Kansas City Chiefs

If we don’t make a move for some defensive help before tomorrow’s deadline I’m going to be severely disappointed. This is obviously a Super Bowl caliber offense. You gotta go for it while you can.

 

a similar one from The Athletic

Spoiler

Oklahoma visits Texas Tech on Nov. 3, a matchup pitting the Sooners’ explosive offense against the Red Raiders, who allow the lowest completion percentage in the Big 12 and are tied for second in the league in takeaways.

It’s quite a transformation from the last time the Sooners visited Lubbock, on Oct. 22, 2016. That escalated into a shootout between two of college football’s top quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield.

Mahomes and Mayfield set NCAA records for most yards passing and most total yards by opposing players, as did their teams. Mahomes matched the NCAA individual record for passing yards and set the individual record for total yards and plays.

The second half featured 10 consecutive drives for touchdowns. Texas Tech was 20 of 25 on third down.

But the numbers tell only a portion of the story of what was truly a wild night in Lubbock.

“I’m happy we’re playing better ’cause I really couldn’t figure out why we were struggling,” said David Gibbs, Texas Tech’s defensive coordinator since 2015. “It was driving me crazy. We got everybody back (from last year’s defense). I’m just glad they responded the right way. And now you wanna bring up that friggin’ 66-59 game?!”

“That friggin’ game” resonates today for a number of reasons. The seven national records it set still stand. The two quarterbacks in it are now the faces of two NFL franchises. And one day after their alma maters meet this weekend, Mahomes and Mayfield will share the field for the first time since “that friggin’ game” when Mahomes’ Chiefs visit Mayfield’s Browns.

I was the sideline reporter that October night for FOX Sports. Oklahoma was 4-2 and ranked No. 16. Tech was 3-3. It was Baker Mayfield’s first game back in Lubbock since transferring out of Tech after his freshman season as a walk-on quarterback. He had played in eight games for the Red Raiders before being sidelined with a knee injury, but he still won Big 12 freshman offensive player of the year honors.

Though Mayfield’s transfer had turned into a messy exit, he had actually been back to Lubbock a few times before returning there with the Sooners. He told me before the game that he didn’t have any hard feelings toward Red Raiders coach Kliff Kingsbury or any of his old Texas Tech teammates, and that he respected that they supported him when the Big 12 schools voted on whether he’d get an additional year of eligibility. He said, “I know the fans hate me,” and that part he liked. “That’s the kind of rivalry stuff that makes college football special.”

It was a special night in Lubbock. This is how it came about.

Zach Austin, Texas Tech, WR (Baker Mayfield’s high school teammate and best friend): He was staying at my house that weekend (in 2014, the year after he’d left Tech). He got kicked out of a Chimy’s (a restaurant). He was just sitting there eating. He wasn’t doing anything. It was ridiculous. It was a salty fan, I guess. Someone was mad he was just there. He knew that people just didn’t like him. So, it was hard to go places and not get heckled. People shouting things at him, but he’s used to it.

Eric Morris, Texas Tech offensive coordinator 2013-2017 (now head coach at FCS Incarnate Word): We’d recruited him when we got up to Washington State (as Mike Leach’s inside receivers coach in 2012). I watched Baker in the spring, and I called Leach about him. The most impressive thing about Baker was how everyone responded to him. He had total control over everything that was going on. They practice early in the morning at 6. Four or five other college coaches were also out there. Some kids get nervous. He didn’t care that we were out there. He had crazy amounts of energy. Everybody wanted to talk about how short he was. I said, “Mike, his arm is stronger than the guys we’ve offered so far. This guy can rip it. He might only be 6 feet.” Mike was a little leery of it, but I’d just been around Case Keenum and he’s 6-0 at best. That’s why I was so sold, and we offered him.

When we got to Lubbock when Kliff got hired at Tech, we had Davis Webb committed. We didn’t have a spot. I’d gotten to know Baker’s family pretty well. I think he went on a late visit to TCU, but they didn’t offer him. He wanted to go Power 5. “Listen, I know what you can do. Would you be willing to walk on and earn a spot?”

Zach Austin: We’d visited SMU, North Texas, Texas State, and then we went on a visit to Tech. “Let’s do it? Why not? I think we can figure it out.” They seemed to really like us. They treated us like we weren’t just bodies.

Kliff Kingsbury, Texas Tech head coach: Our interaction with Baker has never been anything negative ever. I’ve seen him numerous times since he left. I’ve apologized. We’ve talked through things on my end. It was never some hatred. His father had some things to say, and that’s his prerogative. But as far as he and I’s relationship, there was never any falling out or negativity towards each other. I’d say it was a bit misunderstood.

One of my regrets in my time here was how that played out. Just the communication. Just talking through where I viewed him and what I thought of him, why this was going on. Obviously, he’s the player, I’m the coach. If there was an issue there, that’s on me. I wish I would’ve communicated better with him on where we stood. And when I did, it was too little, too late. The scholarship deal (whether the walk-on would be put on scholarship) — there’s been different views on it. I don’t want to go down that path. I just think letting him know before he made up his mind to transfer, “Hey, there’s a reason you were named the starter. This is what I see in your future. This is how I view you as a player.” Just more open dialogue. By the time we had that conversation, his mind was made up.


