Spencer Rattler's father sheds light on absence from Oklahoma practice, transfer rumors

After being benched for a true freshman in last weekend’s Red River Rivalry comeback win over Texas, rumors surrounding Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler’s future have been going wild.

Rattler was allegedly absent from Sooners practice on Monday, but his father, Mike, told the University of Oklahoma student newspaper that his son was sick and the absence was cleared by Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley. Per the OU Daily, Rattler was spotted taking snaps with the second team offense while freshman Caleb Williams worked with the starters.

Rattler’s father shined some light on the situation and the mentality his son has moving forward in the 2021 season.

“For right now, he’s focused on working for this team, and we’ll see what happens after Jan. 10,” Mike Rattler said. “Hopefully he’ll be playing in the national championship on Jan. 10, and then after that we’ll evaluate where he is as far as if any teams are interested in him in the NFL, we’ll consider that.”

The Phoenix native has three years of eligibility remaining; he redshirted his freshman season in 2019, and while he played the full year in 2020, he retains that year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 blanket waiver.

“If we think, ‘Hey, you know what, we may ought to do another year or something at Oklahoma, wherever’ … we’re leaving our options open whereas that is concerned,” the elder Rattler added, “but for the most part, right now, we don’t even talk about it, because he’s got a task at hand to deal with.”

Rattler benched in Red River Rivalry for second consecutive year

This was not the first year the now-redshirt sophomore was pulled from the annual rivalry game with Texas. Last year, Rattler was benched in favor of backup Tanner Mordecai, who is now the starting quarterback at SMU.

This season, the action appears to be more permanent.

Williams entered the game on Saturday with the Sooners down 35-17 with 6:36 left in the first half. Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley made the change after a Rattler fumble, his second turnover of the game.

Williams, the former five-star recruit from Washington D.C., ultimately led one of the most iconic comebacks in recent college football memory and the largest comeback either team has ever mounted in the 117-year history of Red River.

Rattler was, however, the quarterback for Oklahoma’s 2-point conversion on Saturday, which tied the game at 41 with just over 10 minutes to play in the fourth quarter.

On the year, Rattler is 130-for-175 with 1,371 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions. His completion percentage of 74.3% is third in the nation. In 2020, he was named CBS Sports’ freshman of the year, hence the Heisman hype entering this season.