Top 10 Sooners: Quarterbacks Part One

SI Sooners ranks the top quarterbacks in the history of Oklahoma football.

Author:
Ryan Chapman
Publish date:
Jul 8, 2021 8:00 AM EDT

Every Thursday this summer, SI Sooners ranks the top 10 Oklahoma Sooners at their respective positions. Today: quarterbacks

- - - - -

The quarterback position at Oklahoma is special.

So special in fact that SI Sooners has made an exception.

The Top 10 Sooners list for OU's signal callers will actually be split into two lists, one for the set of quarterbacks in the modern mold (Josh Heupel and later), and one for the more traditional running quarterback at Oklahoma.

Seeing as it is almost impossible to compare what was asked of the two styles of quarterbacks, there is no reason to pit the two lists against each other.

Up first, the top five quarterbacks in the the more modern era, starting in 1999 with Bob Stoops' arrival at Oklahoma.

5. Jason White (1999-2004)

Jason White flashed potential in relief of Nate Hybl in 2001, but a torn ACL cut his season short. Battling with Hybl the following offseason, White narrowly won the starting job before again blowing out his knee. When he finally returned ahead of the 2003 season, he was no longer a dual-threat and as a result the Sooners had to run their offense almost exclusively out of the shotgun due to his limited mobility. Despite his limitations on the ground, White transformed himself into one of the nation’s best pocket passers. Throwing for 3,846 yards and 40 touchdowns in 2003, White won Oklahoma’s fourth Heisman Trophy. The Sooners fell short of their National Championship aspirations, narrowly losing to the LSU Tigers 21-14 in the BCS title game in New Orleans. The next year, White returned and was more efficient with the football. Completing a career-high 65 percent of his passes, White saw a minor downtick of passing yards and passing touchdowns as the Oklahoma offense fed true freshman running back Adrian Peterson. The 2004 Sooners were dominant throughout the entire regular season, but ultimately were embarrassed by the USC Trojans in the National Championship Game. White still finished third in the 2004 Heisman Trophy voting, and he finished his college career as Oklahoma’s all-time leading passer. Unfortunately, White’s injury history prevented him from pursuing an NFL Career.

4. Josh Heupel (1999-2000)

Transferring in to Oklahoma from Snow College, Josh Heupel helped Bob Stoops usher in the next great era of OU football. Helping Stoops convert to the Air Raid offense, Heupel completed 63 percent of his passes in 1999, throwing for 3,850 yards and 33 touchdowns. The next year, Heupel would put together a season that would be remembered for generations of Sooner fans to come. Tossing 20 touchdowns and racking up 3,606 yards, Heupel helped lead the Sooners through “Red October”, where Stoops’ upstart team toppled No. 11 Texas, No. 2 Kansas State and No. 1 Nebraska in consecutive contests. After surviving an upset bid against Oklahoma State in Stillwater and beating Kansas State again in the Big 12 Championship, the Sooners punched their ticket to the BCS National Championship game where they were cast as heavy underdogs against the Florida State Seminoles in the Orange Bowl. Heupel finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting to FSU’s Chris Weinke, but Heupel had the last laugh. Oklahoma outlasted the Seminoles in a defensive struggle, and Heupel delivered Oklahoma’s seventh National Championship. Unable to stick on a roster in the NFL, he quickly returned to Norman to enter the coaching ranks. Working his way up from quarterbacks coach where he played a key role in developing Sam Bradford, Heupel was eventually named co-offensive coordinator under Stoops. After getting dismissed at the end of the 2014 season, Heupel worked his way back through the coaching ranks with stops at Utah State and Missouri as the offensive coordinator before landing the head coaching job at UCF. Heupel parlayed his success with the Knights, and is now entering his first season as the head coach at Tennessee.

