What’s Next For South Carolina and Quarterback Spencer Rattler Heading into the 2023 Season

Former Oklahoma QB Spencer Rattler Has Found a New Home at South Carolina

Playing in the same conference with Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana State, it can be easy to forget about South Carolina. Perhaps if quarterback Spencer Rattler’s stats take a jump from his first season with the Gamecocks, that can change.

Rattler was a highly touted recruit who was showing up as a Heisman Trophy candidate at one point during his time at Oklahoma. After losing his job to Caleb Williams, Rattler headed to the SEC to try to improve a South Carolina passing offense that ranked 13th out of 14 SEC teams in both 2020 and 2021. The Gamecocks finished sixth in the SEC in passing yards per game when Rattler’s first season as the starting quarterback at South Carolina.

He is priced at +5000 in the current Heisman Trophy odds with 16 quarterbacks ahead of him in the odds.

Non-conference games against North Carolina and Clemson will include high-profile games versus fellow Heisman Trophy candidates Drake Maye of the Tar Heels and Cade Klubnik of the Tigers and when that is combined with the SEC schedule, Rattler will have plenty of opportunities to show what he is capable of. It will be worth watching some of those NCAA scores in Rattler’s final college football season.

South Carolina is in a five-way tie for the seventh-best odds to win the SEC title with the price set at -110 for South Carolina to go over 6.5 wins. Keep that in mind when looking at the college football best bets.

Mixed Results in Columbia

At first glance, Spencer Rattler’s stats during his first season at South Carolina were pretty solid as he completed 66% of his passes for 3012 yards and 18 touchdown passes.

At closer evaluation, Rattler was 104-for-166 passing for 1057 yards with three touchdown passes and five interceptions in the five games lost by the Gamecocks during the 2022 season. He had 15 TDs and seven interceptions for nearly 2000 yards in the eight wins. Rattler was at his best in a 63-28 rout of a top-10-ranked Tennessee team as he was 30-of-37 for 438 yards with six touchdowns and no interceptions.

The hope is there isn’t quite as much of a gap between Rattler’s highs and lows now that he has another season at South Carolina. He will have to adapt to a new offensive coordinator with Dowell Loggains hired to improve a South Carolina offense that was ranked eighth in the SEC in points per game in conference play during the 2022 season and was in the middle of the pack in red-zone conversion rate.

Leading receiver Antwane Wells Jr is coming back and that is good news. South Carolina added tight ends Trey Knox and Joshua Simon from Arkansas and Western Kentucky as well as Memphis receiver Eddie Lewis.

Was A Sooner and Then a Goner

Rattler got into three games as a true freshman in 2019 at Oklahoma and that included going 1-for-3 late in the semifinals of the 2019 College Football Playoff loss to eventual national champion LSU.

He took over as the starter the next season and led the Sooners on a season-ending eight-game winning streak that included a win over Iowa State in the Big 12 title game. When looking at Spencer Rattler’s stats, he threw for 3031 yards while completing 67.5% of his passes for 28 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Rattler led Oklahoma to a 5-0 start in 2021, completing 76% of his passes for 1260 yards with 10 touchdowns and three interceptions.
Rattler struggled against Texas and gave way to Caleb Williams with Williams rallying Oklahoma to a 55-48 win. He would attempt just 12 more passes for the remainder of the season as time was running out on his time at Oklahoma.

Next Stop: NFL

Rattler is showing up as a possible second-round pick in the early 2024 NFL mock drafts in what could be a draft featuring the first couple of picks being quarterbacks.

Playing in the SEC, Rattler will have plenty of chances to show what he can do against defensive players on the radar of NFL scouts.

The Arizona native was a top-10 rated recruit coming out of high school after throwing for more than 11,000 yards. Five of the players ranked ahead of him in the 247sports.com’s Class of 2019 recruiting database were first-round NFL picks and that includes 2022 No. 1 overall selection Travon Walker, 2022 No. 3 picks Derek Stingley as well as fellow top-10 selections Kayvon Thibodeaux and Charles Cross.

Rattler has a 27-9 record when getting into games during his three seasons at Oklahoma and first year at South Carolina so the NFL scouts will have plenty of tape of Rattler’s to look at.

With a strong season, perhaps he will join them as a first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

For NCAAF betting news, football odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.

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