‘I gotta be better’: Sooners' Spencer Rattler flashes potential, but throws 2 interceptions as OU sneaks past Tulane

Spencer Rattler’s performance on Saturday looked all too familiar.

Back in 2017, when quarterback Baker Mayfield played Tulane, he finished 17-of-27 with 331 yards and four touchdowns, but missed open throws and said he had an off night afterward. However, Mayfield who captained the Sooners who were ranked No. 2 at the time, later went on to win the Heisman Trophy that season. Rattler, who’s among the favorites for this season’s Heisman, also leads the Sooners, who are also ranked No. 2 this season. 

Despite the redshirt sophomore finishing 30-of-39 with 304 yards and two total touchdowns, Rattler also recorded a performance he’s not accustomed to, like Mayfield, against the same team, but four years later. He missed open receivers and threw two interceptions — almost three before a penalty called one back — as OU (1-0) snuck away with a season-opening 40-35 win over Tulane (0-1) in Norman on Saturday.

“We just gotta be cleaner, gotta be sharper,” Rattler said after the game. “I gotta be better. Everybody’s gotta be better.”

The Phoenix native threw an interception on the second play of the game, when he forced a pass to sophomore receiver Marvin Mims into double-coverage. Rattler’s second interception came with 13 minutes and 51 seconds left in the fourth quarter, when his pass to junior H-back Austin Stogner sailed and landed in the arms of Tulane safety Macon Clark.

Again, after a fumble recovery by redshirt junior linebacker Nik Bonitto, Rattler’s inconsistency showed when back-to-back throws widely missed his targets. The offense failed to score and the attempts resulted in a 51-yard field goal by junior kicker Gabe Brkic after reaching  Tulane’s 11-yard line. 

Rattler knew his performance wasn’t near his standard, and OU coach Lincoln Riley knew it too. The 6-foot-1 quarterback finished with just seven interceptions last season in his first year as the starter, where he threw for 3,031 yards, good for No. 10 in the country. 

“He missed a few throws that he just typically makes,” Riley said. “Not only did he miss them, but he missed them in places that you can’t. … He was OK. He can play better, and he’s going to need to play better.”

Despite the errors Rattler made, he looked like his true self after the first interception, when he led the Sooners to 30 unanswered points on 20-of-25 passing with 213 yards. OU entered halftime with a 37-14 lead, which soon evaporated with the Sooners scoring just three points in the second half. 

Rattler said the energy was weak after halftime, leading to complacency among the team. Mims, who finished the game with 117 yards on five receptions, said he’s used to getting opponents’ best performances at a high-end program like Oklahoma. Rattler also gave Tulane high praise, and mentioned its defense gave him trouble. 

“That’s a tough team,” Rattler said. “It was one of the hardest-hitting teams, one of the most physical teams I’ve ever played. And they came out there and played great, better than us for sure.”

The Sooners’ unconcerned play gave the Green Wave a chance, despite them being 31.5-point underdogs. But according to Rattler, a win is a win, and he’d rather learn off a win than two losses like he did last season after faltering against Kansas State and Iowa State. 

Rattler flashed at times Saturday, but also struggled to fix the Sooners’ lull in the second half when they scored just three points and were outgained 230 yards to 118 by Tulane. Especially now that OU’s offense has just two scholarship running backs — redshirt senior Kennedy Brooks and junior Eric Gray — Rattler’s Heisman-level talent will be needed to fulfill Oklahoma’s quest for its eighth  national championship. 

However, if history repeats itself, Rattler’s search for the Heisman Trophy this season won’t be lost this early in the year, just like it wasn’t for Mayfield.

“He had his moments where he was really, really good, and gave us a lot of chances and was really excellent at times,” Riley said. “But there’s certainly a few that we’re gonna want back and we’re going to need him to play better.”