Oklahoma transfer Tanner Mordecai named SMU starting quarterback

Former Oklahoma quarterback Tanner Mordecai has been named SMU’s starter. The redshirt junior will be under center for when the Mustangs open up the season Saturday against Abilene Christian.

Mordecai entered the transfer portal in December after redshirting in 2018 and serving as the backup for Jalen Hurts in 2019 and Spencer Rattler in 2020.

He beat out true freshman Preston Stone and former walk-on Derek Green for the starting job. SMU waited out its quarterback decision. The Mustangs rotated the three quarterbacks throughout first-team reps throughout the preseason. At Sunday’s practice, however, Mordecai was the only quarterback to work with the first team.

The transfer quarterback plan has worked out for the Mustangs in recent years. Shane Buechele helped revive the program, transferring from Texas to SMU in June 2019. Buechele went 10-3 and 7-3 as the Mustangs were ranked in the AP top-25 poll in his two seasons in Dallas,

Sonny Dykes and SMU are planning for Mordecai to follow a similar plan.

Tanner Mordecai career at Oklahoma

A former four-star recruit out of Waco, Texas, Mordecai played in 12 games during his three seasons at Oklahoma. In his 12 appearances, he completed 71.4% of his passes for 639 yards with four touchdowns and an interception.

The 6-foot-2, 213-pound quarterback had offers from Baylor and Georgia coming out of high school. The dual-threat gunslinger was a top-250 prospect when he entered Oklahoma. As the Sooners continue to reel in elite quarterback prospects, Mordecai wanted to transfer somewhere he could start immediately.

“Tanner has been a really good member of this football team,” Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said when Mordecai entered the transfer portal. “I think he’s looking for the opportunity to go in and be a starter somewhere. He’s done really well. I think he’s ready to be a starter. He had some good competition while he was here. He had some unfortunate events that made it tougher for him to compete, like getting injured during our competition this year.

“But he’s a great young man, great family, tremendous quarterback, and he’ll make somebody very happy.”