Baker Mayfield heard it from Texas Tech fans well before kickoff. (John Weast / Getty Images)
Eric Morris: I was out recruiting when he left. I was in OKC on a home visit with Cameron Batson when he called me. Left the home visit and went back to the hotel and spent the rest of the night on the phone with Baker’s dad and Baker. I never saw him again. He left that night. That part of it bothered me. I’m not really surprised that he left. He had thought he’d won the job and it should’ve been back to him. I was as involved in it as anyone, and I just don’t think anyone was at fault. I don’t blame Kliff for the way he handled it, and I don’t blame Baker for the way he handled it. It’s just one of those weird situations.

Zach Austin: He was pretty distraught. I’d like to think it was a tough decision for him because he was leaving us. His options were pretty limited. I don’t think at the time he was 100 percent confident on what he was gonna do. He took a big risk.

Obo Okoronkwo, Oklahoma defensive end/linebacker, 2013-2017: He transferred to OU my redshirt year. We linked up on Twitter. Nobody else on the team paid attention (to Mayfield’s decision to come to Oklahoma). I was like, “Y’all know Baker Mayfield just transferred here?” Nobody really knew what he was about. I knew. I’d watched him play. The swagger just drips off of him.

Kevin Patrick, Texas Tech defensive line coach, 2016 (now N.C. State’s DL coach): We were driving to the game from the team hotel. We kept seeing Mayfield pictures, saying “F him.” His jersey was on a dummy which was hung from a building. That atmosphere of that game was pretty unbelievable. It reminded me of my old Miami days when the team was pulling up to the stadium. It was like FSU coming into Miami. It was angry. Those fans were ready to go.

I usually go out on the field two to three hours before kickoff. I think as soon as I got on the field, I could hear the chants from the Red Raiders fans. Usually when there are chants from a crowd it can be pretty tough to figure out what they are yelling. Not that night.

FUCK YOU, BA-KER!

FUCK YOU, BA-KER!

Jim Ross, die-hard Sooners fan and pro wrestling legend: One thing you can say about Texas Tech and their fan base, especially the student section, they can make it uncomfortable for anybody that’s not a Tech fan. I wasn’t surprised with the tension and the angst. It was like Baker was a pro wrestling villain coming back that had been on their side and left them or a great tag team where one of them decided to turn on the other. Their whole attitude was, “Hey, Baker. You deserted us, and our new guy is better than you ever were.”

Kliff Kingsbury: It was pretty audible. The chant was something you couldn’t not hear.

Jim Ross: This was downright rude and coarse. There were women and children and grandmas and grandpas there. Are they really saying what I think they’re saying? You’d think they had have been morals and class without using the F-bomb. It was incessant pretty much the whole game.

Mike Stoops, Oklahoma defensive coordinator, 1999-2003, 2012-2018: That was playing right into Baker’s hands.

Dimitri Flowers, OU fullback, 2014-2017: In warm-ups, he was just laughing about it. You knew he was going to shut them up. Baker thrives on the negative energy.

Kingsbury: He’s always looking for a reason to be fired up and to try and shove it up somebody’s rear. I’m sure he was juiced up, and that probably had him even more fired up than he normally is.

Okoronkwo: We were just laughing (about those chants). We’re gonna beat on ’em a little extra harder because of that. He was laser-focused. He’s usually a guy who has fun. He took that one personal. We’re pretty close friends. I knew he was gonna try to kill them. Show them that they messed up and he should still be their quarterback.

Tyler Tettleton, Oklahoma offensive graduate assistant, 2014-2017 (now in the New York Jets personnel department): That chip Baker always has on his shoulder was even bigger that week. You could tell he was pretty fired up to face Kliff and those guys. You could see something in his eyes that night.

Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma offensive coordinator, 2015-2016 (now Oklahoma head coach): I think it helped that we had played them the year before, so it certainly had a different feel in Lubbock. I honestly thought he was just OK with how he’d handled it the year before. I thought he was a little riled up his sophomore year for the game in Norman. And I thought he tried to do too much. I didn’t say much to him on game day. It was more through the week. Have fun. Enjoy the moment and all of that, but we’ve also gotta be poised and act like a junior and a guy that has done this before, not a sophomore.

Give him credit. He found the perfect balance in that game. Part of what makes him great is environments like that. He wants the crowds to chant that. He fed off of it in the right way. He stayed focused and stayed locked in.

Bob Stoops, Oklahoma head coach, 1999-2016: My talk with him was well ahead of the game, on Thursday or Friday. “Don’t make too much of the game being back there. Don’t make this about you and them. Don’t make it a personal deal. You gotta trust our offensive system. Take what is there. Don’t try and do too much. You’ve been too good. Everything has been too positive to change anything just for this game.” I just trusted that he would know how to balance it. I just wanted to remind him of it, don’t let too much of your emotions change the way he’d been playing.

Unlike Mayfield, I don’t think most college football fans outside of the state of Texas knew much about Mahomes going into that night other than perhaps that his father, Pat Sr., had spent about a decade in the major leagues as a pitcher.

B.J. Anderson, Texas A&M offensive line coach, 2012-2014: I brought Pat’s film to Kliff in 2012, in what I think was his junior year at Whitehouse (High School in Whitehouse, Texas). “I need you to evaluate this guy. How hard do I need to chase him?”

