It's supposed to be the week of Oklahoma’s spring game. We’re supposed to be closer and closer toward finding out who will be the starting quarterback between redshirt freshman Spencer Rattler and redshirt sophomore Tanner Mordecai.

Supposed to be. Of course, where we are is seeing college football stuck in the pause button because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and wondering when (if?) college football, and society as a whole, will return to normal.

Rattler and Mordecai were able to get one spring practice in before everything came to a screeching halt four weeks ago.

So instead of them duking it out for 15 practices, they’re back home. For the lack of face-to-face contact they cannot have, head coach Lincoln Riley was quick to point out the things they can do to stay prepared.

“There's a number of things they can still continue to do,” said Riley in a conference call last week. “This has some similarities to a summer period where we have very limited access to them. It certainly helps that they've been in the system, that they have a good understanding of what we're doing and they've got a good understanding of what they need to go work on.

“And so, some of it's tougher because for quarterbacks, you'd like to have a bunch of receivers and a bunch of group workouts, and not all of those things are possible right now, and we get that. But also, there's a chance to continue to study film, continue to work on themselves physically, continue to work on the fundamental parts of this game.”

Nobody is claiming that either Mordecai or Rattler wouldn’t good in the film room, but they have the opportunity, said Riley, to become masters at it. To become better at things like film preparation that maybe they never would have gotten the time to fully examine had they been going through their regular routine.

This was expected to be the third straight spring with an intriguing quarterback storyline even if nearly every single person truly believes it’s just a matter of when Rattler is given the keys. In 2018, the headlines were Austin Kendall vs. Kyler Murray, and we all know how that played out.

Last year was about the arrival of Jalen Hurts and cramming everything humanly possible at him to get him ready to run a Riley-led offense.

At least there’s no drama in that this time around. Riley isn’t sure how things could have gone with Hurts had the pandemic been an issue last season. He can rest easy, or easier, because of the experience Rattler and Mordecai have in the system.

“Yea, like any coach, would I like to have the reps for them? Of course I would,” Riley said. “It just doesn’t give me anxiety right now. These guys, I’ve been in the meeting room with them for a long time. I’ve seen them play, seen them practice, seen how they prepare and just getting a feel for their knowledge of what we’re doing. I’ve got a lot of confidence in those two, I do.”

Riley is confident about the situation in the room, and if there’s one thing Riley has shown to be a master of, it’s in adapting. This is a much different adjustment than just tailoring an offense or things of that nature, but it’d be foolish to bet against Riley not having Mordecai and Rattler ready to roll once the all clear signal has been given.

“We’re in as good a situation as just about anybody with this scenario because of those two guys because they can both play,” Riley said. “They both know what we’re doing, they both know what’s expected. They’re competitive guys, they’re self-starters. They’re at home working their tails off right now.”