Clay Horning: Rattler worlds away from where he needs to be against Green Wave

Sep. 5—Everybody but Gabe Brkic has to get a lot better and probably a whole lot better.

The Sooner defense, after finding itself and playing really well in the second quarter, must refrain from its best impression of a Mike Stoops defense in the third and fourth quarters.

Lincoln Riley and Alex Grinch probably need to call better plays and the Sooner staff must be alert enough to scream for intentional grounding when the opposing quarterback, needing only a touchdown to win, throws short of the line of scrimmage after not leaving the pocket when no receiver, though perhaps in the area code, is in the zip.

Yet, mostly, Spencer Rattler has to get better; worlds, galaxies and universes better than he played Saturday in Oklahoma's 40-35 at-least-they-won victory over Tulane.

The numbers say Rattler wasn't that bad when he wasn't throwing an interception because he finished having completed 31 of 40 passes and should he complete the season connecting on more than three-fourths of his throws, nobody will say he suffered accuracy issues.

But his problem isn't accuracy, it's playmaking and he doesn't make enough of them. Not enough spectacular plays and not enough regular ones. Of course, if he made all the regular ones, a zero on the spectacular count might be just fine.

You may have trouble with his second throw, a fairly deep ball into double and almost triple coverage, picked off by Jadon Canady, but a deep pick on the game's first possession is unlikely to get you beat.

The Green Wave turned it into a touchdown, but had to go 55 yards to do it and left more than 56 minutes on the clock.

No, the play that will get you beat came on second-and-8, late in the third quarter, following an 8-point Tulane possession that brought it within 37-22.

Rattler took the snap at the Tulane 42. He had Mario Williams open on a short crossing route, the toss from arm to hands only a few yards, and had Williams caught it, room enough awaited to give the Sooners a new set of downs.

The throw was so far behind him, Williams had no chance to catch it, though he reflexively reached back with his left hand, deflecting the ball to the ground.

That reflex may have saved an interception and had the ball been picked, the Sooners might well have lost.

It's a simple throw.

It's likely a throw Rattler was asked to make because, by then, he'd tossed enough bad ones to make a confidence from the sideline an issue. Anyway, Riley dialed up a simple high-percentage play designed to get a first down, called the right one and Rattler couldn't execute it.

It was all part of an offensive dive that Rattler alone did not create, but that Rattler alone could have stopped.

On the previous series, after a first down, he completed passes of 2 and 7 yards to Jeremiah Hall, before Eric Gray ran for no gain and Kennedy Brooks ran for a loss of 4, giving the ball back to Tulane.

On the following series, Rattler foolishly took a grounding penalty, throwing to nobody without leaving the pocket, then hit Mike Woods for 12 yards, then threw another stinker that only Tulane's Macon Clark could catch, which he did.

The deep ball picked on your first series is unlikely to beat you, but the ball picked in the fourth quarter of a second half you're going nowhere will get you beat.

Afterward, Riley was — oh, let's call it judicious — describing Rattler's play.

"I thought his decision-making, overall, was pretty strong," he said, eventually adding, "He missed a few throws that he just typically makes."

It's sophistry.

One can only presume that day Rattler completes 40 of 45 for 450 yards, five scores and no picks, Riley will begin the description of his quarterback's game with something along the lines of, "there are a lot of places he can still get better."

Rattler had his own take.

"Obviously, the whole game, we didn't play amazing," he said, which is disappointing, because the Sooners were far worse than not amazing the whole game. They were lousy for two-and-a-half quarters. They scored three points after halftime.

"The second half," Rattler said. "We just came out a little casual."

A little?

He said something else interesting, too. He said, in the locker room, Riley came through telling everybody to get their heads up, they'd just won a game.

Maybe.

It sounds good.

Positive is usually best.

But this is a team with historic second-half issues.

In a 38-35 loss to Kansas State last season, OU was outscored 31-14 after the half. Next, in a 37-30 loss to Iowa State, it was the Cyclones 24-10 after the half.

By season's end, the Sooners were easily one of the nation's four best teams but it didn't matter after a September to forget.

It's September again, OU took another second-half dive again — 21-3 — and only a four-and-out series from Grinch's defense at the very end kept it in the win column.

Spencer Rattler's supposed to get in the way debacles. On opening day, he helped create one.

Clay Horning

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cfhorning@normantranscript.com