Kingsbury: B.J., who recruited East Texas, had brought me the tape. He talked about Pat’s dad and watched his dad play basketball and baseball and was this East Texas legend. “Hey, this kid is starting to light it up,” so I watched him. You could see he was really raw but was athletic and had this huge arm. This was after his junior year. I took this job, and we were looking at QBs, and I fell in love with him and his ability to extend the play. He’s just got the It factor written all over him, and that’s when we went hard after him.


Patrick Mahomes may not have anticipated setting national records when he stepped off the bus at his home stadium, but he had the confidence to know it was possible. (Michael C. Johnson / USA TODAY Sports)
Jake Spavital, Texas A&M offensive coordinator, 2013-2015 (now West Virginia’s offensive coordinator): When I got to Texas A&M, I got there late. There was Kyle Allen and Pat Mahomes (on the QB recruiting board). Mahomes was a freak. So much fun to watch. He was scrawny at the time. Cool family. Great kid. You could tell that there was a growth spurt about to happen. Phenomenal player. You watched him and thought, “Was he a developmental guy?” We had that national brand with Johnny (Manziel). Where do we go with this? Kyle was really good. He could make all of the throws. Very smart kid. Great work ethic. Just a solid kid. There’s so many factors that go into it. He was the No. 1 quarterback recruit in the country. He could bring in some guys. We got Christian Kirk because of Kyle. It helped with a bunch of other guys.

Kingsbury: At Tech, we were the only ones to offer him. When you watched him in high school, he dominated. Mechanics-wise and footwork-wise, he was all over the place, but with him playing all those sports, I thought if you could have him focus just on football with that skill set, that arm strength and size, the sky was the limit. Those different arm angles roaming to his right and to his left, and to still be accurate and have zip on the ball, I’ve never seen anything quite like that.

Patrick Mahomes: (Kingsbury) only had one quarterback (Davis Webb), and he knew I could’ve been drafted high in baseball, but that just showed me how much trust and loyalty he had in me, and that he had bought into me.

Kevin Patrick: When I first got hired at Tech (going into Mahomes’ junior season), I heard he was good, but when you see it live, that’s when it’s “Good God, he’s special.” My first scrimmage in spring, Mahomes rolled out of the pocket on his own. I’m standin’ with Gibby, and Mahomes is running at me to his right towards the sideline. He winked at me right as he threw a (no-look) 40-yard missile across the field into the tightest window. I said to Gibby, “Did that (dude) just wink at me?” Gibby just smirked.

Mahomes: We started doing (those no-look throws) as a joke, but then we saw how it started working and now it’s on its own level. I think a lot of it is from baseball and how I could sling the ball across the diamond. I played shortstop my whole life. I never had my feet under me. I was always making throws across my body. I always have played a lot of basketball and thrown a lot of “no-look” passes, and this is me using all the stuff I’ve grown up doing.

Kingsbury: There’s always that fine line with him where you didn’t want to pull the reins too much because you wanted him to have that mindset because he was so good at it, and it was such a big part of his game. You just wanted him to have that pre-snap plan: “OK, what’s it look like, pre-snap? Do I have my first read? Let me get to my second read, my third read and then let’s get to that mode.” Initially, it was 1-2-3, he’d pause for a second and then he was gonna get out and do his deal. His understanding of our system, getting reps and going through his reads and having a pre-snap plan … he worked hard at it and got better and better at it. We were walking that line a little better.

Back in Lubbock, it wasn’t just the profane chants that were greeting Mayfield and the Sooners. All through the crowd, fans wore “Traitor” T-shirts with the outline of the state of Oklahoma.

Zach Austin: He asked me to get him one. I think he wore one the next week. He loves that mentality. He loves trash talking and, obviously, he likes backing it up. Not a lot of people can do that.

Randi Mahomes, Patrick’s mother: You know how at Tech during certain times of the game everyone throws tortillas? Well, they put the family on the opposite side, so we were sitting right behind the OU bench. Patrick’s brother, (16-year-old) Jackson, threw a tortilla and it hit Baker Mayfield — and he didn’t know it was Patrick Mahomes’ brother. His brother wasn’t throwing it to be mean. He was doing it to be funny. I’ve always said he’s my class clown. Baker picked it up and took a bite out of it. Then Patrick’s brother got thrown out of the game.

Teddy Lehman, Oklahoma linebacker turned radio sideline analyst: At home, he has 85,000 fans in the palm of his hands. And on the road, he has 85,000 in the palm of his hands. Everyone is watching his every move. I’ve never seen anyone like it. Baker has this showman quality. Everyone follows his every move, and it’s gonna be the same in the NFL. I knew he was gonna light ’em up that night. What I didn’t know was that Pat Mahomes was gonna go for 800 yards himself. As a defensive guy, I point at that game as the most miserable 4½ hours of my life.

Eric Morris: I’ll never forget this, Patrick made a check and threw a slant to Jonathan Giles. He fumbled it. We already had three or four first downs. I think the very next play, they hit (Joe) Mixon on a seam route. (It was actually three plays later, and it was Dede Westbrook on a 49-yard post pattern.) They got a leg up on us in the scoring battle. That fumble still haunts me.

Actually, the Mixon touchdown pass on the seam route, where he juked Tech’s safety into oblivion, was the first touchdown of the night and it came only 90 seconds into the first quarter. The Westbrook touchdown pass, OU’s second score, came 3½ minutes into the game.

