Transfer SZN: Oklahoma's Top 10 Transfers of the Last 20 Years: No. 1, Baker Mayfield
The NCAA transfer portal is always open. With 10 transfers over the last two seasons — including five Division I transfers new to the Oklahoma roster in 2021 — OU has made a living off transfers in recent years. Every Tuesday this summer, SI Sooners examines Oklahoma's 10 best transfers of the last 20 years. Today: No. 1, Baker Mayfield
No. 1: The Walk-On
Baker Mayfield and Lincoln Riley
Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
A rare few leave Oklahoma labeled as all-time Sooner greats.
But after transferring to Norman from Texas Tech, Baker Mayfield left campus a bonafide legend.
Walking on for the Red Raiders, Mayfield threw for 2,315 yards and 12 touchdowns in eight games as a freshman. Though an injury cost him his starting job, he still was named the Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year.
After infamously not getting put on scholarship by then-Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury, Mayfield opted to walk on yet again, this time at the school he grew up rooting for, the Oklahoma Sooners.
Mayfield had to sit out the 2014 season, but he took advantage of an offensive coordinator change ahead of the 2015 season.
Being named the starting quarterback for Lincoln Riley’s inaugural OU offense, Mayfield didn’t take long to endear himself to Sooner fans.
In the second game of the season, Mayfield helped Oklahoma erase a 17-point deficit in Knoxville to top the Tennessee Volunteers 31-24 in double overtime.
The offense sputtered for most of the game, but Mayfield engineered two straight touchdown drives in the waning moments of the fourth quarter, and then put up another pair of scores in the overtime periods to help complete the comeback.
Baker Mayfield and Samaje Perine
ADAM LAU / Knoxville
After losing to Texas three games later, Mayfield and Riley found their flow, reeling off victory after victory to send the Sooners to the College Football Playoff for the first time.
Though the Sooners stumbled out of the gate in 2016, Mayfield had cemented himself as not just the leader of the team, but the heart and soul of the program.
Mayfield’s Oklahoma teams fed off his swagger and confidence, and the fanbase fully embraced the underdog who grew up in the shadows of the University of Texas as a dedicated Sooner fan.
OU helped Mayfield win back his final year of eligibility with a Big 12 rule change, and Mayfield geared up to return for his final year of college football in 2017. But before he took the field, the history of the program would again be altered forever. Bob Stoops retired in the offseason ahead of the 2017 season, and his impressive young offensive coordinator who Mayfield had formed a special bond with was named the head coach.
And in 2017, Mayfield helped Riley announce himself to the college football world.
In Riley’s second game as a head coach, Mayfield and the Sooners stunned the Ohio State Buckeyes 31-16 in Columbus, capping the road victory off with Mayfield planting an OU flag at the 50-yard line.
Baker Mayfield after defeating Ohio State
Kyle Robertson / Columbus Dispatch via Wochit
The win was just the beginning, as Mayfield and Riley would go on lead the most efficient offense in college football history.
Completing 70.5 percent of his passes, Mayfield threw for 4,627 yards and 43 touchdowns in 2017, only surrendering six interceptions.
On his way to once again earning a berth into the College Football Playoff, Mayfield won the Heisman Trophy, the sixth Sooner to join the elite fraternity.
In what would become Mayfield’s final game on an Oklahoma sideline, the Heisman Trophy winner fought through flu-like symptoms ahead of the Rose Bowl against Georgia, but the Sooners sprinted out to a hot start. A 31-17 halftime lead wouldn’t be enough, however, as the Bulldogs stormed back to advance to the National Championship Game in double overtime.
Read more Top 10 Transfers:
Though his career ended in heartbreak, Mayfield lives on as one of the most popular players in school history. He finished second in all-time passing yards at Oklahoma, racking up 12,292 yards in his three seasons as a starter. He also finished second in touchdown passes with his career mark of 119 scores falling just four shy of Landry Jones.
At the time of his graduation, he also held the OU career mark for completion percentage (69.84 percent), and now sits in second place after Kyler Murray finished his career by completing 69.85 percent of his passes.
Mayfield was taken with the No. 1-overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns, the fourth Sooner to be taken with the top pick and the first since Sam Bradford in 2010.
