It's Rattler Time

After Baker Mayfield won the Heisman Trophy and was drafted No. 1 overall, Kyler Murray used to say he leans into those expectations.

Worked out OK for Murray.

Now it’s Spencer Rattler who must embrace the unrealistic expectations everyone has for him.

Just because he’s Lincoln Riley’s next quarterback, he should lead the nation and passer efficiency rating and get an invitation to New York for the Heisman and win the Big 12 Conference, right?

Actually, Rattler said Tuesday — four days before he makes his first start in a college football game — that he’s just fine with all that.

“To me,” Rattler said, “pressure is a privilege. I look at it to embrace it. I’m not going to run away from any expectations or this and that.”

If that’s true, then Rattler’s Heisman race may already be half-run.

If he’s leaning into the moment, like Murray did, if he stands firm in a hurricane of attention and accolades, like Jalen Hurts did, then he should be just fine.

“Learning from (Hurts) last year was big,” Rattler said. “For me just seeing how he came prepared to every practice, how he prepared for each game, how he led, how he spoke with the media, how he did everything. I kind of took bits of everything and kind of just tried to put into what I have going on right now. So, I think that helped a lot for sure.”

He picked up on Hurts’ mindset, he said, “just an attack mode every day and focusing on what you need to focus on. I’d say that’s the main thing.”

As we all know, Hurts was an expert at keeping the main thing the main thing. That’s part of what eventually made him runner-up to Joe Burrow for last year’s Heisman.

But the other part — the big part, the real part — is Riley’s coaching. Riley’s playbook puts receivers in wide open spaces come Saturday, and Riley’s teaching puts quarterbacks in Manhattan come December.

Riley acknowledges that this week is a bite of a brand new meal for Rattler. Rattler said he felt pressure at Pinnacle High School in Phoenix, and he probably did, but that’s not big-time college football. He’s going to need at least a moment to the adjust to the brighter spotlight.

“I think you try to settle ‘em into a routine,” Riley said. “We kind of have a plan that we follow to do that. You want as little as possible in Week 1 to be new, because there’s gonna be enough new as it is with the situation. So I think first you allow ‘em to get into a routine, allow ‘em to get comfortable, try to have a plan that they’re very comfortable with.

“And then two, guys gotta understand you’re the starter here for a reason. We just need to relax and go play like it.”

Riley will draw on his own recent experiences to help Rattler get comfortable.

“Each guy’s different. Their personalities are different,” Riley said. “Some guys, you’ve got to settle ‘em down a little bit. I remember having to settle down Baker — and probably myself a little bit — against Akron the first year. Kyler and Jalen, you didn’t have to really settle them down much. They’re naturally a little bit more calm.

“But yeah, I think it comes down to knowing their personalities, settling into a routine — and eventually, that’s what guys came here to do. They came here to go play. And here’s your chance.”

A good indicator that Rattler may be ready for his close-up: his answer to a question about the reduced crowd for Saturday’s game at Owen Field.

“Sadly,” he said, “the stadium won’t be packed 80,000-85,000 deep this year. But we’ll be all right.”

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