Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler dazzled in his starting debut and the Sooners have a chance for revenge on Kansas State after losing to them in 2019.

Last year, Oklahoma’s only regular season blemish was a 41-48 loss against Kansas State in Manhattan. OU was ranked No. 5 at that time. OU started with a 10-0 lead but was outscored 34-6 by KSU in the second and third quarters.

OU beat Missouri State 48-0 September 12 in Norman. OU was off last week. No. 3 Oklahoma (1-0) opens Big 12 play on Sept. 26 against Kansas State (0-1) at 11 a.m. in Norman.

Rattler, who was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week,  hit 14 of 17 passes for 290 yards and four touchdowns without an interception. Rattler, who didn’t play in the second half, led OU to a 31-0 first-quarter lead and a 41-0 halftime bulge. He became the first OU freshman QB to throw four TD passes in his first start.

“We played really fast early, just all three sides of the ball just kind of swarming together,” OU coach Lincoln Riley said. “Disappointed we didn’t finish a couple drives down there in the red zone offensively, maybe the biggest disappointment. I thought special teams and defense were good all day. That and then missed some really good opportunities in the run game that we’ve got to do much better on.”

Rattler set OU freshman records for passing efficiency rating (303.3; next highest figure nationally this season is 239.1), yards per completion (23.7) and yards per attempt (17.1). His passing efficiency rating set Big 12 and Oklahoma freshman records and was the third highest in Oklahoma history regardless of class.

Rattler became the second OU freshman QB in his starting debut with two touchdown passes of at least 50 yards (also Sam Bradford vs. North Texas in 2007). Only Rattler, Bradford and Kyler Murray (2018 vs. Florida Atlantic as a junior) have thrown two TD passes of at least 50 yards in an OU season opener.

OU kicker Stephen Johnson was rushed into duty because the starting kicker was unavailable. Johnson was named Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week.

Johnson, a redshirt senior and the Sooners’ backup kicker, handled all of OU’s kicking duties Saturday night. The Arlington, Texas, product was 2 for 2 on field goals (22 and 42 yards), made all six of his PATs and kicked off nine times. His 12 points were the most of any Big 12 kicker on the day. Prior to Saturday, Johnson’s only career appearance entering the night had been for an on-side kick attempt last season at Kansas State.

Kansas State lost to Arkansas State from the Sunbelt Conference 31-35 on September 12.

“From the football game, it didn’t go the way we wanted it to go,” said KSU coach Chris Klieman. “A lot of things played into that. You can say COVID played into that. It sure did. You can say the lack of spring ball played into that. It sure did. Lack of summer training. It sure did. Losing time in fall camp, losing players and all that stuff, it did.

“But, the bottom line is, you have an opportunity to compete. You have an opportunity that you don’t know how many opportunities we’re going to have this year, and we talked about that. Are we going to play nine more or are we going to play two more? None of us know this. So when you have the opportunity to compete, you have to take advantage of your opportunity and your moment.”

Riley said he will not release medical reports on his team during the season because of student privacy and it might give an advantage to an opposing team.

“If I go out before a game and say well, we’ve had however many positives, then all the people that love to go dig and do this and that are going to fight like crazy to figure out who that is,” Riley said. “And then you’re talking about kids’ medical records and things that players and families are very sensitive to.

“I just feel like that’s my duty to protect that, while also of course making sure all the COVID protocols, people that we are required to report to know, opposing teams, all that. So that’s the balance we’re going to try to find with it.”

Even though Rattler was close to perfect and the defense – even the reserves – preserved a shutout, Riley saw room for growth.

“We had errors all over the place,” Riley said. “There are a lot of good things to look at and see. There are things to get you excited about what this team could potentially be. We had some young guys who did some positive things during their first time on the field.”

Riley said he was looking forward to the off week to make some adjustments.