The Other Side: Gators Get Another Shot at Rattler

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — It was, by nearly any measure you choose to use other than air travel – fortunately, the Gators made it to Dallas and back home safely – a forgettable bowl trip.

Florida’s first appearance in the Cotton Bowl resulted in a 55-20 loss to Oklahoma, a final pour of salt into a three-game losing streak to cap the 2020 Covid-19 season. Sooners fans packed Jerry World and watched an uncharacteristic poor performance by Gators quarterback Kyle Trask devolve into a miserable night for the Orange & Blue faithful.

While Trask tossed three interceptions to help Oklahoma storm to a big lead, Sooners quarterback Spencer Rattler played the kind of game that garnered him attention as a possible Heisman Trophy contender going into the 2021 season.

As we all know, things change at warp speed these days in college football. Rattler lost his job as Oklahoma’s starter last season to Caleb Williams. He transferred to South Carolina this spring. Meanwhile, former Sooners coach Lincoln Riley and Williams are now at Southern Cal.

Still, the Gators have not forgotten about Rattler’s performance. He threw for 247 yards and three touchdowns in the Cotton Bowl rout. Oklahoma led 31-13 at halftime thanks to Rattler’s scoring throws to Marvin Mims (27 yards) and Theo Wease (36 yards), plus his 1-yard run.

“It’s pretty nice to get another shot,” Gators senior linebacker Amari Burney said after practice Wednesday. “We never thought we were going to see him again, and he transferred to South Carolina, so we get a chance at him again. So, I mean, we’ve been joking about it, just saying, like, we owe him one.”

Rattler is 21-5 in his career as a starter but only 6-3 this season for the Gamecocks. He has been inconsistent but enters Saturday’s game against the Gators at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium fresh off his best passing game. In last week’s win over Vanderbilt, Rattler finished 18 of 26 for 200 yards and a season-high three touchdown passes (29, 19, 17 yards).

He is 162-for-251 (64.5 percent) for 1,837 yards with eight touchdowns and nine interceptions on the season, numbers comparable to Florida’s Anthony Richardson (131-for-235, 1,839 yards, 9 TD, 7 INT).

Rattler is not nearly as dangerous as Richardson as a runner. But that hasn’t stopped Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer from…