Oklahoma football: Seven ways OU QB Rattler is better than ISU’s QB
By Chip Rouse
Oklahoma football freshman quarterback Spencer Rattler will lead the Sooners in their Big 12 Championship matchup with regular-season champion Iowa State.
The former No. 1 quarterback in the 2019 national recruiting class seeks to sustain what the previous three Sooner starting quarterbacks set in motion five seasons ago and have kept going since: winning five straight Big 12 championships.
Very different from his three Oklahoma predecessors, however, Rattler’s first collegiate start came in a Sooner uniform. Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts, all of whom are now starting in the NFL, all made starts at quarterback at other schools before transferring to OU.
Rattler is a home-grown prospect in the sense that he arrived in Norman straight out of high school as the headliner in the Sooners’ 2019 recruiting class. The Redshirt-freshman quarterback from Phoenix, Arizona, is attempting to become the ninth Oklahoma quarterback since 2000 to win a Big 12 championship.
It is fitting that Rattler and defensive end Ronnie Perkins share the same No. 7 jersey number. While Rattler is the team leader of the Sooners’ high-octane offense, Perkins serves the same role on the defensive side of the ball.
Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley says his young starting quarterback has grown up a lot since the beginning of the season. It hasn’t been without some growing pains, the OU head coach says, but Rattler is definitely seeing things better and making better decisions. And his performance numbers bear that out.
"“Every game, every scenario, every situation is a learning opportunity for him and for our team,” Riley told the media before OU’s game with Oklahoma State in mid-November. “He’s a guy that doesn’t shy away” from the big stage and the big moment."
On Saturday at AT&T Stadium (otherwise known as “Jerry World” in reference to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones) in Arlington, Texas, Rattler will carry No. 10 Oklahoma’s offensive hopes going against Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy, who has a couple of years of starting experience over the Sooner QB.
Here are 7 ways Rattler compares with and even exceeds the Iowa State quarterback:
Total offense/game
Rattler 290.6 yards
Purdy 258.2 yards
Passing yards
Rattler 2,512 yards through nine games
Purdy 2,272 yards through 10 games
Completion percentage
Rattler 68.5
Purdy 66.2
Touchdown passes
Rattler 24
Purdy 17
Passing yards/game
Rattler 279.1
Purdy 227.2
Passing efficiency rating
Rattler 174.7
Purdy 145.6
TD to interception ratio
Rattler 24/7 (3.43)
Purdy 17/6 (2.83)
Editor’s note: OU’s Rattler leads the Big 12 in all of the above categories except TDs and TD to interception ratio (Rattler ranks second to Sam Ehlinger of Texas in both categories).