The #Sooners expected to shutdown Tulane but ended up in a second-half shootout. Is this really what a No. 2 team looks like?
Filmed by Justin Jayne
Edited by Collin McDaniel & Justin Jayne
Written by Georgia Bomar, Chandler Engelbrecht and Justin Jayne
Voice-over by Chandler Engelbrecht
Spencer Rattler’s response against Western Carolina on Saturday will be one to watch following his disappointing 2021 debut.
Oklahoma’s redshirt sophomore quarterback and the preseason Heisman Trophy favorite completed 30-of-39 passes for 304 yards and one total touchdown in OU’s (1-0) 40-35 season-opening win over Tulane (0-1). However, he also tossed two costly interceptions and had a third reversed by penalty.
“The focus and edge just wasn't there,” Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said of Rattler’s play. “And then at times I think for him that turned into frustration, kind of wanting to will the guys and push them.”
Afterward, CBS Sports analyst Danny Kanell said Rattler looked “sloppy,” and played like “he was making his first start, not his 12th or 13th.” In subsequent days, Rattler was surpassed by Alabama quarterback Bryce Young in the Heisman odds race and OU dropped from No. 2 to No. 4 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll. Early in his second season as the Sooners’ starter, Rattler, though a team captain, showed he is still maturing as a player and figurehead.
“He's not yet the established or comfortable leader that some of our guys have been, and some of that's just been really his age,” said Riley, who didn’t send Rattler to July’s Big 12 Media Days because of his underclassman status. “He's learning as these different situations come on how he can lead, but also balancing leading with being an effective player.”
Rattler’s leadership was overshadowed by his ineffectiveness against the Green Wave. His first interception came after he danced around the pocket and launched off his back foot into double coverage. For his second, Rattler — though Riley blamed it on a poor route — inaccurately sailed junior tight end Austin Stogner into the hands of Tulane’s Macon Clark.
Spencer Rattler intercepted on his 2nd pass of the season 🥴 pic.twitter.com/NCNWOr4zAG
— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 4, 2021
Those hands tho… 🤯 #RollWave 📺 ABCpic.twitter.com/Q5CT63Y5bU
— Tulane University Football (@GreenWaveFB) September 4, 2021
“He's going to have to be better. You can’t just loft balls up in the middle of the field and just pray that your guys come down with it,” former NFL receiver Harry Douglas said on Sept. 5 during ESPN’s The College Football Show. “Against great opponents, that’s going to cost Spencer Rattler… he has to make better decisions on the football field.”
One bright spot of Rattler’s performance was his success against opposing blitzes. Behind what Riley called “excellent” pass protection, Rattler went 9-of-12 for 81 yards plus his lone touchdown pass versus the blitz, per ESPN Stats and Info. He now faces Western Carolina (0-1), which went 1-8 last season, finishing outside the top 80 among FCS schools in team passing efficiency defense, sacks and tackles for loss.
Rattler has shredded FCS opponents from his first action with the Sooners. During his 2019 debut he went 4-for-4 with 50 yards and a touchdown on a fourth quarter drive against South Dakota. Then, in 2020, his first college start was against Missouri State, an FCS playoff team he dismantled on 14-of-17 passing with 280 yards and four first half touchdowns.
In those performances, Rattler appeared an ample successor to Heisman winners Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray, and runner-up Jalen Hurts. While he matched the hype on the field, behind other offensive leaders like Hurts and former center Creed Humphrey, his voice wasn’t prevalent in the locker room.
Past leaders including Humphrey and Hurts are in the NFL now, and the Sooners have developed other voices, with Rattler's slowly emerging among them. Stogner and redshirt junior running back Kennedy Brooks both say Rattler has become more vocal, and OU’s defensive leader agrees.
“He knows the position that he’s in and what we need from him and what we expect him to be,” redshirt senior defensive lineman Isaiah Thomas said. “I definitely see him in practice and in workouts being that vocal leader and trying to lead by example.
“I think with Spencer Rattler also playing under Coach Riley, people expect him to be like (Mayfield, Murray and Hurts) as well. We tell him all the time, ‘Spencer, you just need to be Spencer.’ … There’s a lot of weight that he has to carry and a lot of outside noise he has to work through. … It’s a lot of pressure that he has but it's also pressure that he can handle.”
According to Riley, Rattler’s struggles against Tulane provided an opportunity to “reset” and return to being “laser focused.” Following OU’s scare against the Green Wave, Rattler’s balance of production and authority becomes increasingly crucial to the Sooners’ national championship aspirations.
“You can go ‘rah-rah-rah’ all you want, but if you're not doing your job, it becomes counterproductive,” Riley said. “He’s heading in a good direction there, and I think he’ll become a really good leader for us as time goes on and he continues to get in these experiences.”
