What Spencer Rattler said after loss to Missouri
Following South Carolina football’s 34-12 loss at Missouri, Gamecocks quarterback Spencer Rattler spoke with the media.
Here’s what he had to say in the postgame press conference.:
QUESTION: A lot of chances in the second half, but ended up having to get threes instead of going for touchdowns. What were the decision makings? What was making it so hard, especially on third down, to kind of keep them off of you?
RATTLER: I mean, you know, first half as a group wasn’t good enough and we know that. You know, credit to Missouri, they did an outstanding job scheming up against us. They’ve got great players. Coach Drink does a great job with what they’re doing on defense and, you know, credit to them. But we shot ourselves in the foot a lot our first half, just, weren’t converting on third down enough. I mean, it was tough with their blitz plan, but in the second half, like you said, we had a lot of chances, a lot of chances to finish down there in the red zone and we just couldn’t get it done and I’ve got to be better down there.
We all got to be better, but, you know, we’re going to get back to work and try to be better in those clutch moments when we need it. You know what I mean? So that’s my two cents on it.
Q: How impactful was not having Vershon out there today, both, you know, as a leader and as a player?
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RATTLER: Great game plan. We’ve just got to execute at a higher level. Leaders got to step up and we will. We showed a lot of great leadership at halftime and throughout the second half. So I’m proud of these, you know, this team for fighting the way we did.
We all truly believe we were going to come back and win that game and just fell short. So we’ll get back to work.
Q: Spencer, when Xavier had to leave, how much more difficult did that make things for you since you got him a lot in a few moments this year?
RATTLER: Yeah, no doubt. You know, it was different obviously without him out there, he’s such a great player, very explosive and makes it hard on the defense. But we’ve got we got other guys as well. Omega Blake, AB, Eddie Lewis, Nyck Harbor stepped up big time today, our tight ends. We’ve just we’ve got to get everybody rolling.
I’ve got to be better for them and then we’ve got to all play off each other. It was good for them to get reps today, Tyshawn Russell, guys like that. They’re going to go through some bumps in the road. They’ve just got to keep working, keep pushing, because you see guys like Nyck make big plays today and that’s going to take him a long way and help us out for the next five games or so.
(On the OL) Look, these guys, they work their tail off every single day. I know that the, you know, we get pressured a lot. You know, a lot of that is when the back end is, you know, they’re covering really well. They have a great scheme. You know, like I said, they did a great job. That’s not all on the O-line.
You know, I don’t want the narrative to be, oh, the O-line this, O-line that. Some of those sacks are my fault. Some of those sacks are our receivers’ fault, not getting open. It’s a team thing, truly, on this offense, and we do not point fingers.
We do not do none of that. So I just want to get that out there.
Q: For both of you, down 24-3 at the break, in the locker room, was it, and I noticed y’all came out kind of, it looked like y’all came out late, like a minute ago or maybe 90 seconds before the team started coming out. Was it fiery, or did the coaches just kind of leave it to yourselves to dig inside each man and figure it out?
RATTLER: Coach Beamer walked in there, and we were already on it. I mean, leaders on the team already getting guys into the game, motivating them, just telling them what we needed to do coming out in the second half, and I feel like we played a really good second half.
Like I said, we just didn’t finish in key moments, and, you know, we’ll get better from it. But I think we took a step in leadership. Obviously, we’re going to need it the rest of the year to find more opportunities, and just got to keep playing 100% effort and giving it our all, and the ball rolls where the ball rolls.
Q: Being able to show the underclassmen just the fight through the adversity these next couple weeks, how important is that going to be? You mentioned just being able to take that step forward as leaders today at halftime, but how important will that be in terms of just how this season’s going to be written at the end?
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RATTLER: No doubt. You know, we talked about it a little in the hotel, we’ve been going through adversity all year, and obviously we don’t like being two and five. I feel so bad for our group, for Coach Beamer, for our coaches. It’s just, it’s a horrible feeling. Wee’re a really good team that, you know, but we’re just two and five at the time. But without adversity, you’re not going to get better at anything, you’re going to get complacent. The guys work so hard on this team, and we do it every single week.
We put in amazing work every single day, and we’re fully prepared going into these games. We’ve just got to be better on Saturdays, and we’re going to figure it out. Like I said, five more chances. You’ve got to get through adversity to see success.
I know a lot about that, and I’m going to keep pouring into these guys and being a better leader for them.
Q: Spencer, you talked about playing a pretty good second half, kind of getting some of those key moments. What has to happen in your mind for this team to play a complete 60 minutes?
RATTLER: Just execute. You know, one play at a time. Don’t worry about the outcome. Just one play at a time.
Q: Spencer, it seems like, you know, you’re down on the ground a lot and stuff like that. How are you feeling? Like, how is your body holding up?
RATTLER: I’m fine, man. I’m fine, honestly. Like, I don’t have to play. My job is easy compared to, you know, body-wise, and then what these guys have to do, running backs have to do, defense has to do. I’m all right.
I’ll keep playing as hard as I can, and I’ll protect myself, you know?
