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Spencer Rattler announce transfer commitment to South Carolina

Nakos updated headshotby:Pete Nakos•12/13/21•

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(Photo courtesy of Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Spencer Rattler has made his decision: the former Oklahoma quarterback is headed to South Carolina. The former five-star recruit and Heisman favorite entering the season announced his plans Monday night that he is transferring into the SEC East.

The move to Columbia immediately helps Shane Beamer jumpstart the Gamecocks program headed into year two under his regime.

South Carolina is 6-6 on the season and preparing to play North Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte. For large parts of the season, the Gamecocks were playing Zeb Noland, a graduate assistant who was activated to the playing roster midway through fall camp, using his final (sixth) year of eligibility due to injuries at the position.

On the same night Rattler made the move official, former Oklahoma tight end Austin Stogner announced he was following the quarterback to South Carolina.

Beamer, Rattler and Stogner were previously together at Oklahoma, where Beamer served as the team’s associate head coach and tight ends coach.

Rattler entered the transfer portal on Nov. 29.

Spencer Rattler background

Rattler, a redshirt sophomore who was in his second year as the Oklahoma starter, had a disappointing year with the Sooners. He was first benched and replaced by Caleb Williams against Texas, with the Sooners down 35-17 with 6:36 left in the first half. Riley made the change after a Rattler fumble, his second turnover of the Red River Showdown.

Williams ultimately led one of the most iconic comebacks in recent college football memory and the largest comeback Oklahoma has ever mounted in the 117-year history of the Red River Rivalry. 

Rattler took over as the backup for the rest of the season, finishing with 1,483 passing yards for 11 touchdowns and five interceptions.

A native of Phoenix, Arizona, Rattler was a consensus five-star recruit and the No. 1 quarterback in the 2019 recruiting class. He served as the backup to Jalen Hurts his freshman season, before taking over as starter in 2020, then being benched in 2021.