The Heisman Award is awarded to the most outstanding college football player each year.  The last two awards have been awarded to two different Oklahoma quarterbacks, Baker Mayfield in 2017 and Kyler Murray in 2018.  Through 7 weeks of the season Jalen Hurts, the current Oklahoma quarterback, is first in the Heisman race. The one question that is plaguing college football fans is how are all of these Oklahoma quarterbacks able to perform at such a high level?  

First, it all starts with the style of football that the Sooners play.  Lincoln Riley, the Oklahoma head coach, learned the Air Raid offense under Mike Leach when he served as an assistant coach at Texas Tech from 2003-2009.  The main focus of the Air Raid offense is letting your quarterback take deep shots downfield to the receivers. Running this successfully is extremely difficult, but if run correctly, it can lead to huge stats from quarterbacks.  But how has Oklahoma been able to run this complicated offense so well?

One reason they can run the offense so well is due to the weapons they have been able to surround their quarterbacks with.  Besides the countless Oklahoma linemen that have gone to the NFL in the past couple years, the skill positions of the Sooners have been on an elite tier.  Baker had Dede Westbrook (current Jaguars WR) and Joe Mixon (current Bengals RB), Kyler Murray had Marquise “Hollywood” Brown (current Ravens WR), and Jalen Hurts has CeeDee Lamb (NFL Prospect).  Having a trusty wide-receiver or running back to rely on in the Air Raid offense allows the quarterback to have less stress, knowing they can throw it up and trust their target will come down with it.

Lastly, the schedule that Oklahoma plays allows their offense to put up roaring statistical games.  Oklahoma plays in the Big 12 Conference for football, a top 5 conference in football but, out of the Power 5 conferences (ACC, BIG 10, BIG 12, PAC 12, SEC), the Big 12 has been last in defensive rankings for the last couple of years.  Oklahoma has been averaging over 50 points this year so far and looks to keep up for the rest of the reason. 

In conclusion, Oklahoma’s Air Raid offense, explosive weapons, and weak defensive opponents allow these Sooner quarterbacks to play on such a high level.  However, the Heisman race isn’t over yet, Joe Burrow (QB at LSU), Jonathan Taylor (RB at Wisconsin), and Tua Tagovailoa (QB at Alabama) are having impressive seasons also.  Don’t count them out but, don’t be surprised if yet another Oklahoma quarterback is hoisting the trophy in December.