With trip to Lubbock on deck, Rattler ready to follow in Mayfield and Murray's footsteps

Oklahoma Sooners redshirt freshman quarterback says he takes "bits and pieces" of his predecessors' play into account as he prepares for road date with Texas Tech

There are a number of obvious common denominators between Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray - small in stature, Oklahoma transfers, Heisman Trophy winners.

Here's one more: both men also led memorable shootout wins in Lubbock against Texas Tech.

As Spencer Rattler prepares for his first trip to Jones AT&T Stadium, he's more than cognizant of what Mayfield and Murray were able to accomplish in the Sooners' two previous road tilts with Texas Tech.

"You can definitely take bits and pieces of what they're doing," Rattler remarked. "I guess you can say it's inspiring watching those guys play."

If it's the Sooners' previous visits to Lubbock that Rattler's studying, one can certainly see why he would be inspired. Mayfield threw for 545 yards and seven touchdowns to outduel Patrick Mahomes in the Sooners' epic 66-59 victory back in 2016. Meanwhile, in his lone year as Oklahoma's starter in 2018, Murray overcame two uncharacteristic interceptions to rack up 460 total yards and four scores in a 51-46 victory.

Lincoln Riley's offenses have averaged nearly 700 total yards against the Red Raiders over the course of his tenure on the Sooner sideline. Whatever the Oklahoma head coach does against his alma mater, it works.

And Rattler says there's plenty on tape that he can emulate.

"We've got film all the way back to Baker's first year," said Rattler. "We've got that film to look at, and we've definitely looked at things they've done and what we can do to implement it."

Nevertheless, Rattler is his own quarterback. He's Lincoln Riley's guy, through and through. So while the influences of his Heisman-winning predecessors aren't lost on him, Rattler is a different player than the signal-callers that came before him.

"I definitely see these games and learn from them," said Rattler. "But at the end of the day, I'm focused on what I'm focused on."

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