal, 82.9
DT D.J.Ward, 80.4
DT Jordan Wade, 79.9
DE Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, 79.4

Monster game from Jordan Evans sets the tone for Sooners defense

This wasn’t a perfect game by the Sooners defense, especially when it came to the run game. They allowed 221 rushing yards on 42 carries and a touchdown, missing eight tackles along the way. But it seemed every time Baylor looked to pass, Jordan Evans was getting involved. He had two interceptions and broke up another pass while in coverage, and recorded two sacks and a hit on his only three pass rushes. Evans has had an up-and-down season but this was by far his best game of the year.

Baylor Bears

Quarterback grade: Seth Russell, 49.8; Zach Smith, 62.9

Russell continues to struggle before leaving game with unfortunate injury

Whether he was playing through another injury or not, it’s no secret that Seth Russell had been playing extremely poorly the past two weeks. That trend continued in this game, as he routinely missed throws. But more dangerous than that, he was almost exclusively staring down receivers and forcing throws to them, resulting in two interceptions and another one that was dropped. On passes more than ten yards downfield, he was just 3-for-13 for 57 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He did add 70 yards rushing on 11 carries, including three missed tackles, before suffering a likely season-ending ankle injury.

russell-pass-chart

Top offensive grades:

TE Sam Tecklenburg, 74.8
WR KD Cannon, 74.5
LT Mo Porter, 74.3
LG Ishmael Wilson, 73.6
HB JaMycal Hasty, 71.5

Baylor’s run game bounces back after down week

Last week TCU completely shut down Baylor’s run game, as they recorded season-lows across the board. This week they bounced back, although still not quite to their old level. But overall the Bears averaged 5.3 yards per carry, and did this despite three offensive lineman grading below 40.0 in run blocking. WR Blake Lynch (60.0 rush grade) saw snaps at RB and flashed, gaining 58 yards and forcing two missed tackles on just six carries.

Top defensive grades:

CB Orion Stewart, 82.1
DT Tyrone Hunt, 81.5
DT K.J. Smith, 78.9
LB Aiavion Edwards, 73.6
CB Tion Wright, 70.6

Handful of Bears defenders come up big, but not enough to slow down the Sooners

There are a few defenders to highlight for Baylor, starting with the interior defenders of Tyrone Hunt and K.J. Smith. These two were unblockable up the middle in the run game, each playing 40 run defense snaps and each making six solo run stops. Another who stood out was CB Tion Wright, who shut down the right side of the field for the Bears. He allowed only one catch on just two targets, and that catch was a great one-handed catch by Jeffery Mead.

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