Tag: Spencer Rattler

Dec 30, 2022; Jacksonville, FL, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks quarterback Spencer Rattler (7) throws the ball during the first half against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the 2022 Gator Bowl at TIAA Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton-USA TODAY Sports

South Carolina QB Spencer Rattler to return in 2023

Posted on | by Field Level Media

South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler announced Tuesday that he will return to the Gamecocks in 2023.

Rattler threw for 3,012 yards and 18 touchdowns against 12 interceptions this past season, rekindling the promise that he showed in one prior outstanding season at Oklahoma.

Rattler made his announcement in a video he posted to Twitter.

Rattler especially came alive in South Carolina’s final three games, throwing for 1,044 yards and 10 TDs against Tennessee, Clemson and Notre Dame. The Gamecocks won two of their last three to finish 8-5. They lost to Notre Dame 45-38 in the Gator Bowl.

Rattler threw for 3,031 yards and 28 TDs against seven INTs in 2020 for the Sooners but then fell off in 2021, eventually losing his starting job while throwing for 1,483 yards, 11 TDs and five INTs.

He transferred to South Carolina after the 2021 season.

–Field Level Media

Oct 23, 2021; Lawrence, Kansas, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Spencer Rattler (7) warms up before the game against the Kansas Jayhawks at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

Oklahoma QB Spencer Rattler announces transfer to South Carolina

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Spencer Rattler, the former starting quarterback at Oklahoma, announced on social media Monday that he is transferring to South Carolina.

Rattler entered the 2021 college football season as a Heisman Trophy favorite and ended it stuck on the bench behind freshman Caleb Williams, so a transfer always seemed in the offing.

Rattler, who burst onto the scene as a freshman in 2020 with a 3,031-yard passing season that included 28 touchdown passes, got off to a slower start in 2021.

Williams was promoted during the Sooners’ dramatic 55-48 comeback win vs. Texas in the Red River Shootout on Oct. 9 and never relinquished the job.

For the season, Williams completed 62.5 percent of his passes with 1,670 yards, 18 touchdowns and four interceptions. Rattler finished at 74.9 percent for 1,483 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions.

Williams, however, was the bigger threat on the ground, running for 408 yards and six touchdowns, averaging 5.7 yards per carry. Rattler rushed for just 77 yards on 43 carries (1.8 ypc).

Oklahoma finished 10-2 and out of the Big 12 championship game for the first time since it was reinstituted in 2017.

Some speculation mounted that Rattler might end up at Southern California, where his former head coach, Lincoln Riley, went in a surprising move earlier this month. The Trojans had been Rattler’s runner-up choice coming out of high school.

But he’ll now join a different coach, Shane Beamer, who was on the Oklahoma staff when Rattler’s collegiate career began. Beamer, fresh off a 6-6 debut season as the head coach for the Gamecocks, coached at Oklahoma from 2018-20.

Oklahoma tight end Austin Stogner also announced Monday that he is transferring to South Carolina. He had 14 catches for 166 yards and three touchdowns this year.

–Field Level Media

Oct 23, 2021; Lawrence, Kansas, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Spencer Rattler (7) talks with head coach Lincoln Riley before the game against the Kansas Jayhawks at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

Oklahoma QB Spencer Rattler leaving, 6 commits change mind

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Quarterback Spencer Rattler said Monday he’s transferring from Oklahoma, and six high school recruits also have decommitted from the program since head coach Lincoln Riley announced he accepted the same job at Southern California.

The announcement from Rattler — who opened the season as the Heisman Trophy favorite and later was benched — was not unexpected. But now, just 16 days before the early national signing period begins, Oklahoma finds itself down three commits from the 2022 class and three more from 2023.

Bowing out of their 2022 commitments are linebacker Kobie McKinzie and offensive lineman Demetrius Hunter, both from Texas, as well as defensive lineman Derrick Moore from Baltimore. The 247Sports composite ranks all three in the top 20 at their positions.

The hits are even more significant in the 2023 class for the Sooners.

Quarterback Malachi Nelson, the No. 2 quarterback and No. 2 player in the nation, decommitted and could follow Riley to USC. He’s a local product from Los Alamitos, Calif., and behind only Arch Manning — nephew of Peyton and Eli — in the player rankings.