Jah’Shawn Johnson, Texas Tech safety, 2015-present: On that Mixon touchdown, it was actually the linebacker who was supposed to take him. I tried to collusion him (to slow Mixon down.) He’s an elusive back. He made his move. I didn’t know he was that good out of the backfield.

Morris: They had more weapons than I’d ever seen. The tight end (Mark Andrews) they had, Dede Westbrook and those two running backs. It was pick your poison. Lincoln did a really good job of finding one-on-one matchups. He’s more of an NFL mind in that aspect in how he tries to isolate certain guys.

Jason Reed, Texas Tech recruiting coordinator: They score again and make it 13-0, and it’s like, “Oh, shit.”

Jonathan Giles, Texas Tech wideout, 2015-2016 (now at LSU): I was very hyped. It took me a while to get in a groove and settle down because we knew how big of a game that was. They did a few things that were different on film — they were more of a man coverage team. Besides Oklahoma State, they were one of the only teams in the Big 12 that play man a lot. But in that game, they were playing a lot of Cover 2, Cover 4 and some bend-but-don’t-break stuff, and that kinda threw us off a little bit.

Dennis Simmons, Oklahoma outside receivers coach, 2015-present: On that touchdown pass to Dede, we’d told him in practice, “We’re probably not gonna throw this to you.” But they left him one-on-one, and he just took off. It was like a man among boys. Dede was stupid fast. He understood when to turn on that speed. He’d just gotten healthy from a hamstring problem that had slowed him down early in the season.

Eric Morris: Giles came back and made some big plays for us that night. How many yards receiving did Giles have?

Giles had 167, Keke Coutee, 173, Cameron Batson had 99. Westbrook nine catches for 202. Mixon had 114 receiving and 263 rushing. Pat threw for 734 and ran for 85.

Morris: It was like a video game on an easy setting.

Giles: In the second quarter, I relaxed a bit. Pat came over to me, said, “Keep your head up. I’m gonna come back to you.” He believes in me. It really helped me cool down.

Mason Reed, Texas Tech fullback, 2014-present: All through practice that whole week, the coaches taught us, when they get up on us, we knew not to get down on ourselves. We were confident in Pat and in the offense.

Eric Morris: We had a third-and-long on that next series, Patrick threw a corner route to Cameron Batson that wasn’t part of his reads. That was maybe the best throw I’d seen him make at Texas Tech, and I know that says a lot. He dropped it in the bucket to a 5-7 receiver from the far hash across the field into pretty good coverage. That play is designed to beat zone, not man. But they went man coverage. Usually, we’ll check out of it. (The receiver) is supposed to get the safety out of there. Very few quarterbacks would even attempt that throw in college. We’re on the verge of them jumping on us. After he rips that throw, it’s “OK, here we go.”

Giles: It was like the momentum turned. At home, down 13-0, the fans weren’t really into it. They had the momentum. Once he got that corner route and we moved into their territory, the momentum changed. It helped us realize that we can play with these boys.

Kingsbury: Pat was actually playing with an AC sprain (in his throwing shoulder) the entire season. More limited in practice than we would’ve liked him to be. He had that, and then he broke his left wrist early in that game, too. He had to have surgery before the draft, but we didn’t know he’d broken it in the game. He just said, “Tape it up, and let’s go!” He’s one of the tougher players I’ve ever been around. In his sophomore year in 2015, he had a second-degree MCL sprain against TCU. We put a brace on it, and he stayed in that game. He played in the next game. He could power through some things that not many people can.

Giles: He broke his wrist in that game? I had no idea.

Okoronkwo: He made this one play on a third-and-(12 with 12:35 left in the second from the Tech 23.) He should’ve been sacked by Neville Gallimore, who had chased him to our sideline and had him wrapped up. Neville slid off him like he was on pole and then just launched it like 40 yards downfield to get the first down. Like, come on!

We definitely were getting there, but he’s so good at buying an extra half second and throwing across his body. I still can’t fathom how he was doing it. He’s not like a Kyler Murray, who is quick and small. Mahomes is a legit 6-4, 230, and he’s so slippery. I got a sack on him, but I got there at least three times. Those swipes at his legs — they aren’t doing anything to him. I’ve watched that game 14 times. It was one of my darker moments.


Even when players like Neville Gallimore (90) got Mahomes off balance, it didn’t matter. It might have played to his strengths. (John Weast / Getty Images)
Davis Webb, Texas Tech QB, 2013-2015 (now New York Giants quarterback): We had our game the night before (a 52-49 Cal win against over Oregon), so I got to watch this one with my teammates. I’m a big Pat fan. I’d heard from a few birdies in that facility that Pat was not fully healthy, but on game day he was pretty special. My jaw dropped watching that. (Then-Cal offensive coordinator) Jake (Spavital) and I would watch film of all of Tech’s games on Sundays. It was always fun to see what Coach Kliff had in for each week. I knew Pat was really special from that last game of his freshman year against Baylor. I’d been hurt. He threw for 598 yards that day (in a 48-46 loss), and he’d gotten better from there. You knew he had a big arm and he saw the game different.

Eric Morris: Jarrett Stidham (the nation’s No. 2 QB prospect as a high school senior) was at that Baylor game on a visit and saw Mahomes throw for like 600 yards. He had been committed for a year to Tech, and he decommitted the next day. The sad part is Stidham would be at Tech right now ripping it up.

