Three years ago, Texas Tech seemingly had uncovered something special in walk-on true freshman quarterback Baker Mayfield.As it turned out, that relationship burned out before the end of the season. This weekend, the acrimonious split that followed will finally come full circle.Theyll be ready for me when I get down there, thats for sure, said Mayfield, who will return to Lubbock for the first time as quarterback of the Oklahoma Sooners. Im excited for it. Its always fun to play in Lubbock. This time, Im on the other side of it.When Mayfield arrived at Tech in 2013 as an unheralded walk-on, first-year coach Kliff Kingsbury had inherited one quarterback in Michael Brewer and signed another in Davis Webb. Yet by August, Brewer had a back injury, and Webb got sick, which caused him to lose 40 pounds.Baker was really the only guy we had left, Brewer said in an interview with ESPN.com this week.Mayfield, however, made the most of his opportunity. With him behind center, the Red Raiders raced to a 5-0 start before a knee injury knocked Mayfield out of the lineup too. The rest of the season, Kingsbury shuffled quarterbacks, and Tech won two more games before dropping its final five. After starting Mayfield in the regular-season finale at Texas, which the Red Raiders lost 41-16, Kingsbury reopened the competition for the bowl.I guess Baker felt like he deserved to be back in there, Brewer said. Neither party was happy about it. Texas Tech was losing. On the other hand, Baker felt like he deserved to play. Davis had been playing. I was trying to rehab. There was a lot going on.The whole thing got pretty hairy, as far as he said, they said. And to be honest with you, I dont really know too many of the details, other than Baker pretty much had enough and decided to go elsewhere.Mayfield didnt wait. Before Techs bowl game against Arizona State, he informed Kingsbury that he would be leaving.Initially, Mayfield cited a miscommunication with Kingsbury as his reason. But in an interview with ESPN.com a month later, he went in-depth.When I got hurt, there was no communication between me and my coach. When I got healthy, I didnt know why I wasnt playing right away, Mayfield said. At that time, we were losing a couple games in a row. I was still clueless as to why I wasnt playing. That was really frustrating for me because I started the first five games and we won. So I just didnt really know exactly what he was thinking or what the situation was. So that happened. And then going from a week-to-week basis, not knowing whether I was going to play or not and how short the leash would be if I had an average half, how quickly I would be pulled or anything like that, it was making me uncomfortable, and I just didnt want to be there anymore. I loved Lubbock, and I loved my teammates. But going through that, and then [they] tell me theyre still working on a scholarship for next fall, and I wouldnt have one for this semester coming up. It was all that.Tech officials had indicated that Mayfield wouldve been placed on scholarship that spring. But Brewer, who later transferred to Virginia Tech, said Mayfields communication complaint was valid.It was a unique situation, with three of us capable of playing, Brewer said. It seemed like it differed every week. One kid was getting told this, the other kid was getting told this. And then on Friday, neither one of those things happened. So there was just a lot of confusion, and the communication wasnt real great. A couple of people got tired of it and decided to go elsewhere. I think there was a lot of right and wrong on both sides. I think both sides couldve handled it better.For Mayfield, the feud was only beginning. Tech declined to release him so he could transfer in conference to Oklahoma, where he wanted to go. Because Big 12 transfer rules at the time didnt differentiate between walk-on and scholarship players, Mayfield faced the prospect of not only sitting out in 2014 but also losing a year of eligibility.That only inflamed the animosity. After the Big 12 faculty athletic representatives voted down Mayfields appeal to become immediately eligible, his father called Kingsbury a scoundrel in an interview with The Oklahoman.Then in December 2015, after he had won the Oklahoma job and quarterbacked the Sooners to the playoff, Mayfield riled up Techs fan base again. He claimed that during the year he sat out, he was tossed out of a Lubbock bar the weekend the Sooners played Tech (in a Facebook post, the owner retorted that Mayfield had been thrown out because he was a minor). Either way, that eventually prompted the Tech blog Viva The Matadors to run the headline, I Hate Baker Mayfield.Since then, however, the bitterness has begun to thaw. This past summer, a day after voting down a proposal to change the walk-on transfer rule, the faculty reps reversed their decision. The ruling essentially gave Mayfield back his fourth season of Big 12 eligibility, so he could remain at Oklahoma for 2017.In a twist, Tech officials actively supported Sooner officials in trying to get the rule revisited and reversed. Both times, the Red Raiders voted in favor of the changing the rule.During Big 12 media days, Kingsbury added to that by praising Mayfield.I loved coaching him, he said. Loved the chip on his shoulder. Have cheered for him in every game except one.With Patrick Mahomes leading the nation in passing for the Red Raiders, Kingsbury noted again this week that it has all worked itself out in a way where everybodys happy. Baker is playing well, so I dont see the issue anymore.Alls well that ends well. But that doesnt mean The Jones wont be all over him Saturday -- or that Mayfield wont be goading them back.Tech has a passionate fan base, and I know a lot of them werent happy about Baker leaving, Brewer said. And Baker is a pretty outspoken guy. Hes going to go out there a little bit animated and egging them on, for sure.I imagine its going to be pretty crazy.
