Baker Mayfield didn’t need to apologize for planting Oklahoma’s flag on Ohio State’s field

After Oklahoma defeated Ohio State in Columbus, Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield celebrated the big win by running around the field with Oklahoma’s flag. He then made his way over to the “O” on OSU’s field, and planted the flag onto it.

The video, unsurprisingly, went viral.

And there are takes like this:

And plenty more where that came from.

Kirk Herbstreit said on SportsCenter after the game that he thought it was “out of character” of the quarterback.

“I told you guys last week that it was going to have a lot of implications on the Playoffs, and so that’s the way we prepared. So, it was an emotional game,” he said. “After the game, I did not mean for it to be disrespectful towards any Ohio State people at all, especially not the team or the players, because they’re a great team and a great program. So I didn’t mean for it to be disrespectful at all. I mean, we do the flag thing at OU-Texas, and so that’s just something I got caught up in an emotional win. Yeah, it should have been something I did in the locker room, so I apologize for doing it in the middle of the field.”

OU head coach Lincoln Riley said on The Paul Finebaum Show later that it was Mayfield’s decision to apologize.

OU just upset the No. 2 team in the country by two scores, and he threw for 386 yards and three touchdowns while doing it. If you don’t like it, you’ve gotta lighten up a good bit. I’m all for class and being respectful and all that, but let the dude celebrate after an enormous win on the road.

Here’s former Georgia and NFL offensive lineman George Foster:

And former Ohio State linebacker Bobby Carpenter:

SB Nation’s Ohio State blog:

And another Ohio State site:

The practice wasn’t invented by Mayfield on Saturday night. As he mentioned, waving the flag is an Oklahoma-Texas thing.

Plenty of other teams have done this, too.

When Georgia wins at Georgia Tech, the Dawgs often plant their flag in Atlanta.

And when Tech wins in Athens, the sideline hedges get turned into mementos.

In 2007, Georgia’s entire team danced in the end zone after scoring early against Florida.

Two years ago, Kentucky and Louisville got in a scuffle after Kentucky players stomped on the Cardinal head logo at midfield.

Last season, Mayfield’s team and West Virginia got in a pregame scuffle when OU players gathered on top of the WVU logo.

In 2003, Florida State beat Florida, and after the Seminoles’ victory, FSU decided to stomp on the “F” logo, which resulted in a nasty brawl. Fast forward to the two-minute mark:

Perhaps because the Buckeyes were already off the field at the time, as one OSU running back suggests.

But who wouldn’t after a game like that? Don’t apologize for celebrating a big win, my dude.