SEC Media Days: Why quarterback Spencer Rattler is 'just grateful' to be at South Carolina

NASHVILLE — Spencer Rattler won’t be in college when his South Carolina team plays at Oklahoma a little more than a year from now.

But the former OU quarterback can tell his teammates what to expect from the atmosphere surrounding Owen Field.

“Just expect a loud stadium, a big stadium. A lot of crimson and cream,” Rattler said Thursday at Southeastern Conference Media Days. “It will be a good time. I'll be excited to watch.”

By that point, Rattler will be chasing NFL dreams in the latest chapter of what’s been an eventful career.

Most who watched him as the top high school quarterback in the nation would not have predicted he’d become something of a college football journeyman.

But since his debut at OU four years ago, he’s been benched and replaced, transferred schools, played under two head coaches and will have a third different offensive coordinator with Dowell Loggains joining South Carolina’s staff this season.

Those aren’t necessarily bad things, said South Carolina coach Shane Beamer, who was an assistant at OU for two of Rattler’s years there.

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“Seeing him get benched in the Texas game in (2020 with OU) and come back in the second half and lead us to a four-overtime win, I believe, told me everything I needed to know about Spencer as far as the competitor, leader and kind of person he was,” Beamer said. “He made us better on and off the field. I saw enough. Forget about his talent level on the field because that speaks for itself, but the way he handled himself off the field during my two seasons there was really good for me to see.”

When Rattler arrived at OU as the consensus No. 1 quarterback in the 2019 class, he was Lincoln Riley’s highest-rated high school recruit. He had been a polarizing figure in Netflix’s documentary series “QB1: Beyond the Lights” that featured him while he was at Pinnacle High School in Phoenix, Arizona.

Rattler said the hard times he’s seen since then have shaped his career for the better.

“Being a quarterback, you're expecting to go through the success and the adversity. You’ve got to take it all. I think it was a great learning experience for me,” Rattler said of his time at OU. “Coming here to South Carolina, it helped me a lot to be in this position. I'm just grateful to be here.”

In 2020, he earned the nod as the first team All-Big 12 quarterback his redshirt freshman season at OU after throwing for 3,031 yards and 28 touchdowns with seven interceptions and a 67.5% completion rate.

Big changes followed. Rattler was benched six games into the 2021 season for Caleb Williams, who became a star and transferred to join Riley at USC where he won the Heisman Trophy in 2022. Rattler soon transferred.

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That wasn’t the first time he hit a speed bump in Norman, either.

“His first two games as a starting quarterback in the Big 12 at Oklahoma, we lost to Kansas State and Iowa State. You are not supposed to lose two conference games at Oklahoma. That doesn’t happen,” Beamer said. “(And) not to mention two games to start the season you’re (succeeding) Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts as the quarterback.”

Rattler compiled 3,026 passing yards and 21 touchdowns with a 66.2% completion rate in his first season at South Carolina last fall — good enough to lead the Gamecocks to an 8-5 record and appearance in the Gator Bowl. It was the school’s best finish since 2017. Rattler was part of an upset win against eighth-ranked Clemson and threw for a career-high 438 yards and six touchdowns in a 63-38 upset of No. 5 Tennessee.

Even that season had ups and downs. Rattler threw 12 interceptions and didn’t heat up until late in the year.

Beamer still thinks Rattler will take another step forward. He wouldn’t have been interested in him as a transfer otherwise.

“It wasn't like I was bringing in a guy to play quarterback that I didn't know,” Beamer said. “I spent two years with him at Oklahoma, a little bit longer if you count the recruiting process as well. He was committed when I got there, but I was with him in those two seasons. So I knew what kind of person he was.”

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: SEC Media Days: South Carolina's Rattler grateful to be with Gamecocks