Spencer Rattler is new starter, but not new in Sooner system

A little over a week from now, the curtain will go up on the Spencer Rattler era as the next Oklahoma starting quarterback.

Needless to say, the quarterback bar at Oklahoma is exceptionally high in the wake of three successive seasons in which three separate Sooner signal-callers have collected a pair of Heisman Trophies and finished as a Heisman runner-up.

That is a tremendous legacy to have to follow, and some college football analysts are not sure if Rattler’s shoulders are broad and sturdy enough to handle all the historical pressure and high expectations that precede his ascendance to the starter’s role in the program with the reputation as college football’s new “Quarterback U.”

Few young quarterbacks are afforded this kind of opportunity and fewer still fewer still are shouldered with the expectations that the Arizona-native Rattler faces at Oklahoma.

Rattler knows about performing in the spotlight. And he has thrived in the limelight and in the big moments. He started as a freshman at his high school in Phoenix and by the time his high school career had ended, he owned the Arizona state record for career passing yards (11,083), which included 116 touchdown passes.

Unlike the three elite college quarterbacks who preceded him, Rattler is the only one who has been committed to the Sooners from the beginning. The last three Sooner quarterbacks, all of whom were coached by and developed under Lincoln Riley’s tutelage, transferred into the Oklahoma program.

Riley liked what he saw in Rattler from the time the young quarterback prospect first caught his attention. Riley offered Rattler a scholarship when he was just a freshman at Pinnacle High School. The then OU offensive coordinator under Bob Stoops liked what he saw on tape, and he was even more impressed, he said, when he got to see the former five-star prospect perform in person.

Rattler made an unofficial visit to Oklahoma in June 2017 and committed to the Sooners shortly thereafter, just ahead of his junior year of high school.

"“You could see that he (Rattler) had a strong natural ability to throw the football and process that playmaking ability,” Riley said this week in his weekly press conference. “I felt like he had all the skills necessary.”"

But Riley also knew then, and still acknowledges, that to play quarterback at Oklahoma and at this level requires continual learning and an upward trajectory in growth and development.

The year Rattler spent his true freshman season, learning from Jalen Hurts, acclimating to the college game at the Division I level and, most of all, learning the OU offense, what Riley wants to do in the offense and why, should benefit him greatly in his preparation to take over the starting role at quarterback.

"“He’s really cleaned a lot of things up, Riley said. “As with any player, especially one that young, there’s still going to be a ton of growth that’s going to happen. But I think he’s on a good trajectory right now.”"

Rattler played sparingly last season, appearing in just three games and mostly in mop-up duty late in games. He has thrown just 11 passes as a collegian.

We really don’t know how well Rattler will perform as the full-time starter or how good he can become over time, but one thing we do know is he is brimming with confidence and not afraid of the moment.

"“For young players, that’s a key thing and I don’t know that that’s really coached,” Riley said. “That’s just something guys either have or they don’t.”"

Regardless of what happens in his inaugural Oklahoma start, though, we need to be careful not to judge who Rattler is or who he can become on the basis of one game, and especially in a game in which Oklahoma will be a heavy home favorite.

There’s no doubt Rattler’s got huge shoes to fill and exceedingly high expectations as he steps into the role of what he hopes will be the next great quarterback in the Sooners’ illustrious football history.

“He’s been preparing for this opportunity for a long time,” said Mike Giovando, who has been Rattler’s personal quarterback coach since he was in sixth grade, in a recent interview with the Arizona Republic. “I don’t think any challenge is too big for him. I think he’s going to excel and leave his own legacy at Oklahoma.”

The entire Sooner Nation is hoping the same thing.