Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of articles previewing the Oklahoma football position groups for the 2021 season.
More times than not, championship teams are led by outstanding quarterback play, and Oklahoma has been blessed to have several of the best in the country at that position in recent years.
It’s no coincidence that the Sooners’ run of Heisman-quality quarterbacks is closely aligned with the arrival of Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma.
In the six seasons that Riley has been at Oklahoma (two as offensive coordinator and the last four as head coach), the Sooners have ranked in the top 10 among FBS teams five times and in the top two three times.
That doesn’t happen without outstanding quarterback play. For three consecutive seasons, between 2017 and 2019, two OU quarterbacks won the Heisman Trophy (Baker Mayfield in 2017 and Kyler Murray in 2018) and a third (Jalen Hurts) was the runner-up in the 2019 Heisman voting. All three are now starting QBs in the NFL.
Last season was the first time in five seasons that the OU quarterback had not started a college game before last season.
Spencer Rattler led the Big 12 in passing and ranked 17th nationally, averaging 275 yards per game and 11th in the country in passing efficiency (172.6). His passing yardage and efficiency rating ranked first and second, respectively among freshman quarterbacks in 2020.
Before he had even started a game at Oklahoma, Rattler, who hails from Phoenix, Arizona, was a leading candidate prior to the 2020 COVID-impacted 2020 season to win the Heisman. No freshman has ever won the award.
Besides Rattler, the Sooner QB room looks much different in 2021
A former five-star recruit and the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback in the 2019 class nationally, the incumbent Rattler returns for the 2021 season.
He won’t be the only former No. 1 recruit in the OU quarterback room next season, though. Caleb Williams was the country’s No. 1 dual-threat quarterback in the most recent recruiting class. Williams played his high school football in the Washington, D.C., area had his pick of virtually every major program in the country, but chose to play for Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma.
Given Riley’s history working with quarterbacks, as well as the Sooners’ success on the field, it’s easy to understand why Williams decided to come halfway across the country to play college football.
Williams did not play football his senior year at Gonzaga College High School because of the coronavirus pandemic, but as a junior, the former USA Today and MaxPreps preseason First-Team All-American threw for 1,770 yards and 19 touchdowns and ran for 838 yards and 18 scores.
Two former OU quarterbacks who were on the depth chart a year ago are no longer with the team.
Tanner Mordecai, who was the backup for Jalen Hurts in 2019 and Rattler last season, entered the transfer portal after last season and now is at SMU.
Chandler Morris also elected to transfer after one season in Norman. There is some controversy around his transfer, however. Riley has not fully released Morris, which as of now prevents him from playing immediately at SMU. The Oklahoma head coach is a staunch advocate that players should not be allowed to transfer within the same conference and be allowed to play immediately.
With one incoming recruit and two outgoing quarterbacks, Oklahoma dipped into the transfer portal itself during offseason and signed former Penn State quarterback Micah Bowens.
Bowens redshirted last season at Penn State, but was recruited as a four-star prospect and the No. 8 dual-threat QB in the 2020 class. He was a high school star in Nevada at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, the same school of former Oklahoma star running back and current running backs coach DeMarco Murray.
Looking out to the horizon
For the near term, the Sooners appear to be in excellent shape at the most important position on the field
Oklahoma’s 2022 recruiting class currently ranks seventh, according to both Rivals and the 247Sports composite rankings, but there is not a quarterback commitment. This could easily change between now and next February. If not, you can expect that Lincoln Riley and his staff will be in hot pursuit of the best quarterback talent available in the 2023 class.