Norman, Oklahoma was on pins and needles the entire way last night as Oklahoma faced off against West Virginia. The Sooners would win the game by a score of 16-13. It was not easy and it included a roller coaster of emotions. It’s fairly obvious to point out that the center of their issues was the Sooners’ offensive woes.
The offense mustered an un-Oklahoma like 313 yards. They only had a single turnover which came when quarterback Spencer Rattler threw a very ill-advised ball into double coverage while targeting slot receiver Drake Stoops. After the interception to West Virginia’s Jackie Matthews, a loud chant of “We want Caleb!” — referring to backup true freshman quarterback Caleb Williams started.
This would occur a few more times when the offense as a whole would stall out or the Sooners had an incompletion. There are a few things to unpack here but the first is the booing itself. Optics matter in everything and recruiting is no different. The fans of the Oklahoma Sooners were booing their team’s starting quarterback on national television of a primetime night game because of the collective struggles of the offense(coaches included.) The Sooners had many recruits in attendance that heard what went down. You could not pick an easier way for teams to recruit against yours than to have the starting quarterback of a (still) undefeated booed as the entire country watches.
Dean Blevins, a former Sooners quarterback, weighed in on the booing.
#Sooners have a lot of great fans. Then there’s the ugly fact that booing its struggling QBs is nothing new – half-century & counting. 2x-natty champ Steve Davis got it. Others too, including me. Bitterness results. Not better QB play. It’s ignorant thinking otherwise. @news9
— Dean Blevins (@DeanBlevins) September 26, 2021
To compound that, the fans asked for his replacement and made it loud and clear on multiple occasions. There’s a lot wrong with thinking that is the solution and we’ll break down why it doesn’t make sense. Benching Rattler for Williams is an idea in theory if you only think that Spencer is the single issue with the Sooners’ lack of offensive cohesion.
After watching the likes of Dante Stills, Akheem Mesidor and the rest of the West Virginia Mountaineers defensive line bully the Sooners, they should not get a pass and directly played a part in why the offense looked bad. The offensive line couldn’t get a push in the running game and, on no less than ten passing attempts, was beaten so badly that Rattler didn’t have enough time to make reads and had to bail out of the pocket.
Williams is a true freshman quarterback who has not played enough meaningful football in game situations to justify throwing him out there behind the play of this offensive line as it currently stands.
Yes, he’s more of a dual threat than Rattler. Are the 50-60 yards he gives you from scrambling and designed runs worth it?
He doesn’t help open up lanes on the ground to add balance and keep teams from pinning their ears back and rushing and blitzing the quarterback. Will he even have time to scan the field and make the right reads?
What does Lincoln Riley do if he makes the switch and Williams struggles? Does he then go back to his quarterback in Rattler, whose confidence is broken? We’re not talking like bench him for a series to calm him down as Riley did to Rattler in the Red River game in 2020. We’re talking move him to second string. That’s a dangerous game with disastrous results that only a team clinging to its playoff hopes should be doing. That’s not the case here.
It’s borderline unreasonable to throw a true freshman out there in the conference part of your schedule while undefeated because of what he may bring. He’s not a known commodity and the Sooners very much have a lot to play for considering how shaky everyone not named Alabama looks over the course of this season so far.
The years of Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, and Jalen Hurts, plus the Heisman expectations yearly, have jaded the Sooners fans. We’ve reached the point where we assume that level of play is sustainable but people fail to realize they weren’t playing that level because of just themselves. They (Baker and Kyler) had elite offensive line play, which made calling plays that much easier.
Rattler has not played great at all. He’s not even played to his 2020 level aside from the Western Carolina game. He’s admitted as much to the media the week. However, he still offers you more than what Williams can offer you presently if only because he’s played more games and has success at this level.
Williams is ultra-talented and will have the keys to this car as early as next year. He will have his time to shine. In order for the 2021 Sooners to navigate and find themselves into the College Football Playoff, this offense led by Rattler needs to find its rhythm.
When the team needed him most, Rattler went 7 for 7 to orchestrate a game-winning drive. His offensive line showed up when they had to and they got the job done. There’s stuff to take from that and build from and Lincoln Riley will have to do just that.
Riley offered some thoughts postgame that show he’s aware of the level of accountability that needs to happen in order for this offense to get moving in the right direction:
Lincoln Riley Postgame Interview.
“It’s fun to see us respond.”
“We’re not playing very good offensively right now. We know we’ve gotta get better, but I think we will. That’s been our history here.”#OUDNA | #BoomerSooner pic.twitter.com/xJ3OKlRFE5
— Sooner Gridiron (@soonergridiron) September 26, 2021
Accountability needs to happen from top to bottom, starting with Lincoln Riley and then trickle down through the other offensive position coaches and all through the players. It’s a collective effort when it’s going right and it’s a collective effort when things look wrong like they did last night.
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