The formula for stardom looked simple: 1) Play quarterback, 2) Sign with Oklahoma, 3) Learn from Lincoln Riley.
Under Riley at Oklahoma, Baker Mayfield was a former walk-on who transformed into a Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall draft pick.
Kyler Murray was committed to the Oakland A’s before flourishing in Oklahoma’s high-octane offense and matching Mayfield’s accolades.
Jalen Hurts took the baton after a confidence-bruising season on the bench at Alabama and led the Sooners to their third straight playoff appearance, while finishing as the Heisman runner-up.
Spencer Rattler was next — the 2021 preseason Heisman favorite and popular No. 1 overall pick among NFL mock drafts.
Now, he is a fifth-year senior at South Carolina, waiting to show the world what he can do.
“[He’s] thinking going into college that he’s only gonna be three years and it’s gonna have this storybook script and then it doesn’t,” said Mike Giovando, Rattler’s longtime private quarterback coach. “It’s not a movie. You can’t write out exactly what’s gonna happen.
“But you know what? It’s good. It’s not supposed to be easy.”
The final chapter of Rattler’s dramatic collegiate career opens Saturday night in Charlotte in a battle between South Carolina and North Carolina — a rivalry game that will pit Rattler against Heisman contender Drake Maye and bring ESPN’s “College GameDay” outside Bank of America Stadium.
The prime-time matchup could see Rattler throw more interceptions than touchdowns, as he did during his first 10 games with the Gamecocks last season.
Or, Rattler could throw for 438 yards and a school-record six touchdowns — like he did in last season’s upset of No. 5 Tennessee — or 360 yards and two touchdowns — like he did in the Gamecocks’ first win over (No. 8) Clemson in nine years — when South Carolina won back-to-back games against top-10 teams for the first time in school history.
“He played great down the stretch for a lot of reasons,” South Carolina coach Shane Beamer said last month. “But I think one is that we did a great job to eliminate the clutter in his mind and just let him go play. That’s what we need to do a better job of this year is just eliminate the clutter and let him go play.”
Rattler threw for 3,026 yards and 18 touchdowns, while completing more than 66 percent of his passes and leading South Carolina (8-5) to its first season-ending ranking since 2013. He also led the SEC with 12 interceptions and finished behind 56 players in QB rating.
“I feel like we left a little on the table last year,” Rattler said at SEC Media Day. “So, I’ve got a lot more to prove.”
Expectations have been unavoidable since the Arizona native became the nation’s top-ranked quarterback recruit; since he agreed to let a five-person camera crew tail him in high school, as part of his starring role in a Netflix documentary, “Beyond the Lights.”
After backing up Hurts for one season, Rattler led the Sooners to a sixth straight Big 12 title as a redshirt freshman and 14 straight wins over two seasons.
But his play became more erratic the following season, prompting backlash from Oklahoma fans and a career-changing mid-game benching during the Red River Showdown, when future Heisman winner Caleb Williams took his job and the career Rattler envisioned for himself.
“I’m amazed by his ability to deal with adversity,” Giovando said of Rattler. “Netflix following him around and people forming [negative] opinions off a 17-year-old … waiting his turn behind Jalen Hurts … being on the bench and having the camera in his face all the time, like a soap opera … dealing with that criticism at a young age and coming out relatively [unscathed] by it.
“He had the ability to realize, ‘OK, I know I’m a great player and I’m gonna get my opportunity again. Just learn it, move on and get better.’ He never felt sorry for himself. And now he’s got a great opportunity to make a statement each week. People will start coming back around. They will see.”
Rattler considered entering this spring’s NFL draft, but his stock had slipped too far.
One more season at South Carolina could elevate it again.
One more season can make his future look like it did in the past.
“He had a different mindset this year,” Giovando said, referring to their spring workouts. “The maturity, the focus, everything he was doing, I just saw a different dude. He knows what’s possible for him.
“I don’t think he’s feeling any pressure. He’s beyond that at this point. The last text he sent me, he said, ‘Man, that was the best camp I ever had. I can’t wait to get things rolling.’ ”