Rattler's rivalry experience should help him in Bedlam
NORMAN—Spencer Rattler's physical talent was never in question.
It was on display last season in the few games he got into as OU's third-string quarterback.
The arm strength. The accuracy. The ability to make plays with his feet.
The biggest unknown entering his red shirt freshman season was how he would handle the other aspects that come along with being a Division I quarterback. Plus, he is playing for a team that has gotten unprecedented production from the quarter back position over the previous five seasons.
“You have to experience it,” OU coach Lincoln Riley said. “As much as you can mentally prepare guys and do everything you can to get them ready and talk to them and have guys who have been in that same position talk to them, it's just experiencing it is another thing.”
Riley was speaking of being a starting quarter back in general, but he just as easily could've been talking about
quarterbacking in big-time games.
Unlike his Bedlam counterpart, OSU quarter back Spencer Sanders, this Spencer enters Saturday's game with experience in a big-time rivalry matchup.
Rattler has shown growth in a lot of areas, but none as drastic as was evident in early October against Texas.
Rattler was, well, rattled in the first half. He threw an interception on the final play of the first quarter then on OU's next drive, Rattler was careless with the football on third down, fumbled and soon enough he was standing next to Riley on the sidelines while Tanner Mordecai took over for the rest of the half.
Rattler re-entered the game after half and has grown from that experience—taking care of the football more and consistently making solid decisions while still showing the flash that made him electric early in the season.
“The game is getting slower and slower for me all the time,” Rattler said recently. “I feel super comfortable now, just with everything. I've got a lot of work to do, of course, but I feel really comfortable right now.”
Even acknowledging t he unique nature of both the Red River Showdown and Bedlam, Riley isn't one to admit to the game being different, even for quarterbacks.
But the growth Rattler has shown over the last monthplus certainly has set the Sooners up in a better place heading into the game against OSU.
“I didn't think any of the good or bad that happened in that game (Texas) was a result of the build up,” Riley said. “Every game, every scenario, every situation is a learning opportunity for him and our whole team.
“I think he's learned. He'll get into some new situations, some different situations here Saturday night and hopefully the experience he's had through this year and some of the situations he's already been in, he can draw back (on).”
Rattler is also getting more help than he was earlier in the season.
The offensive line that struggled so much earlier in the season has protected him much better in recent weeks. After Rattler was sacked an average of 2.5 times per game in the first four games, he's been sacked just twice in the last three.
Rhamondre Stevenson' s return has also made OU's offensive mu chm or eb alanced, allowing Rattler to settle in.
Riley said Rattler is trusting those around him more than he was early.
“We all know that he can play, we all know that he can throw the rock ,” So one rs H- back Jeremiah Hall said. “But when it comes to situations where things don't go our way, it's making sure that he doesn't feel all that pressure. Not every thing' s his fault. He doesn't have to make every single play by himself.”