Heisman winner Mayfield bids Sooner nation farewell after bittersweet Rose Bowl exit

PASADENA, Calif. — Shortly after he made his emotional final lap around the Rose Bowl to bid farewell to fans, teammates and even Georgia players, Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield slipped into a long, dark tunnel that turned out, in that somber moment, to be the college football abyss.

“I can’t believe it’s over,” said a choked-up Mayfield late Monday night at the postgame press conference while trying to hold back the tears. “It’s been a wild ride.”

Still in disbelief after a Rose Bowl for the ages — which just so happened to be the first overtime game in both Rose Bowl and College Football Playoff history — Sooner fans couldn’t believe it either.

One of the storied program’s most successful players had just watched a meaningful chapter of his young life come to a close.

Yes, Mayfield will soon have a statue of himself in Heisman Park, but from the moment the ambitious signal caller stepped foot on campus in Norman, this wasn't quite the ending he had envisioned playing out.

Mayfield finished his Sooner career with 12,292 passing yards and 119 touchdown passes, ranking second in school history in both categories.

When the elusive Sony Michel took a direct snap off the left side nearly untouched for a game-winning 27-yard touchdown, which gave No. 3 Georgia a 54-48 double overtime win over No. 2 Oklahoma, Mayfield hunched over in despair on the sideline.

Paralyzed in that pain-searing moment, Mayfield knew it was over, even if he didn’t want to believe it.

“This one hurts a lot more because I don’t ever get to put this jersey on again,” the former walk-on transfer from Texas Tech said.

As Georgia players waltzed away from the midfield celebration and into the California night in the Arroyo Seco, Mayfield sat in a chair in the emptying Sooner locker room that seemed in hollow spirits.

He fielded additional questions for his final time as a collegiate athlete trying to muster the words of the perplexities he was feeling and still trying to grasp.

In the aftermath of an instant classic — featuring 11 ties and lead changes and more than 1,000 yards of total offense — the words “passion” and “strength” could be read on a banner sandwiched between the rose emblem sitting just feet above the remaining red and white colored confetti nestled in the grass.

Those powerful attributes symbolized everything Mayfield had represented during his time leading the Sooners.

Few college football stars in recent years have played the game with the same passion and lively attitude as Mayfield did this year.

He took the nation by storm — for both his heroic plays and his childish antics.

Yet on the first night of 2018, the Heisman Trophy winner was ousted by a true freshman in Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm, who just so happened to be one of the first players Mayfield flagged down in the confetti storm.

“I just told him to go win the whole thing. He’s an incredible player," Mayfield said, praising Fromm. "You can tell he commands his offense and has the respect of his teammates. For me, that’s about the greatest character trait you could have.

“For him, I think the sky’s the limit.”

For Mayfield, the sky is perhaps still the limit, too, in the NFL, but he’s now reached the horizon of his college days with a heart-wrenching loss at dusk in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.

How Mayfield’s next chapter reads remains to be seen, but his days as a Sooner and his tight bond with coach Lincoln Riley have prepared him for greatness.

“There is a reason I’m sitting here today,” Mayfield said. “There’s a reason we’ve won three Big 12 titles in a row, why we are in the playoffs this year and that I’ve put myself in a good position going forward in the future. Words can’t describe what coach Riley has meant to me, and for the other guys it’s the same.”

Meanwhile, the Sooners’ next football chapter is still to be written as well.

“They’re in great hands,” Mayfield said of his team. “They’ve got the best coach in the country. We’ve had a lot of young guys that have impacted our team this year and them coming here and having experience, they know now what it takes.”

Riley, the youngest coach in the FBS at only 34 years old, led the Sooners to a third straight Big 12 championship and their second-ever College Football Playoff appearance.

“It’s been a historic run, one we’ll be proud of for a long, long time,” Riley said. “I just told them I appreciated how much they bought in and had my back all year. I made plenty of mistakes, and they helped our team overcome them the entire year.”

The success of walk-ons and transfers like Mayfield has paved the way for the program to be successful year in and year out.

“Guys understand here when they walk in the door that Oklahoma football is about winning,” Riley said. “They understand that the best players are going to play, and if somebody can help us win, they’re going to get an opportunity.”

On a path with several twists, turns and forks in the road — from Austin to Lubbock to eventually Norman — it took a while for Mayfield to get his opportunity, but once he did, he embodied the program’s winning culture week in and week out.

“It doesn’t matter where you come from. It doesn’t matter what you did last year or even last week for that matter,” Riley said. “So the egos and all of that are put off to the side.”

As fate would have it, quarterback Kyler Murray, a Texas A&M transfer, will likely be under center next season as OU continues to ride this wave of player development.

“I think that’s why you’ve seen the continued success of this program over decades and decades,” Riley said. “I think that’s why both young and new guys are able to fit in and have a role right off the top if they’re the best players.”

The senior class — which Riley said "has been tremendous" — won three straight Big 12 championships, was in the College Football Playoff twice and stuck through a coaching change out of the blue with Bob Stoops stepping down this past summer.

“Especially this year, there are a lot of reasons this team could have turned the wrong direction,” Riley said. “From the coaching change, the Iowa State loss and just all the things this team had to battle through, I’m proud to be their coach. It’s been a great run.”

As good as the past few years have been, the question remains: when will the Sooners get over the hump and win the big one?

With the sour taste still in his mouth in the waning moments after the loss, Mayfield offered his hunch.

“Having this sick taste in your mouth at getting this close but not finishing, that’s going to motivate them,” Mayfield said. “They’re going to be just fine. I guarantee they finish it up the right way in the next couple years.”