The last three years there have been three starting quarterbacks for Oklahoma – Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray an Jalen Hurts.
For the fourth year in a row, Oklahoma will have a new starting quarterback and on Saturday night it will be redshirt freshman Spencer Rattler.
OU hosts Missouri State, with new coach Bobby Petrino, at 6 p.m. Saturday in Norman in front of fewer than 22,000 fans and a television audience limited by pay-per-view.
“He seems to always have a lot of confidence, regardless of the situation that he’s in, which I think is key for anybody at that position,” Riley said. “I think his confidence and belief in himself and his teammates, I think that’s the thing that I would say stands out the most about him right now.
“He’s never been afraid of the moment, which, again, for young players, that’s a key thing and I don’t know that that’s really coached. That’s just something that guys either have or they don’t at a young age.”
Rattler, a five-star prospect, beat out Tanner Mordecai, who had an undisclosed injury during fall camp. Mordecai is well now.
“I don’t know that there’s a quarterback room in America that I would rather have,” Riley said. “We’re going to need everybody in that room some way and somehow this year. Very, very high confidence level in the room right now.”
Petrino didn’t recruit Rattler to Louisville, his previous team, because a commitment was in place.
“I am aware of how good a player he is,” said Petrino, who coached 2016 Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson at Louisville. “His ability to throw the football in the pocket and still have the athletic ability to run will certainly be a challenge.”
Should one or two quarterbacks be injured or get sick, the backup is true freshman Chandler Morris.
Last year, Rattler backed up Hurts and hit 7 of 11 passes for 81 yards and a score. He also rushed for 23 yards. He only played in three games and therefore preserved his redshirt status.
OU announced kickoff times for the home game against Kansas State (11 a.m.) on September 26 and against Texas in Dallas (also 11 a.m.) on October 10. Both of those will be televised on Fox.
The OU-Missouri State game is available to Cox customers for $39.95. For Tulsa- and Oklahoma City-area subscribers, the game is carried on channel 505.
Oklahoma is 36-6 in three years with Lincoln Riley as head coach. That includes three conference losses – at Kansas State in 2019, versus Texas in Dallas in 2018 and to Iowa State in Norman in 2017).
And three first round losses in the College Football Playoff (to LSU in 2019, to Alabama in 2018 and to Georgia in 2017.)
Oklahoma’s schedule, adjusted for the coronavirus pandemic, has nine conference games and one nonconference game (Missouri State).
Oklahoma will not play in the State of Oklahoma at all in October, with one road game in Iowa and three in Texas.
The Sooner schedule is:
- September 12 – Missouri State
- September 26 – Kansas State
- October 3 at Iowa State
- October 10 – Texas at Dallas
- October 24 at TCU
- October 31 at Texas Tech
- November 7 – Kansas
- November 21 – Oklahoma State
- November 28 at West Virginia
- December 5 – Baylor
Petrino (119-56 overall college record as a head coach) was offensive coordinator at Louisville in 1998. He left to become quarterback coach for two years and offensive coordinator for one season. In 2002, he was offensive coordinator under Tommy Tuberville at Auburn.
Petrino was named head coach at Louisville in 2003 but he left in 2007 to become head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, where he was brought in to groom quarterback Michael Vick. But Vick went to prison for bankrolling a dog fighting operation in Virginia and Petrino never got to coach him at Atlanta. In December of 2007, Petrino resigned to take the head coaching job at Arkansas University.
Petrino was fired at Arkansas in 2012 after he had a motorcycle wreck with a former volleyball player at Arkansas. They were having an affair and there were other adverse circumstances.
Western Kentucky hired Petrino has head coach in 2012. He stayed there only one season and went back to Louisville after Charley Strong quit to become head coach at Texas. Lamar Jackson won the Heisman Trophy when Petrino was back at Louisville.
Louisville fired Petrino in November of 2018. In 2020, Petrino was hired by Missouri State to restore that program.
The record for Missouri State (1-10, 1-7 in the Missouri Valley Conference) in 2019 was:
- Northern Arizona – Lost 23-37
- Tulane – Lost 6-58
- Kennesaw State – Lost 24-35
- Western Illinois – Won 37-31 (OT)
- South Dakota – Lost 10-45
- North Dakota State – Lost 0-22
- Northern Illinois – Lost 6-29
- South Dakota State – Lost 14-35
- Southern Illinois – Lost 14-37
- Illinois State – Lost 12-17
- Indiana State – Lost 24-51
The Missouri Valley Conference has postponed fall football for conference play. Missouri State will play OU on September 12 and then travel to Central Arkansas in Conway, Arkansas, on September 26. Then the Bears will host Central Arkansas in Springfield, Missouri, on October 17 for homecoming.
MSU has canceled BearFest Village for its single home game. Individual tailgating will be allowed in the parking lost south of Plaster Stadium.