Oklahoma football has a new starting quarterback as Kyler Murray draws the impossible task of replacing Baker Mayfield in Norman.
From walking on at Texas Tech to raising the Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma, the legend of Baker Mayfield is just beginning to unfold. Oklahoma Sooner fans will remember their charmed 2017 campaign for years to come, but those fond feelings will place a hefty burden on new starting quarterback Kyler Murray.
Murray backed up Mayfield last season and saw limited action. He completed 18 passes for 359 yards and three touchdowns. He added another 142 yards rushing on 14 carries. That experience comes on the heels of a one year stint under Kevin Sumlin at Texas A&M. Splitting time with Kyle Allen in College Station, Murray completed 59.5 percent of his passes for 686 yards five touchdowns and seven interceptions.
A small sampling of starting experience will be hugely important for Murray in 2018. However, he isn’t quite a veteran arm coming in to take control of an established offense. Also departing with Mayfield are tight end Mark Andrews, fullback Dimitri Flowers and left tackle Orlando Brown, all of whom will be playing in the NFL next season. The bulk of the skill position players are coming back, but there will still be some kinks to work though as the team works through their first full offseason following the transition from Bob Stoops to Lincoln Riley.
Then there’s the weight of playing for Oklahoma. Any season that doesn’t end in a Big 12 Championship is seen as a disappointment. TCU has become a perennial contender and Texas is on the path back to relevancy. The number of potential pitfalls continues to mount.
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If Murray makes one or two mistakes it could cost him dearly. Austin Kendall wil lbe waiting in the wings, keeping Murray on a short leash from the start. That would set up a stark contrast from Mayfield’s College Football Playoff run. However unfortunate, that is the burden of following in the footsteps of a legend. It might not be fair, but Kyler Murray has the deck stacked against him.