Oklahoma football: Five bold predictions with five days to go

Spencer Rattler will not disappoint

The quarterback role at Oklahoma has become a high profile job that comes with exceedingly high expectations. That is largely the result of the past three Sooner quarterbacks (Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts) having been Heisman finalists, with two winning college football’s most prestigious individual award, and the third finishing as runner-up in the Heisman voting.

All three transferred to Oklahoma and had started a college game before they ever took the field in a Sooner uniform.

Expectations are equally high for Rattler, even though he has thrown just 11 passes in three games and has never started as an Oklahoma Sooner. And although Rattler will be surrounded by plenty of offensive weapons, the Sooners are not as deep or experienced at several skill positions as they have been with each of his recent predecessors at quarterback.

Rattler will have a strong outing in his debut as the OU starting quarterback, but he also will be going up against an inferior opponent that probably has no business on the same field with a top-five, nationally ranked team.

Look for Rattler to grow even more in the Big 12 opener against Kansas State and lead the Sooners to huge wins over Texas, in his first Red River Showdown, and big win at home against in-state rival Oklahoma State. If he is able to lead OU to a second win over one of those two teams in the Big 12 Championship, you won’t hear any more about him being able to live up to expectations or able to handle all the hype.

By season end, this will be Spencer Rattler’s team, and OU will be 10-0 heading into the conference championship game.