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Jeremy Reaves Jersey . -- Ty Montgomery had 290 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, and fifth-ranked Stanford held on to beat No. For a few hours on Sunday afternoon, the line between hope and despair teetered back and forth between two of the rookie clubs of the split, Apex Gaming and Team Envy (NV). Apex needed seemingly divine intervention to make the postseason, including losses by NV in its two weekend games.Apex had to defeat playoff teams Team Liquid and Counter Logic Gaming, and Apexs glimmer of hope stretched into a belief it could actually make the playoffs after NV lost to Phoenix1. Apex took care of business against the pair of postseason squads: a 2-1 victory against Team Liquid, and a 2-1 win against Counter Logic Gaming. After a split that was anything but smooth, the Lions of Apex, inconsistent or not, could get into the postseason as the 6-seed as long as NVs slide continued against Echo Fox in the final match of the regular season.Pretty much, we were like, F--- it, said veteran support Alex Xpecial Chu after Apexs triumph over defending champions CLG. We played, like, three scrim sets this week, which is about nine games. Usually, we play around two a day and in [a week] 10, so we played, like, nothing. The reason why we did so well was -- I mean, not to brag or anything -- this week I pretty much said to myself, Im just going to say everything and make all the decisions as much as I can, and just say it and have my team listen to it. And that worked out really, really well in our games, and I honestly think thats the reason why were doing so well, because one person having all the control makes it 10 times easier to play the game.One of the biggest narratives this split behind-the-scenes for teams has been the decision between being a democratic club or a general-led club. In the case of Cloud9 -- once led by the singular voice of former captain Hai Hai Lam -- its switched from having a general-led team to becoming more of a democratic squad, with all the team members having input in how to play around the map. For some teams, having five voices can be the ticket to the success, but for others, it could cause disconnection, chaos, and disagreement if all five members arent on the same page or speak the same language.When it comes to having one voice, it can succeed if that player has the right mindset and experience, but could also cause problems by neglecting other members on the team.Honestly, I dont really care too much, said Xpecial on the chance NV could slip up against Echo Fox to allow Apex into the postseason. I mean, yes, I want to make playoffs, a chance to go to Worlds. I think wed beat Cloud9, but in the end, two days ago, I was thinking were done. And for us to be at this level, we dont deserve to go to playoffs if NV wins. They are in control, and its up to them to lose it. And yeah, I want to make playoffs, but at the same time, we didnt perform this whole split.dddddddddddd Theres really no reason for us to deserve playoffs or anything like that. Yeah, were a stronger team than NV right now, sure, but we lost to them twice already.And he was right.If you were to select a team to go up against Cloud9 out of the bottom five teams in the league, Team Envy probably would be your third or fourth pick directly behind Phoenix1, Apex, and maybe even NRG Esports. Envys second half of the season has been a disaster; on paper, stats, and by simply watching the teams play, Apex was the stronger team. Except, as Xpecial mentioned, when Apex had the opportunity to wrangle away the sixth-place spot from NV, the Lions lost, giving Team Envy the all-important tie breaker in head-to-head matchups.I think I really wasted my last two and a half years, he said. If I had my knowledge I have now two and a half years ago when I first left TSM, Id be leading teams to a good spot. Except that, I just didnt know, and it really sucks because Ive had the knowledge the whole time. I just didnt have confidence in myself and anyone have confidence in me to lead the charge. Personally, I dont like to be the guy that is super hard on people -- making sure they follow the calls and whatnot -- but thats apparently whats needed for a team. Maybe its different next year or was different before, but my perception right now is that I have knowledge, I should have been the guy doing that from the very beginning.After I had finished the interview, NV pierced any sort of hope Apex had left in its season, sweeping Echo Fox in a standard affair. But in my last question to Xpecial, I asked in the scenario where NV did beat the hapless 1-16 (now 1-17) Foxes, what he wanted to say to the fans of him and Apex heading into the offseason.I think this last week is a good representation of where we should be, he answered. Weve been learning a lot throughout this whole split, and it sucks it came so late in the season. But thanks you guys for supporting us, and Ill be back next split. Well go off. [Were] definitely going to do way better next split as a team than we are during this split because things are different now.The summer of 2016 will be remembered as a learning experience for Xpecial and the rest of Apex from the players to management.Hopefully when the calendar turns to the new year and the 2017 split begins, the spring will be remembered as the season where Xpecial and Apex took what they learned in the summer and applied it to becoming a force in its sophomore stint.
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