NORMAN, Okla. (AP) – The three best quarterbacks Oklahoma has faced so far – TCU’s Trevone Boykin, Baylor’s Seth Russell and Oklahoma State’s Mason Rudolph – were injured when their teams played high-stakes games against the Sooners.
Without the experience of dealing with those elite quarterbacks, Oklahoma will face its toughest test – Clemson’s first-team All-American and Heisman finalist, Deshaun Watson – in a national semifinal on Thursday.
Russell sat out with a neck injury, and Oklahoma beat Baylor 44-34. Boykin missed the game against the Sooners with an injured right ankle, and Oklahoma escaped with a 30-29 win. Rudolph had a foot injury, and he played briefly in Oklahoma’s 58-23 victory.
Oklahoma’s defensive players say some practice time against their own quarterback, second-team All-American Baker Mayfield, has them prepared. The Sooners put Mayfield in some non-contact situations against the No. 1 defense before they took off for the Orange Bowl.
“We’re going against, in my eyes, the best player in the country, Baker Mayfield,” Charles Tapper, Oklahoma’s All-Big 12 defensive end, said. “These live practices have been great for us because he’s been scrambling around, trying to make plays, and we have to tag off on him to make sure we get him down.”