Oklahoma football: 5 bold predictions for 2020

Five bold predictions for Oklahoma football in the 2020 season. 

In the three years that Lincoln Riley has been the head coach of Oklahoma football, there’s no denying the quality of the Sooners. This team has made it to three consecutive College Football Playoff games. Of course, they’ve also failed to get out of the semifinal in each of their tries. That’s the next step for the vaunted young head coach as he prepares to start his fourth quarterback in as many years.

Outside of having a new quarterback, though, Oklahoma has some big holes to fill on both sides of the ball. But one of Riley’s best assets thus far has been his ability as a recruiter, continuing a hot-flowing pipeline of great talent into Norman. So what will that yield in the 2020 season as they make some changes?

Let’s find out as we make five bold predictions for Oklahoma football in 2020.

Oklahoma football bold prediction No. 5: Spencer Rattler hits the ground running

Spencer Rattler is a bit of an anomaly in the recent landscape of great Oklahoma quarterbacks. Baker Mayfield was a transfer from Texas Tech who walked on. Kyler Murray was a transfer from Texas A&M. And Jalen Hurts was a transfer from Alabama. Rattler, however, was the crown jewel of the Sooners’ 2019 recruiting class. He’s the first home-grown quarterback that will start under Lincoln Riley.

Coming out of high school, Rattler had everyone buzzing. He was the No. 1 pro-style quarterback in the class, winning MVP of the Elite 11 camp, and ranked as the No. 11 overall recruit in the class. Yet, with Hurts coming to Norman last year, he had to wait and bide his time, appearing in only three games and getting limited garbage time work.

Unlike Hurts, Rattler is more of a natural passer that will take the helm in the Riley offense. He has the ability to run with some solid athleticism and that’ll be utilized but fans should expect the offense to look more like it did when led by Mayfield and Murray than it did with Hurts at the helm.

In any case, Rattler is the linchpin for the 2020 season with the Sooners. There is every reason to believe given his talent and the proven nature of Riley’s offense and what it does for quarterbacks that he can thrive. And should that happen, there should be no stopping Oklahoma in trying to claim the Big 12 once again and, perhaps, Rattler putting his name in the Heisman Trophy mix.