Rattler's wild night ends with win

This wasn’t supposed to be how the season was going to unfold for Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler.

Anointed as the next big thing before he even arrived on campus, going through the ups and downs of 2020 that ended on a major high was supposed to make him ready to be the biggest name in college football in 2021.

But there he was Saturday night, and he was just a quarterback trying to find himself and trying to find his team a victory. Where Rattler goes from here is to be determined, but he ended it in style in the Sooners’ 16-13 victory against visiting West Virginia to improve to 4-0 and start Big 12 conference play on the right note.

An evening that featured numerous twists and turns culminated with Rattler going 6-of-6 passing for 54 yards on the final drive, resulting in Gabe Brkic’s game-winning 30-yard field goal as time expired.

Take a breath because there was a whole lot to unpack.

It was a polarizing night for QB1 at OU. The talk all week was about how he paid no attention to the criticism that came his way, but nothing could prepare anybody for the second quarter.

After Rattler was picked off midway through the quarter, the OU student section started a ‘We Want Caleb’ chant for backup quarterback Caleb Williams that only grew louder and louder following a media timeout.

“We kind of just lock in on what we have to lock in on,” said Rattler about the chant and frequent booing of OU’s offense. “I don’t really like … I don’t care. We don’t care. It doesn’t matter to us. We’re out here to win a game and they’re in the stands.

“You just got to deal with it. I really don’t know why they were doing it but I mean…”

That’s the expectation of OU’s offense under Lincoln Riley. That’s the expectation of being OU’s quarterback. Perfection or something dang close to it every time out.

It’s not often to hear boos raining down in Norman. One notable time was in a 48-14 loss vs. Baylor, but that was more directed toward former defensive coordinator Mike Stoops and the defensive scheme.

This? This, though, was directed at one player. Or at least it sure felt like it initially. There’s no doubt it could have been about the lack of offensive execution as things carried on throughout the game.

“I wanna play better offensively more than anybody out there, but them (fans) being behind us is what helps,” Riley said. “Spencer handled it. It didn't bother him at all. And honestly, as I was evaluating it through the game, we've gotta play a lot better around him. He can do some things better.

“I tell you what, he hung in there and really trusted it and the only pick he threw, we totally busted a route that was probably his best throw of the night. So I know how it looks to the casual fan. I'm certainly not saying that Spencer can't play better. He can. He will. But we've gotta play better around him too.”

Riley used the word resilience to describe the victory. Rattler personified it. Honestly, his number don’t suggest an awful game. Completing 26 of 36 passes for 256 yards with a touchdown and an interception doesn’t sound too terrible. But anybody in the stadium could sense this uneasiness from the second quarter on, which only illustrates the final drive.

OU took over at its own 8 yard line with 3:39 left in the game. The Sooners went on a 14-play, 80-yard drive to set up Brkic’s heroics.

Rattler completed his six passes to five different receivers. If the confidence wasn’t high among the fanbase, the same couldn’t be said in the huddle.

“Leading into the final drive of the game, he came up to us and he just told us ‘It’s time to start driving.’ We give him time up front and he’ll make the throws,” offensive lineman Tyrese Robinson said. “And we did that exact thing out there and it led to the game-winning kick by Gabe.”

It’s a drive Riley and Rattler admitted they’re not sure the Sooners could have made in 2020 and definitely not something they could have accomplished so early in the season.

Rattler called it a maturing moment. And Riley is hoping the fan base that cascaded his quarterback with the booing and chanting might remember that final drive as well.

“It ain’t easy, man. It's a big job, it's not easy, and I'll tell you on the sideline, he was never rattled, not one bit,” Riley said. “Like the deal where we bust a route and he makes probably his best read, or best throw of the night, it turns into a pick. So many guys could say, ‘Well,’ and go in the tank. ‘Nothing going right for me, I mean even when I do it right it's not working,’ and he hung in there and I think showed some real poise that he's been there. He’s got a good makeup about him.

“We'll own what we didn't do well. We're not gonna shy away from that. I tell you what, it takes a lot of balls, alright, to do what we did there at the end. So people better see that, too.”

A night nobody will forget anytime soon and with everybody wondering where Rattler will go from here?

Rattler will have that chance to write the rest of the story.