Late in the second quarter, Tech stopped Oklahoma on downs and took over at its own 20. Mahomes led an eight-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that took just 86 seconds and culminated on what might have been the best catch of the night. Giles dived into the right corner of the end zone and snagged a pass with his fingernails. It gave Tech its first and only lead of the night at 24-23.

Jonathan Giles: I’m running a corner route. I knew he was gonna throw it because that was one of the times they played man, which we expected. The DB was playing inside leverage, so I knew I had him beat going to the corner. When I broke to the corner and saw the ball coming, to be honest, I didn’t think I was gonna be able to get it because of how low and outside it was. I just closed my eyes, dove and stretched my hands out and felt the tip of the ball on my fingertips and squeezed it as hard as I could. The funny thing is, the week of the game, I’d jammed my finger. It was harder to make that catch, but I think, at the same time, maybe you focus more on the ball. One of the trainers had said that week it’d be funny if I made a finger-tip catch, and it ended up happening. So right after that, the trainer came up to me and said, “See, just like we said it was gonna happen.”

There was only (37 seconds) left. We expected them to take a knee and go into the half but, of course, they had Baker Mayfield.

Breiden Fehoko, Texas Tech defensive tackle, 2015-2016 (now at LSU): We thought they weren’t gonna be that aggressive. But they just came out — boom-boom. Baker had launched a 50- or 60-yard pass to Westbrook that took them deep into our territory. Nobody was expecting that. They literally scored in four or five plays.

Actually, it was only two plays later.

Fehoko: See. Yeah. That’s how fast it was. I probably gave myself credit and thought the drive was longer. It was such a momentum killer. For us to take the lead like that and then lose the lead in two plays, it was demoralizing. “They just did that? That easy? In our house?”

Gibbs: At halftime, I told ’em, “Just keep fighting. Just keep fighting.” Back then, I never tried to challenge ’em: “We gotta do this. We gotta do that.” I could’ve done whatever I wanted. It didn’t matter. We were just overmatched. I knew that. My two safeties — neither one of ’em weighed 175 pounds. They’re trying to tackle a friggin’ running back who weighed 240. We couldn’t do it.

Jah’Shawn Johnson: Gibbs told us, “There’s no magic calls. We just have to line up and execute the calls,” which we didn’t do that night.

Okoronkwo: Mike (Stoops) was livid at halftime. It was like we were playing super horrible. We switched our fronts twice, changed up coverages, put guys into different positions.

Jonathan Giles: Patrick told us, “Hey, we’re right where we want to be. Just keep making plays.”

Baker Mayfield to the Associated Press that night: I told some of the guys at halftime, “If you’re scared and you don’t want every drive, then stay in here.”

I thought it was kind of ironic that, before the game, Tech honored Zach Thomas, who was probably the greatest defensive player in school history, for going into the College Football Hall of Fame. I imagined Thomas vomiting somewhere in Jones Stadium if he was still watching this. With a 30-24 halftime score and some bloated stat lines, word about the wild game started to spread on social media.

Justin Dunning, Texas A&M linebacker (high school teammate of Patrick Mahomes): We played Alabama that day, but I’d tore my ACL in fall camp and was back home with my family in Whitehouse. The poise Patrick showed that night in moments of adversity. A lot of Whitehouse guys on Twitter were saying it was just like his (final high school game in the Texas 4A Division II playoffs) against Mesquite Poteet. Dude threw for 600 yards (605 actually). It was almost the exact same score — 65-60. They had (five-star Texas recruit) Malik Jefferson. The most impressive thing is he was pretty much playing the same way in high school. A lot of people in his hometown didn’t think it was gonna translate to college. Same way people didn’t think it would translate to the NFL.

Brett Veach, Kansas City Chiefs general manager: I was watching. I don’t remember where I was, whether I was home or on the road. The one thing that was consistent when you watched Pat was — everyone talks about the arm strength, and that was unquestionable that he had rare arm strength and creativity and instincts. But the one thing you took away from the game is that he had the innate ability to make people around him better. That is a special quality.

Teddy Lehman: The perception over the last decade has been this running joke, that they don’t play defense in the Big 12. That was the narrative. I’m thinking, “Oh, my God! People on ESPN and FOX and all over talk radio are gonna have a field day with this.” It was wide-open touchdown after wide-open touchdown, and at the time who thought we were looking at two future NFL starting QBs?

Tom McConnaughey, Chargers scout (one of four NFL scouts in attendance that night): There were guys I was looking at, especially some defensive backs, and they had a fairly good front. It was like “Wow, this is like flag football out here.” So many missed tackles. I’m an old high school coach and had a couple of years in college, and I wonder why people don’t press good receivers and good passing teams more. When there’s a good thrower and good receivers, you gotta do something to knock off their timing and disrupt whatever rhythm they have. It was frustrating to watch. It’s not what I’d call good football. I don’t think it’s good for college football to see score after score. I can go to an Arena League game and see that.

Billy Johnson, Rams scout (turns out it was actually only three NFL scouts in attendance that night): I was scheduled to attend that game and made it to the parking lot but never went in because of food poisoning. The thing I remember most from that night is never eat oysters in Amarillo, Texas. Wish I could be more of a help because of how magical that night was, but unfortunately for me, it was the complete opposite. It was a valuable lesson as a young scout.

