Oklahoma only got one spring practice in before the rest were canceled due to the school’s coronavirus changes. The spring football game was canceled as well, but Lincoln Riley is not too worried about adverse effects on the team’s quarterbacks.
Last year’s graduate transfer Jalen Hurts is on to the NFL, leaving Tanner Mordecai and Spencer Rattler competing for the starting quarterback job. Mordecai will be a redshirt sophomore in the fall and has been in the program for two years, while Rattler will be a redshirt freshman in the fall and has been with the program since last year.
The familiarity both players have with the program has Riley confident. Riley spoke with Toby Rowland on the T-Row in the Morning Show Thursday about the matter.
“The thing that is different this year is these guys have both been in our system now for a while,” Riley told Rowland. “They’ve been in our program now for a while. You could tell. I mean, even in the one day of practice that we got, I felt like we had two experienced guys out there, and we do in my mind. And so they know what we’re doing; they know how to run our stuff.”
Riley acknowledged that getting more snaps and practice will help, but he believes the offense is in a good spot.
Hurts carried the load last season and finished second in Heisman Trophy voting. Mordecai went 16 of 26 for 207 yards and two touchdowns in limited action. Rattler got into three games and went 7/11 for 81 yards and a touchdown. Rattler was a five-star recruit and may have more of the hype on his side, but you can count on Riley to run a fair competition when practices resume.
