Baker Mayfield keeps Sooners rolling

Baker Mayfield threw for 328 yards and four touchdowns and 14th-ranked Oklahoma held off Iowa State, 34-24, on Thursday night at Ames, Iowa, for its sixth consecutive victory.

Dede Westbrook caught seven passes for 131 yards and a score for the Sooners (7-2, 6-0 Big 12, No. 12 in AP). They beat the Cyclones (1-8, 0-6) for the 18th time in a row and the 74th time in 81 meetings.

Mayfield threw touchdown passes to Westbrook and Dimitri Flowers in the final 4:16 of the first half, extending his streak of games with at least four touchdown tosses to an FBS-high four games. Mayfield has 31 scoring passes, good for second nationally, with only six interceptions.

Jacob Park passed for 160 yards and two touchdowns for the Cyclones, who have lost five in a row.

Honor for Kaaya

A surprise was awaiting Miami quarterback Brad Kaaya after practice Thursday. He got tapped into the Iron Arrow Honor Society, the highest accolade one can receive from the school.

Finally, there was something for the Hurricanes to celebrate.

Iron Arrow looks for individuals with five qualities — a love of Miami, character, leadership, scholarship and humility. It didn’t take long for first-year Coach Mark Richt to see that Kaaya, from West Hills Chaminade High, had all that, and their understanding of one another has been one of the few bright spots in this topsy-turvy Hurricanes season.

“I truly believe he cares about winning, he cares about his teammates, he cares about trying to do his part to help the team win,” Richt said. “I think that’s his focus. I don’t know what he thinks about in his off moments and things of that nature, but right now, he shows up every day and he’s businesslike.”

October was one to forget for Kaaya and the Hurricanes, who have lost four straight games to drop from being as high as No. 10 in the AP top 25 to unranked and out of contention in the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Coastal Division race. Still needing two wins in the final four ACC games to become bowl-eligible, Miami (4-4, 1-3) will host Pittsburgh on Saturday.

Miami hasn’t lost five straight in the same season since 1977.

Back to Jersey

Navy and Notre Dame will return to play at MetLife stadium on Sept. 5, 2020, the fourth appearance for Notre Dame and the second for Navy at the home of the New York Giants and Jets. The Midshipmen defeated Notre Dame, 35-17, in MetLife Stadium’s inaugural season in 2010.