South Carolina Football: Spencer Rattler receives SEC honor

Shane Beamer’s South Carolina football team defeated Furman 47-21 on Saturday to bring their season record to 1-1. The victory was ugly in the 1st quarter, but the Gamecocks came storming back and scored 40 straight points from the 2nd quarter to the early points of the 4th period. The catalyst behind the performance? Quarterback Spencer Rattler.

All offseason, reports out of Columbia were ridiculously positive about the Gamecock senior signal-caller. In fact, the hype was building so much for #7 that most believed it to be, at minimum, hyperbolic, and, more realistically, garnet-colored spin.

As it turns out, through the first two weeks of the 2023 college football season, Spencer Rattler actually was under-hyped this summer.

Through games against North Carolina and Furman, the Gamecock captain has been preposterously dominant. Rattler has thrown for 698 yards on 55-66 passing (with one of those being a spike to stop the clock) and added 4 total touchdowns in just 6.5 quarters of football. He is among the national leaders in yards, completions, and completion percentage.

Even more impressive is the fact that Spencer Rattler has accomplished all of this despite poor pass blocking for most of his time on the field. The Gamecocks surrendered 9 sacks against UNC, and in the early goings against Furman, while no pass rusher made it home to the quarterback, Rattler had to evade pressure multiple times against the FCS opponent.

Now, Spencer Rattler is getting some much-deserved recognition from the league he calls home. The SEC announced on Monday that Rattler was the SEC Offensive Player of the Week for week 2 for his 25-27 (with one spike), 345 yards, and 4 touchdown performance against Furman.

Midway through the 3rd period, the Gamecocks were in complete control, and Rattler and some other important starters hit the bench. Otherwise, those numbers would be even more bloated than they already are.

Rattler’s best moment of the game came at the end of the 1st half. The Gamecocks, without a timeout and with 20 seconds left on the clock, drove 75 yards in three plays for a touchdown to extend their lead to two scores. Rattler hit Xavier Legette for a 50-yard bomb, Legette drew a pass interference flag, and then Rattler found O’Mega Blake for the touchdown on the next snap.

South Carolina football will take on the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens on Saturday, and if the Gamecocks are to stand a chance against the two-time defending national champs, Spencer Rattler has to keep playing the way he has to start the season.

The Gamecocks and Bulldogs will kick off at 3:30 on CBS.