3. Sam Bradford (2007-2009)

It is widely believed that Sam Bradford could have gone pro in any number of sports. An accomplished golfer, hockey player and basketball player, the Putnam City North star elected to pursue his football career at Oklahoma. After redshirting, Bradford started the 2007 season on fire. Completing 21-of-23 passes for 363 yards and three touchdowns against North Texas, Bradford set the new program record for passing yards in a half. Guiding OU’s explosive offense, Bradford set an NCAA record with 36 passing touchdowns. In 2008, Bradford would lead the most explosive offense in college football history. Only dropping their yearly battle with Texas in the regular season, Bradford’s Sooners blew out Texas Tech in the famous “Jump Around” Game to catapult Oklahoma to the top of the BCS rankings, earning them the tiebreaker and punching their ticket to the Big 12 Championship Game. After dispatching Missouri, Bradford was named the Heisman Trophy winner, the programs fifth and their second since Bob Stoops’ arrival on campus. After losing the National Championship to Florida, Bradford opted to return in 2009. Unfortunately, in the season opener against BYU, Bradford suffered a separated shoulder. He would suffer the injury again against Texas, and he underwent a season-ending surgery before entering the 2010 NFL Draft. Bradford was taken with the first overall pick by the St. Louis Rams, where he would show immediate promise. He was named the Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2010, but St. Louis’ inability to protect him would lead to a multitude of injuries which would plague his NFL career. Bradford’s last great year would come in 2016 where he led the NFL in completion percentage with the Minnesota Vikings, but he was again injured in 2017 before he could try to replicate his heroics in Minnesota. He retired from the NFL at the conclusion of the 2018 season.

2. Kyler Murray (2017-2018)

Kyler Murray only had one year in the saddle as Oklahoma’s starter, but did he ever make the most of it. Putting off baseball after being drafted No. 9-overall by Oakland Athletics in the 2018 MLB Draft. In 2018, Murray would go on to be just the second quarterback ever to throw for 4,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards alongside Clemson’s Deshaun Watson. After seemingly single handily leading the Sooners on a massive comeback only to fall to the Texas Longhorns on a field goal as time expired, Murray propped up the worst defense in school history, leading the Sooners to their fourth straight Big 12 Championship, avenging the prior loss to the Longhorns. Murray’s performances to keep the Sooners in the Big 12 title hunt saw him surpass Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to secure OU’s seventh Heisman Trophy, making Oklahoma the first school to have quarterbacks win the award in back-to-back years. Murray wasn’t done following in his predecessor’s shoes, as he joined Baker Mayfield as the top overall pick in the NFL Draft, getting selected by the Arizona Cardinals. Murray made the transition to the NFL look easy, winning the offensive rookie of the year in 2019, and the former Sooner was named to the Pro Bowl in 2020.

1. Baker Mayfield (2015-2017)

Baker Mayfield left Oklahoma as one of the most iconic and perhaps the most beloved player in the history of Oklahoma football. A two-time walk on, Mayfield beat out Trevor Knight for the starting spot under new offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley in 2015. Leading the Sooners to a dramatic fourth quarter comeback as OU topped the Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville, the loud and confident quarterback proceeded to set offensive efficiency records galore under Riley’s tutelage. Leading Oklahoma to their first appearance in the College Football Playoff in 2015, Mayfield was able to earn another year of eligibility in 2017 due to his status as a walk on at Texas Tech. He proceeded to deliver one of the most iconic moments in Oklahoma history, planting an OU flag at midfield inside the Horseshoe in Columbus after the Sooners upset the Ohio State Buckeyes 31-16 in Riley’s second game as a head coach. Mayfield’s exploits in 2017 saw him win Oklahoma’s sixth Heisman Trophy, and he did so with the third highest percentage of first-place votes in the history of the award. The Sooners came up short in an instant classic against the Georgia Bulldogs at the Rose Bowl in Mayfield’s final game for Oklahoma, but he was then selected with the No. 1-overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns. Mayfield has provided stability for the Browns for the first time since they’ve returned to Cleveland, and is on the cusp of landing his second contract with the team as Cleveland enters 2021 with AFC Championship aspirations.