Join News 9 Sports Director Dean Blevins, News On 6 Sports Director John Holcomb, and Toby Rowland for this week’s edition of the Oklahoma Ford Sports Blitz.

Sunday, December 15th 2024, 11:57 pm

By:

News On 6,

News 9

OKLAHOMA CITY –

This week on the Oklahoma Ford Sports Blitz, Dean Blevins, John Holcomb, and Toby Rowland begin the show with their opening takes.

Toby’s Top 3

OU, OSU, TU Update

Thunder Report: Thunder At The NBA Cup Championship

Viewer Question

OU, OSU, TU, ORU Basketball Recap

High School Football Championships

Play The Percentages

Facing the NFL’s No. 1-ranked scoring defense was no big deal for Baker Mayfield.

The former Oklahoma star roasted the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday at LA’s SoFi Stadium, leading Tampa Bay to a massive 40-17 victory.

Mayfield completed 22-of-27 passes and threw for 288 yards and four touchdowns as the Buccaneers won their fourth game in a row, improved to 8-6 overall and seized control of the NFC South standings.

Mayfield hooked up with Mike Evans nine times for 159 yards and third-quarter touchdowns of 57 yards and 35 yards as the Bucs overcame a three-point halftime deficit with a 17-0 outburst in the third quarter.

It was a big day for Evans — who missed three games earlier this season with a hamstring injury — as the future Hall of Famer now has 103 career receiving TDs.

For Mayfield, his four passing TDs give him a career-high 32 on the season. That total ranks third in the NFL.

The Chargers (8-6) got two touchdown throws from Justin Herbert — one in the first quarter and one in the second — as LA took a 17-10 lead. But in the third quarter, the Bucs defense came down with Herbert’s second interception of the season, ending a streak of 357 consecutive passes without a pick, and Mayfield and the Bucs offense poured it on.

Rookie Jalen McMillan began things with a 26-yard touchdown grab from Mayfield on the game’s opening drive. It was the Bucs’ seventh touchdown on an opening drive this season — tied with Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals for the most in the NFL.

After Mayfield found Evans twice for scores in the third quarter — the first one a long catch and run down the left sideline, the second a deep ball over the top to Evans in the end zone — Mayfield then dropped a check down throw to Rachaad White, who sliced through traffic for an 11-yard touchdown that put the Bucs up 37-17.

While the Tampa defense was holding the Chargers to just 207 total yards, Mayfield and the Bucs offense was compiling 505 yards and coasting to a comfortable victory.

With Atlanta’s four consecutive losses, Tampa has surged to a two-game lead in the NFC South with just three games to play — at Dallas, home versus Carolina and home versus New Orleans — and all three currently have a losing record. The Bucs have won three straight NFC South titles.

Mayfield also came into the week ranked seventh in the NFL with 3,329 passing yards. His performance Sunday gives him 3,617 this season, which stands as the fourth-best total of his career with three games still to play.

Oklahoma State could have its next defensive star.

On Sunday, Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports reported that Akron transfer Bryan McCoy is heading to OSU. The linebacker has spent his first three seasons with the Zips and grown into a star.

In 2024, McCoy finished with 120 tackles, good for the ninth-most in the FBS. Along with being one of the top 10 in college football, that mark was good enough to place him third in the MAC. He also finished his junior campaign with two tackles for loss and earned a spot on the All-MAC second team.

In 2023, McCoy played closer to the line of scrimmage and thrived to earn a spot on the All-MAC third team as a sophomore. He finished that season with 94 tackles, six tackles for loss and a sack. McCoy also forced a fumble and had a scoop and score against Morgan State.

McCoy leaves Akron with career numbers of 237 tackles and eight tackles for loss. As he comes into Stillwater, McCoy could quickly become one of the top members of the OSU defense.

McCoy also marks the first big commitment for OSU’s new defensive coordinator, Todd Grantham. A veteran who has spent decades coaching and spent time at a few big schools, Grantham is the guy OSU trusts to turn the defense around after being one of the worst in the country last season. With McCoy heading to Stillwater, Grantham’s defense has an anchor at linebacker, a position where OSU lost some of college football’s best.

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