Game week is here for Spencer Rattler, who will make much-anticipated South Carolina debut
A lot has changed in the last year for South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler.
Nine months after entering the transfer portal, leaving Oklahoma, picking the Gamecocks, and completely immersing himself in a new program, the former five-star quarterback who is one of the most well-known players in all of college football is just days away from doing what he does best: playing ball.
There’s no need to once again rehash Rattler’s experience at Oklahoma — that story has already been told many times before — and that seemed the furthest thing from the big-armed QB’s mind as he sat in Cayce, S.C. on Monday and looked ahead to Saturday in his latest Garnet Trust interview.
Just days away from making his South Carolina debut this Saturday night against Georgia State, Rattler seemed calm, confident, and poised — with a hint of giddiness thrown in too in anticipation of the big day.
“Man, as a team, we’re excited, I’m excited because it’s my first time playing out here at Williams-Brice and in front of these great fans,” Rattler said. “I know we’re all ready to put it all on the line and that’s what we’ve been working so hard toward since the wintertime. It’s been a great summer and we’re excited to finally get on the field.”
Game Week Special: Get one year of Gamecock Central for $10 or one month for $1!
While the Gamecocks — an 11.5-point favorite over Shawn Elliott’s Sun Belt Georgia State team — still have a couple of days worth of prep left for the Panthers, South Carolina has officially completed its preseason camp, meaning the major installations and big-picture plan are already in. Now, it’s time for a game-week focus.
“I think as a group, we had a great camp,” Rattler said. “You’re going to want to fix a lot in the three weeks that you have and that’s what we did. The growth from Day 1 to now is a lot and, obviously, we’ve still got this practice week, this game week to prepare for Georgia State on Saturday. But I’m confident in this group and it was a great camp. We had a lot of fun and got a lot of work in.”
Top 10
- 1
'Fire Kelly' chants at LSU
Death Valley disapproval of Brian Kelly
- 2
SEC title game scenarios
The path to the championship game is clear
- 3New
Chipper Jones
Braves legend fiercely defends SEC
- 4
Drinkwitz warns MSU
Mizzou coach sounded off
- 5Hot
Neyland does Gator Chomp
Vols fans celebrate Florida win
Rattler sees a Panthers team heavy on experience and it’s obvious that Shane Beamer and staff have mentioned what Elliott’s group has done in recent years against other SEC foes.
“They’ve got a lot of returners,” Rattler said of Georgia State. “Obviously, they’re an experienced group. They played Tennessee well. They played Auburn well. They’ve played a lot of big teams well. I know their head coach used to coach here as well and so it’s going to be a big game for them. We’ve got to prepare like it’s any opponent. It doesn’t matter who it is, we have to play our A game, because they’re going to play theirs. They’re athletic, they’ve got some speed, and we’re going to have to play a good game.”
Click here to subscribe to the Gamecock Central YouTube page for FREE!
As the week ticks down and Friday then turns to Saturday, Rattler will finally make his South Carolina debut.
All that will be left to do then is to go play.
“I think it’s known that it’s going to be sold out, packed out,” Rattler said. “I’m so excited to get out there and play. I can’t wait to see what we can do as a group and I know the fans are going to be pleased with what they see. We’ve got to go out there and play hard, play 110 percent every snap and let evertything else take care of itself. But I’m excited to get out there in front of 90,000.”
