
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Spencer Rattler is not sure how things went sideways when he was Oklahoma’s quarterback, he just knows it was time for a reset and believes he’s found it at South Carolina.
“I feel totally refreshed to be at a new university, a great university like this,” Rattler said Wednesday. “I feel very comfortable here. I made a great decision and I’m happy I’m in this position.”
Rattler seemed in the perfect spot for him at Oklahoma, He was a five-star talent with a power arm who led the Sooners to the Big 12 Championship in 2020.
He began 2021 as a Heisman Trophy front runner and figured to end as the NFL’s likely No. 1 draft pick this spring. And while the Sooners kept winning, they weren’t bludgeoning opponents – they won five of their first six games by a touchdown or less – and Rattler took the fall.
Rattler was replaced by freshman Caleb Williams in the middle of a 55-48 win over Texas and never started again.
“It was crazy, it was a whirlwind,” Rattler said. “On the job my second year, had a great year, only lost two games. This past year, things went how they went, I couldn’t control them.
“I felt like as a player I was doing fine,” he continued. “We were undefeated at the time, but I guess it wasn’t enough.”
Rattler knew he had to leave the Sooners. His friend, Oklahoma tight end Austin Stogner, was also in the NCAA transfer portal and talked to Rattler about joining former Sooners’ assistant Shane Beamer, now starting his second season as South Carolina head coach.
A Zoom call was scheduled and Rattler loved what he heard.
“They impressed me a lot,” the quarterback said of the Gamecocks’ pitch.
Rattler doesn’t waste time wondering what might’ve been if he had stuck it out at Oklahoma with his head coach Lincoln Riley and rival Williams both at Southern…
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