Brady Quinn, FOX Sports analyst (former NFL quarterback): Joe (Davis) and I kinda looked at each other thinking, “There’s no way this game is gonna get more hectic than it was in the first half,” and it did.

Mixon had a 68-yard touchdown run on Oklahoma’s first play of the second half, breaking or evading eight tackles along the way.

Lincoln Riley: It was called back. But to this day, it might be the best run that I’ve ever seen. We ran an outside zone play, and it was dead. He just wiggled his way and then reversed field. He ended up breaking several tackles. You ended up feeling it was just that kind of night where the bad plays and bad calls were working.

Kenny Bell, Texas Tech, director of football operations, 2013-present: We had a three-and-out to start the second half, and that was actually the game. After that, they couldn’t stop us. It was how many straight touchdown drives?

Ten.

Bell (scanning the stat sheet): Look at that. Unbelievable.

Mike Stoops: I thought they were tuned into our press box or something. That was the best display by two quarterbacks I’d ever seen.

Zac Spavital, Texas Tech linebackers coach, 2015-present: I would hear “Punt team up!” over the headset (before a Tech third-down play), and then Pat would complete a 20-yard pass. I think that happened like eight times in a row. This was ridiculous.

Mike Stoops: You could see all these different arm angles with Mahomes. He’s throwing on the run, a lot like Baker. He could read defenses. He knew where your weaknesses were. He’d hit it in windows between the ’backers. We’d rush five or six — you’d play a lot of zones; you’d drop eight on him, and he’d create space and scramble for the first down. He was a tough guy to fool. You’d blitz and two guys would have him, and then he’d throw a dart to somebody — “Oh, come on! You gotta be kidding me!” Guys are just shaking their heads. He picked us apart. There was nothing we could do. We were pretty defenseless.

Tyler Tettleton: It’s like you almost had to be perfect on every single play, on every single drive. He was hitting on all of these phenomenal plays. We were up almost the whole game, and he was putting so much heat on us. It was pretty remarkable.

David Gibbs: I have a deal where we do not watch our offense. We coach our guys. It started when I first got to Tech, when we were even worse. I said, “If we play this bad on defense, why are we not coaching our guys every second of every game? Why can’t we coach ’em?” The only series I watch is if we get the ball first at the half. The rest of it my guys don’t watch.

I had no idea what they were doing. I know they kept making great plays because I kept hearing the crowd. I’m like, “Holy shit.” After the game, I had to go watch it because I ain’t stupid; I’m like, “How in the world did they keep us in it?” I’m just glad I’m out of those years and those quarterbacks are gone.

Jah’Shawn Johnson: I’m probably the worst at listening to adjustments on the sideline. I’m trying to watch Pat.

Jason Reed: The play I remember the most from that night: We had them in like a third-and-5 early in the third quarter. The crowd’s going crazy. OU called a timeout. We felt like we had the perfect blitz call. Gary Moore, this long, really athletic kid, was a stand-up (end) to the boundary and was supposed to peel (back) if the back free releases. But he saw that he was unblocked and kept going. Baker throws it over to Mixon out of the backfield. He sticks one hand out, catches without breaking stride for like 50 and a touchdown.

Gibbs: We had told the kid in the huddle to peel it, and he didn’t take it. At least if he peels it, Baker’s gotta make the right throw. But he didn’t even peel it, and there was nobody covering him. We played man-free. We’re blitzing linebackers inside to make Baker throw it quicker. He did throw it quick. He probably couldn’t have covered him, but Gary Moore was a legit 4.5 guy. Our best athlete. Usually, if you peel it, the QB panics and throws it over their head or scrambles. To Baker’s credit, he made the play. Was it a bad call? Probably. At the end of the day, they were all bad calls that night.

Kevin Patrick: (Moore) stood there like a deer in headlights. “Oh (crap). That’s mine.” That proved to be the difference in the game. Gary is fast enough. He just had to have his eyes on keys. If he goes with Mixon, make the ball bounce off the back of his helmet. But that’s on me. When guys don’t do what they’re supposed to do, that’s on the coach. That was the most haunting play of the game.

Kingsbury: I remember looking at Baker after that. He’s just smiling because he knew he hadn’t put a great ball on him. He was just kinda laughing.

Dimitri Flowers: It was an insane play how easy it was for (Mixon). He made it look effortless. And that’s not an easy play to make. Holy (crap)! He really just did that?

Mixon: I just went on a wheel, Baker threw it out, and I caught the ball with one hand and scored a touchdown.


The combination of Mayfield and Joe Mixon (25), who rushed for 265 yards and two touchdowns, was too much for the Red Raiders to stop. (Michael C. Johnson / USA TODAY Sports)
Gibbs: I’m good friends with Cale Gundy. I GA’ed at OU when Cale was the quarterback. Before that game, Cale told me Mixon’s special, and I believed him. Physically, we couldn’t tackle him. Couldn’t cover him. He made all the plays. Well, him and Baker. And Dede Westbrook.

Kevin Patrick: We had a free safety who was a walk-on. Great kid. I’m watching him come running to our sideline to make the tackle. He’s got the angle on Mixon, but Mixon is a big dude. The play happened 2 yards away from me. It was like a bug on a windshield. I was ready to call the trainers over.

