For some, the befuddling 2021 Oklahoma football season became more clear on the afternoon of Nov. 28. That’s the day Lincoln Riley left the Sooners for Southern California.
Oklahoma, ranked second in the preseason Associated Press poll, never found its high gear. The Sooners, to their credit, maneuvered to a 9-0 start but only with a series of close calls: 40-35 over Tulane, 23-16 over Nebraska, 37-31 at Kansas State, 55-48 over Texas, 35-23 at Kansas after trailing in the fourth quarter.
Soon enough, the narrow victories were replaced by narrow (or not so narrow) defeats: 27-14 at Baylor, 37-33 at OSU.
During the season, some wondered what was wrong. After Riley high-tailed it to Los Angeles, some say they know what was wrong.
A distracted coaching staff.
And Chris Low’s recent espn.com story on Spencer Rattler, who transferred from Oklahoma to South Carolina, gives credence to the theories.
Tight end Austin Stogner, who transferred to South Carolina with Rattler, particularly acknowledged the uncertainty. Remember Bedlam week, with all the Louisiana State rumors concerning Riley?
“It was weird, all the LSU rumors, and Coach Riley never addressed them,” Stogner told Low. “It became a distraction for that last game.
“But there was nothing about USC until we were all in the meeting. He kept it under wraps. It’s hard to believe it all happened in 12 hours like he said.”
Well, of course it didn’t happen in 12 hours. We’re not a bunch of imbeciles.
But Stogner makes a valid point. The idea that players are immune from the rumors and speculation? That’s silly.
Some players might not care what their coach does. I can believe that. But virtually every player is aware of the rumor mills driven by social media.
I don’t know what distractions look like. I don’t know how that affects a football practice or even a football game. I don’t know for sure that it does affect a team.
But as I’ve written, a friend who was contemplating a major career move told me that such a decision consumed many of his waking minutes. Why wouldn’t it be the same for a football coach?
Heck, the Sooners deserve credit for creating an 11-2 season. All those close games. A coach with lipstick on his collar. A quarterback switch the likes of which football rarely has seen, with the incumbent, Rattler, stepping out of Heisman Trophy candidacy and freshman Caleb Williams stepping in.
The Bronx Zoo Yankees had little on the 2021 Sooners.
No reason Rattler should have been a happy camper. And clearly, he wasn’t.
Low reported that Rattler spoke carefully but called the environment “toxic” and said, “That will be a story for later. I don’t want to get too in depth with it, but it was out of my control.
“All I can tell you is that we were undefeated at the time I was benched. We won a (Big 12) championship the year before and were going to win another one. I could go on and on.
“We had a great summer and then once the season started, we had a competitive first couple of games and didn’t play up to par. I just feel like we weren’t given enough time to jell together during the season. Triggers were pulled too quick, and because of that, we lost two games and didn’t win another championship.”
That’s some revisionist history. Yes, Oklahoma was undefeated (6-0) when Williams was handed the starting reins. But Oklahoma was undefeated because Riley pulled Rattler in the Texas game, and the freshman rallied the Sooners from a 28-7 deficit to beat the Longhorns.
No one but the residents of Rattlerville believe Riley was quick on the trigger.
Rattler was booed noticeably in September by fans, then came the coaching drama, and it made for quite the crazy season.
“Either way, it was time for both of us to go, even if (Riley) would have stayed,” Stogner said. “And through it all, I don’t know how Spencer could have handled things any better. He was there every day trying to get better and competing in practice. It’s funny how a 21-year-old handles it a lot better than some of the fans out there on Twitter handle losses.”
That’s nothing new. Masses of fans never have handled losses well, and social media gives them an outlet to display their immaturity.
But the fans aren’t always wrong. Sometimes they sense a problem, and something definitely was amiss in Norman last autumn.
Berry Tramel can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Spencer Rattler says Oklahoma football season was ‘toxic’