Can Oklahoma avenge last year’s Buckeye blowout?
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield clearly recalls the blowout in Norman when Ohio State came to town a year ago. The young Buckeyes dominated, quieting the home crowd in a 45-24 thumping of the Sooners.
Oklahoma didn’t lose a game after that, reeling off 11 straight victories. On Saturday night the No. 5 Sooners visit Columbus to face No. 2 Ohio State. While Mayfield and his teammates downplay the revenge factor, they haven’t forgotten the humiliation of last year’s meeting. They remember the “embarrassing” spectacle of Buckeyes players singing the Ohio State school song on their turf.
“Everybody who was here for last year’s huge loss definitely remembers that,” he said.
Mayfield, who threw two interceptions, accepted much of the blame.
“I think it was a huge learning curve for me, losing that game and watching the film and realizing I didn’t play well at all,” he said. “Yeah, we had some good plays and we wound up scoring 20-plus points on a good team. But obviously we didn’t get the outcome we wanted, and a huge part of that was on me.”
Offensive tackle Orlando Brown said the team is trying to keep the focus on this year’s game, but the distasteful memory lingers.
“As far as last year, there are certain things that do stick with us,” he said. “But right now, we’re really focused on this year’s record and doing what we have to do to…