Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield will not start Saturday against West Virginia, Sooners coach Lincoln Riley announced Monday.
A senior, Mayfield will play, Riley said, but will not be one of the team captains in his final home game with the Sooners.
Riley was emotional in his weekly press conference when discussing his decision.
"No matter how long I go coaching, whatever the rest of my career ends up being like, I don't know that I will ever have a player that is as special to me as he is," Riley said before pausing for almost 30 seconds.
"We've been through a lot together. He's a tremendous teammate. He is the best football player in America. He's got a great heart that a lot of people don't get the chance to see like I do."
Mayfield grabbed his crotch and cursed at the Kansas players as Oklahoma was beating the Jayhawks 41-3 on Saturday. He also got into a back-and-forth with Kansas fans sitting behind the Oklahoma bench.
"In the moment, you do something, you get caught up in the emotional stuff," Mayfield said after the game. "I talk about being a competitive player. When I realized the coaches said something, that's when I realized that I really messed up."
Things got heated before kickoff when Kansas captains refused to shake the hands of Mayfield and other Oklahoma players at the coin toss.
Tempers were further flamed when a Jayhawks player delivered a late hit to Mayfield in the second quarter. Subsequently, there were several incidents of players from opposing teams jawing at each other.
