The Sooners survived the insane efforts of the Green Wave last weekend and head into week two with the perfect record in tact. It’s Tuesday, so it’s time to take a look at the quarterback matchup against this weeks opponent Western Carolina. As always, we will start with Oklahoma’s Spencer Rattler.
Spencer Rattler
Despite being the better overall quarterback in the matchup with Tulane this past weekend, Rattler looked far from it. I’m not going to knock on his performance the entire article, but Michael Pratt was the better quarterback on Saturday.
Rattler did have his moments, and he also answered a lot of the questions I had coming into the season. He finished the day completing 30-39 passes for a total of 304 yards and 1 touchdown. He also found the end zone once with his feet.
Obviously the big issue was taking care of the football. Rattler was rather careless on multiple occasions leading to two interceptions on the day. And to be honest, there probably could have been a couple more interceptions that Tulane didn’t come down with.
The biggest takeaway for me is that he was able to bounce back after throwing an interception on the opening drive. I had several questions about what would happen when Rattler had to face adversity. I think he responded well by bouncing back for a strong finish to the first half.
The inconsistencies in the second half are another big issue for Rattler and this Oklahoma team. The Sooners offense only produced 3 points after halftime. I do not think it’s time to hit the panic button quite yet, and I don’t think Rattler is completely responsible for the issues either. It’s only been one game, and the Sooners haven’t established a run game yet. Once Oklahoma gets the ball moving on the ground it will open up a lot more opportunities for Rattler.
Rogan Wells
Western Carolina will be led onto the field by graduate transfer Rogan Wells. Wells played last year at Tusculum, and led them to the South Atlantic Conference Championship. He started his career at Valdosta State and went 28-3 as their starting quarterback.
The Catamounts lost a highly contested game against Eastern Kentucky by 3 points. Wells went 24-44 for 275 yards and 1 touchdown. He did seem to be a little turnover prone, throwing a couple interceptions on the day.
Rogan Wells has won at every school that he’s been to. The problem is that he hasn’t had to play Oklahoma before. He hasn’t seen a defense like this, and I’m not sure how he will be able to adjust. My guess is that it will be a very long day for Wells.
Tune Up Game For Rattler
I expect Rattler to bounce back in a big way this coming weekend. Western Carolina simply isn’t going to be on the same level and he should be able to do whatever he wants on the field. Ideally, I’d like to see him tune up a couple of the areas of struggle before getting some rest and letting back-up Caleb Williams take over for the day.
Last week I picked him to win the quarterback battle and he came up short. I can’t see the same thing happening this week. In fact, it would be quite embarrassing if it did!