Also backing off the pledge to Oklahoma were a pair of Floridians — Brandon Inniss, the No. 1 wide receiver and No. 9 player in the 2023 class, and running back Treyaun Webb, who is ranked No. 5 at his position and No. 96 overall.

“In light of the recent events and changes, my family and I believe it’s best if I de-commit from OU at this time,” Nelson posted to Twitter. “I want to thank all the Sooner fans for the relentless love and support they’ve shown.”

In his statement posted to Twitter, Rattler made no specific mention of Riley, instead simply stating he’d be entering the transfer portal to pursue his academic and athletic career elsewhere.

“Sooner Nation: Thank you for allowing me to be a student-athlete at this prestigious institution,” he wrote while briefly thanking teammates and coaches. “We won several games together and made memories that I will cherish forever.”

“Thank you again, Oklahoma,” he ended his statement. “I will miss you.”

Rattler, an Arizona native, started all 11 games as a redshirt freshman in 2020 and was a first-team All-Big 12 selection. He threw for 3,031 yards, 28 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

In the Oct. 9 game against Texas, however, he was benched and never regained his starting job.

He will have three years of eligibility remaining, though he also is eligible to enter the NFL draft in 2022.

–Field Level Media

Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley talks with Oklahoma's Spencer Rattler (7) before a two point-conversion attempt during the Red River Showdown college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the University of Texas (UT) Longhorns at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021. Oklahoma won 55-48. Ou Vs Texas

Rattled: Oklahoma cancels media time amid QB drama

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Oklahoma football won’t be holding its scheduled media availability on Wednesday, and reporters won’t be hearing from coach Lincoln Riley until after the fourth-ranked Sooners’ game Saturday against TCU.

That way, he won’t have to answer questions about the quarterback situation, described in detail Tuesday in a report by Oklahoma’s student newspaper. Riley hasn’t named a starter for the upcoming game.

The OU Daily reported that it was freshman Caleb Williams and not preseason Heisman Trophy favorite Spencer Rattler who took the bulk of the snaps with the first team at Tuesday’s practice. It was Williams who rallied the Sooners to a last-minute 55-48 win over rival Texas on Saturday after Riley benched Rattler.

A student reporter went to great lengths — and likely heights — to get the QB information. In fact, he watched practice from a “public building near the OU football practice field, with no athletics employees discouraging observation,” and saw Williams take 15 snaps to seven for Rattler in the “pre-stretching portion of practice.”

The reporter later observed Williams working with starting receivers Jadon Haselwood, Marvin Mims and Mike Woods, as Rattler threw to a group of backups.

And now, questions are arising about the future of Rattler in Norman, where he was asked to follow Heisman Trophy winners Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray and runner-up Jalen Hurts.

It hasn’t been an easy season for Rattler, who has completed 130 of his 175 pass attempts for 1,371 yards in six games. He has 10 touchdown passes and five interceptions.

His worst game of 2021 came Saturday on the biggest stage — the Red River Showdown with the Longhorns. He completed just 8 of 15 passes for 111 yards and an interception and had minus-9 yards rushing with a fumble before giving way to Williams.

Mike Rattler, the quarterback’s father, confirmed reports Spencer missed practice on Monday, saying he was ill and that Riley gave his OK. Mike Rattler opened up to the school paper on the family’s thoughts about Spencer’s Oklahoma future.

“For right now, he’s focused on working for this team, and we’ll see what happens after Jan. 10,” Mike Rattler told the OU Daily. “Hopefully he’ll be playing in the national championship on Jan. 10, and then after that we’ll evaluate where he is as far as if any teams are interested in him in the NFL, we’ll consider that.

“If we think, ‘Hey, you know what, we may ought to do another year or something at Oklahoma, wherever’… we’re leaving our options open whereas that is concerned, but for the most part, right now, we don’t even talk about it, because he’s got a task at hand to deal with.”

Rattler, from Phoenix, was the No. 1 quarterback prospect in the Class of 2019. He backed up Hurts in his first season, then took the reins in 2020. In 11 games, he completed 214 passes for 3,031 yards with 28 touchdown passes against seven interceptions. He added six rushing scores.

Williams came to Oklahoma as the No. 2 quarterback prospect and No. 7 player overall in the Class of 2021, as ranked by the 247Sports composite.

Against Texas, Williams was 15-of-24 passing for 211 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for 88 yards and a touchdown as the Sooners (6-0, 3-0 Big 12) remained unbeaten.

–Field Level Media