COLUMBUS, Ohio — Baker Mayfield made a game-time decision.
He double-clutched an oversized Oklahoma "OU" flag from a fan and sprinted half of a victory lap across the Ohio Stadium concrete. He planted that flag right between the "O" at the 50-yard line. Mayfield, in his words, was full of "excitement and happiness" after leading the Sooners to a 31-16 victory against No. 2 Ohio State at Ohio Stadium, but there was no hidden meaning in those bad intentions.
MORE: Oklahoma 31, Ohio State 16: Five things we learned
Let Mayfield tell you himself what it means after finishing 27 of 35 passing for 386 yards and three touchdowns while leading No. 5 Oklahoma to a victory that will resonate in the College Football Playoff race well into November — and perhaps forever, with both fanbases.
"It was a combination of things," Mayfield said afterward. "Part of it was last year, like I said in my press conference, 'That was embarrassing for them to sing their fight song on our field.' They're probably feeling the same way now."
This was first-year Sooners coach Lincoln Riley's big-stage baptism. This was the Big 12 Conference’s statement. But, above all, this was Mayfield’s game, the night the Sooners rallied around the flag.
Call it a validation, payback, whatever. Mayfield was the best player on the field, and that was clear from the offset.
Mayfield finished 11 of 18 for 158 yards in the first half, but the Sooners missed a few scoring opportunities while outgaining the Buckeyes 222-92. Oklahoma crossed the 50-yard line in every drive but was locked in a 3-3 tie. Two fumbles, a missed field goal and a dropped pass in the red zone didn't deter Mayfield, who delivered a one-track message in the locker room.
"I just kept repeating myself," he said. "I kept saying, 'Great teams finish drives.' Toward the end it was about capitalizing. Championship teams take advantage of their opportunities. We just did that in the second half."
True to his word, Mayfield answered Ohio State’s first and only touchdown drive with a 36-yard touchdown pass to Dmitri Flowers. Mayfield then delivered a Heisman-worthy sequence, three straight ropes of 17, 42 and 18 yards as part of a 92-yard drive, capped with an 18-yard dart to Lee Morris for the go-ahead score.
On the next drive, he ran toward the line of scrimmage before firing sideways to Trey Sermon for another 10-yard score. Mayfield bee-lined toward the Oklahoma band in the north end zone. That was the end for the Buckeyes.
MORE: Highlights from four primetime games
How impressive was the show? Ohio State has lost just five home games at night in school history. Vince Young needed a last-minute touchdown pass back in Texas' 2005 championship season. Penn State's Daryll Clark (2008), USC's Matt Barkley (2009) and Virginia Tech's Michael Brewer (2014) all won games that were tight until the finish.
Mayfield dominated this game. He left no room for drama, and that left the coaches gushing about the total team effort.
"'Bake' deserves a ton of credit," Riley said of his quarterback. "He's a great player, and he played extremely, extremely well tonight, especially against a defense as good as (Ohio State's). But he’s not doing it with a bunch of Rudys out there."
Added defensive coordinator Mike Stoops:
"Never seen anything like him," he said. "I wouldn't trade him for anybody in America."
College football won't either, at least not in 2017. This is the best bet among the elite quarterbacks right now to put a team on his back and win a national championship. USC's Sam Darnold and Louisville's Lamar Jackson are in that discussion too, but which team would you take right now?
Mayfield marries Deshaun Watson's ability to carry a team with Johnny Manziel's unapologetic play-making persona.
Mayfield will be pegged as the villain, and he provokes that reputation with the headband, the smile, the matter-of-fact quotes such as, "We should have won by a lot more." He admits that he hears what others are saying: "80 percent of the country picked Ohio State."
That's why he’s the Big 12 hero right now. The conference, which has made one of three playoffs, needed this game for perception. Riley, Mayfield and everybody else in that locker room knew it. The only way to do that was to have a game against the Buckeyes where everybody would take notice.
Just keep in mind that the four-quarter show was so much better then the postgame which will dominate the headlines.
"It was a last-minute decision," Mayfield said of planting the flag. "I was planning on something, but I didn't know what it was. I had some help from teammates."
Call it a validation, payback, whatever. This was a College Football Playoff and Heisman Trophy statement unfurled with one big flag at midfield.
This was Mayfield's game.