Patrick Mahomes: The play I remember the most is one where I scrambled out to the left. It was second-and-long (it was actually a third-and-16 from the OU 41 with 4:20 remaining in the third quarter and the Red Raiders trailing 44-31), and I threw it into the end zone. It probably should have gotten picked, and my receiver (Jonathan Giles) made a great play and caught a touchdown. I remember coming to the sideline, and Coach Kingsbury, who was actually mad at me, saying, “You can’t just throw it up like that.” I always remember that because you’ve got to know when to take those chances and when not to. I’ll always remember that play.

Jonathan Giles: It was a middle read for me. So if it was two-high (deep safety coverage), take the middle. If it was one-high, I run a dig or an in route. It was two-high, and I’m just running and I look back and see two safeties converging on me. I see one of them stepping to the left, so I roll around to the end zone to get across his face. I thought Pat was gonna throw it away. I knew he was fixing to let it go because he turned his shoulders right at me. He launched. I just fought my way because I knew I had to make that play, and somehow I caught it. I didn’t even know (Kingsbury was mad at Mahomes). I couldn’t hear anything at that point. That stadium was too loud, and my teammates were celebrating with me.

Joe Mixon: Really, (we’re) just scoring a lot of points and expecting the defense to get the ball. It wasn’t happening, so there was some frustration. Sometimes it be like that.

The Mixon catch-and-run gave Oklahoma a 44-31 lead. The defenses couldn’t get a stop on the final seven drives. Tech went 9-of-10 on third downs. The Red Raiders’ defense only got Oklahoma into a third down once more, on a third-and-2, which Mixon, running out of the Wildcat formation, picked up to end the game.

David Gibbs: In my mind, Baker had a better team. I don’t want to speak for the offense because that wouldn’t be fair. Defensively, we don’t have one kid on our roster that could’ve gone to Oklahoma. We still don’t. For our kids to be fighting ’em and doing those things, that’s what college football is all about. They kept fighting. To our offense’s credit — we had some NFL guys over there, they kept battling back and battling back. Never got down. Never got frustrated.

Teddy Lehman: I thought Mahomes was unreal. I’m standing there on the sideline, watching him scramble and fight off sacks, but I was always watching him throw guys open which doesn’t happen in college. He’s not a Texas Tech system QB. Most of those guys are in the pocket, throwing bubble screens and tunnel screens. He’s pushing the ball down the field, using his athleticism in the run game; he’s improvising. He’d roll out to his right, and the guy would stop his route, and Mahomes was throwing it to open areas. That’s high-level stuff. Baker has a great arm and can rip it when he’s on platform. Pat Mahomes can send it on a laser when he’s got guys hanging off of him.


Mahomes was as dangerous with his feet as his arm, rushing for 85 yards and two touchdowns. (Michael C. Johnson / USA TODAY Sports)
Gibbs: I see it every day in practice. My first year here, I had a false perception of him and us because we were always around him: “This play is over.” I didn’t realize until we started playing games and he’s live just how good he was because, yeah, somebody was right there but they still gotta tackle him. Even now in pro football, we’re all witnessing: How many guys actually get him on the ground? Not many. I coached up at that level for nine years. I know the kind of guys that are chasing him and trying to get him on the ground, and he does not panic. He makes plays. It’s just who he is.

Morris: I once talked to his dad about (Patrick) never backing down to pressure and not getting rattled. His dad goes, “You gotta remember he’s literally been on the field playing catch with Alex Rodriguez at Yankee Stadium when he was a little. He thought that was normal. He didn’t know any better.” Him just being around all of that baseball stuff at such a young age. He was good at every sport. I’ve seen him being dominant in basketball. Dunking on people. Throwing 95 on the mound. He just loves to compete.

Randi Mahomes: When me and his dad got married, it was after we had him. He was in the wedding and on stage with the little pillow (as the ring bearer). He yells at my niece who was in the wedding, “Breyden! Catch!” and he threw the little pillow across the stage. That was him just wanting to play at all times. He was about 3. That’s been him from Day 1.

Patrick Mahomes: I think the baseball had me prepared from being the pitcher. I didn’t know I had thrown that many times. I remember one of my buddies who was my roommate my freshman year of college, he came up to me the last drive and was like, “You have 77 pass attempts right now.” I was like, “Man that’s a lot of passes.”

Bob Stoops: I had a conversation with Lincoln part way into the fourth quarter. Lincoln came up to me asked how we should play it. “Do you want me to milk some clock?” I said, “Man, no. Whatever you gotta do, score, because I just don’t trust it. The clock stops on first downs in college ball. That clock doesn’t move very fast. Don’t worry about eating up clock. Just score. That’s how this game is going.”


Mayfield did not stick around the field very long after the 66-59 game went final. (Michael C. Johnson / USA TODAY Sports)
The game ended with Oklahoma running out the final 98 seconds. It’s been the only time in four years I’ve done a post-game interview of a player off the field. OU didn’t want Mayfield out there where people could throw stuff at him, so we went about as far up the ramp as we could and still get an audio signal. It didn’t stop someone from throwing a half-full bottle of water at us, though.

Baker Mayfield, on the ramp: (Mahomes) is a heck of player. He’s a heck of an athlete. There were a lot of times when you thought he was getting sacked. He was making something out of nothing. All of the credit to him. He should be very happy with what he did. It’s always fun to go up against a guy like that.

