Baker Mayfield Throws 3 TDs After Being Benched as Oklahoma Beats West Virginia

Baker Mayfield's benching lasted all of two plays. When he took the field, Mayfield helped spearhead an offensive outburst that may seal his Heisman.

The Oklahoma quarterback threw for 281 yards and three touchdowns, and Rodney Anderson rushed for four scores, as the Sooners ended their regular season with a 59-31 thumping of West Virginia.

Oklahoma led 45-10 at the half and never trailed, eventually taking its foot off the gas in the second half and allowing West Virginia to put up some offense in garbage time. Mayfield did not play after engineering a 75-yard drive early in the third quarter that ended with an 18-yard pass to Grant Calcaterra. 

The Heisman front-runner, who sat out the first two plays for making a lewd gesture during last week's win over Kansas, completed 14 of his 17 passes. He has thrown for nine touchdowns without an interception over the last three weeks and has seven different games of three-plus touchdowns without a pick this season.

The senior will enter next week's Big 12 Championship Game as the overwhelming favorite for the Heisman. He would be the sixth Oklahoma player to win the award and third quarterback, joining Sam Bradford and Jason White.

Oddsmaker Bovada pulled Heisman bets off the board this week because Mayfield was too big of a favorite. 

"Heisman odds are currently off the board as Baker Mayfield is too big of a favorite. He was 1/20 last week and would be even bigger this week," Bovada said in a statement. 

Anderson finished with his fifth 100-yard game in his last six, adding a career-high four touchdowns. The sophomore back has emerged over the second half of the season as Oklahoma's go-to back, with Abdul Adams and Trey Sermon taking secondary roles.

Anderson, Adams, Sermon and backup quarterback Kyler Murray each had 50 or more yards on the ground. Oklahoma had 313 total yards on the ground. Murray also added 52 yards and a score through the air.

West Virginia dropped to 7-5 despite a 137-yard, three-touchdown effort from Kennedy McKoy. Both numbers marked a career high for the sophomore back.

The Mountaineers dropped each of their last two games to close out the regular season. They will await their bowl invite to see when they play next.

Oklahoma will look for its second win of the season over TCU next weekend. The Sooners won the first matchup 38-20.