Is South Carolina's Spencer Rattler the best SEC quarterback? 'He's like spaghetti sauce'

COLUMBIA — Quarterback Spencer Rattler is on track for not just the best season of his career but also a historic performance in South Carolina football's record books.

Through the first four games, Rattler ranks No. 8 in the country in passing yards, No. 6 in yards per game, and No. 12 in completion percentage. He has 1,242 passing yards and seven touchdowns on 74.2% completion, and he is also on pace for his most efficient rushing season ever with 64 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

If he continues at this rate, Rattler will break South Carolina program records for single-season passing yards, completions and completion percentage in 12 games. He has already come close to Connor Shaw's 2012 record of 20 consecutive completions in a game, and a spike in red zone pass plays could get him near the single-season passing touchdown record of 29 as well.

Rattler wasn't named to any of the three preseason All-SEC teams, but his breakout is not unprecedented after he threw for a career-high 438 yards and six touchdowns in an upset of Tennessee last season. He'll get the chance to keep elevating his stock when the Gamecocks (2-2, 1-1 SEC) face the Vols (3-1, 0-1) in Knoxville on Saturday (7:30 p.m., SEC Network).

Why Spencer Rattler is the best SEC quarterback

Dowell Loggains said Rattler sometimes makes him feel like Superman as a first-time offensive coordinator at the college level.

"You can call anything and he'll make it right," Loggains said. "He's like spaghetti sauce, he'll cover up anything. He gets you out of a bad place and get you in a good place. I can't say enough about in the first four weeks what he's done for me and my confidence as a play caller and my confidence in this offense."

Rattler's decision-making was at times a liability for the Gamecocks in 2022. He only had four games with a completion percentage over 70% and threw 10 interceptions through the first eight games. This year it has become his greatest strength: Rattler threw just two incompletions on 20-plus attempts against both Furman and Mississippi State, and his only interceptions on the season came on late hail Mary attempts at No. 1 Georgia.

"He's probably the best pure passer, possibly in college football, just the best stroke to where it's effortless when he throws the football," said Mike Giovando, Rattler's private quarterback coach in his hometown Phoenix. "Last year was a learning process ... and he's really gotten back to where he feels comfortable that, 'This is me, this is how I am and this is what I should be doing.'"

LSU's Jayden Daniels, the preseason first-team All-SEC quarterback, has lived up to the hype in some ways, but he became a non-factor in the second half as the Tigers got embarrassed by No. 4 Florida State in the season opener. While many of his issues in that game could be attributed to the offensive line and wide receivers, Daniels is working around a level of talent that Rattler could only dream of at South Carolina.

No quarterback in the nation is doing more with less protection than Rattler. The Gamecocks are starting two FCS transfers and a freshman on the offensive line, and the returners don't have much track record of success considering last year's unit gave up 31 sacks and led the third-worst run game in the SEC.

Despite taking 16 sacks in four games, Rattler is consistently keeping composure under pressure. His spike in rushing yards comes as a result of his comfort improvising and scrambling, and that confidence requires an elite football IQ in the first season under a new offensive coordinator.

The case against Spencer Rattler as best SEC quarterback

So if not Rattler, then who?

Daniels is the easy answer, especially on paper. LSU is 3-1 with SEC wins over Mississippi State and Arkansas, and Daniels leads the conference in passing yards with 1,296. He also ranks No. 8 in the country in passing efficiency, No. 4 in yards per game and No. 10 in yards per attempt.

Even when he struggled against Florida State, Daniels' stat line didn't suffer. He recorded 346 passing yards and a touchdown plus 64 rushing yards, and it's easy to write off the uglier sacks and incompletions as simply sorting out Week 1 kinks.

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Arkansas's KJ Jefferson, though not as flashy as Daniels, also presents a solid case. The senior is an elite dual-threat quarterback and leads the Razorbacks in sack-adjusted rushing yards with 202. He also has 918 passing yards on 70.4% completion and is tied for No. 3 in the SEC with nine passing touchdowns.

Playing without star running back Rocket Sanders, Jefferson put Arkansas on his back in last week's 34-31 loss to LSU. He had his best game of the season against the No. 12 Tigers' defense, going 21-of-31 passing for 289 yards passing and three touchdowns.

Tennessee's Joe Milton was the third-team All-SEC quarterback preseason, but he has taken a step back since the Vols' disastrous loss to Florida. Milton ranks in the bottom half of the conference in passing yards, completion percentage and QB rating, but his rocket-launcher arm means he's always capable of a making a highlight-reel play. If he leads the Vols to victory over South Carolina, his stock could rise quickly.

Follow South Carolina football beat reporter Emily Adams on X @eaadams6 and subscribe to The Greenville News for exclusive Gamecocks content: https://subscribe.greenvilleonline.com/offers.

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This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Is Spencer Rattler of South Carolina football best SEC quarterback?