Teddy Lehman: The looks on the OU defensive players’ faces after the game was like they had just watched their dog get run over by a truck.

Kevin Patrick: We passed Mike Stoops, and some of the OU guys walking by the end zone to the locker rooms. You couldn’t tell who won or lost by looking at their faces.

Zac Spavital: I looked at Mike, and we just both shook our heads. I said, “Life in the Big 12. Good luck next week.”

Mike Stoops: It was pretty miserable.

Tom McConnaughey, Chargers scout: The only regret I have is that I didn’t yell louder in our war room to get Mahomes on our team. Some of our scouts who hadn’t seen him when they got to watch him, their jaws dropped when they saw his arm strength and the tools. The one thing I did say in my report at the end is, “Hey, we’ve gotta have this guy. And if we can’t get him, we don’t want him in our division.” And sure enough, that’s what happened.

Texas Tech finished the 2016 season last in the nation in defense. The Sooners ranked No. 82. It didn’t help the Big 12’s reputation that the conference didn’t have a single defense ranked in the nation’s top 50 and that had nine of its 10 teams’ defenses ranked No. 73 or worse.

Yet, the Big 12 did have the stingiest defenses of any Power 5 league when it came to fewest points allowed in the bowl season. The following spring the Kansas City Chiefs moved up to No. 10 to pick Mahomes in the first round. He is now the NFL’s leader in passing yards and passing touchdowns.

In 2017, Mayfield won the Heisman Trophy, and this past spring was drafted No. 1 overall by the Cleveland Browns. Eleven of the skill-position players on Oklahoma and Texas Tech have been on NFL rosters, with some still competing in college football.

Lincoln Riley: I really believe that game got an incredibly unfair rap. I think a lot of people that saw the numbers and the score after the game and didn’t watch it missed out. I think a lot of people that commented about it in the media after the game are people that didn’t sit there and watch it or weren’t at the game. It was a great college football game.

I don’t know it all, but I’ve certainly seen a lot of good offensive performances over the years, and the way those two quarterbacks and those two offenses played that night, they’d have scored on anybody and everybody. It was a great college football game. The people there saw it that night. They oughta consider themselves lucky because, chances are, they’ll never see anything like it again.

Contributing: Jay Morrison, Nate Taylor

 

It’s an incredible game. At the time people just blamed it on typical big 12 defenses but there were some incredible players on both teams ... not even including Baker and Mahomes.

Joe Mixon was unbelievable.

 

OMFG HES GOT A STARTER JACKET

 

That was quick - if the Cardinals are gonna leave the vertical routes wide open, Pat’s gonna put up some ridiculous numbers today.

 

In 8.25 games Pat has broke the single season TD record for the Chiefs.

 

Somebody needs to hire Arians as HC again or put him in a home. He sucks ass as an announcer.

 

I really dislike the white on whites.

They remind of 2 horrific games:

I had a severe high ankle sprain and limped all the way into Arrowhead to watch Geathers scramble Trent Green's brains allover the turf at Arrowhead stadium. Watched them get manhandled and limped all the way back out in the rain to the car. Fuck you Herm.

The Chiefs total collapse in Indy on WC weekend.

Fuck that combo.

 

Ruh Roh

 

Not great, Bob.

 

Holy shit. Wasn’t expecting him to be released.

 

Pat Mahomes is the best player in the NFL and barring some injury fuckery, I think they're SB bound if they can take care of business the next 2 games.

Resting Week 17, a bye week and HFA would be huge next month.

 

Bears v Chiefs. O v D in the Super Bowl. It’ll be epic.

 

Some of those throws he made today were unreal and I don’t think any other QB in the league could make

 

I would be cool with that, but still feeling Chiefs/Saints right now will be it.

 

Chiefs Saints Rams are clearly the top 3. I’m really worried the Chargers come to Arrowhead and knock out KC in the playoffs.

 

The Chargers really just don't scare me that much. Andy is a bettet coach and they've had unbelievable luck this year with calls going their way that shouldn't have (should of lost today) and Rivers will be fighting to give you the game if it's tight.

Last team I want to see again is Baltimore. They had the right gameplan to win, just Pat played completely out of his mind. Glad Denver is done because didn't want to see them either.

 

San Diego’s pash rush is equal to Baltimore’s except SD has an actual offense with an actual QB.

 

I like Chris Jones, Houston and Dee Ford with the home crowd with them against Rivers.

 

Plus Rivers usually shits his pants in Arrowhead

 

I have one ticket to Thurs night’s game I’m looking to sell, possibly two (waiting to hear back from someone else in my group). Lower level in one of the corners (in the 131-133 area), row 24/25. Not really looking to make a profit, just recoup my money. You’d be sitting by a group of 30 year old KU and K-State alums. If you are or know someone looking for ticket(s), PM me.

 

Gross.

(I wish this wasn't a Thursday night game--having to get up at 5 am sucks. Should be a great one to attend if you ignore the weather.)

 

Got a last minute freebie for tonight. Am very excite

 

I ended up taking a red eye back from a work trip last night/this morning, am now using my ticket to tonight’s game. Very excited to head out there later this afternoon.

 

0

 

What's a Eric Berry?

 

See that Fuller was ruled Inactive. Shit. All week they were saying he was on track to play.