If you want to be a big time college quarterback with aspirations of playing on Sundays it can be a tough cold world out there.
The first things I thought of when Spencer Rattler got benched on Saturday were the benchings of Jalen Hurts at Alabama (2017-18) and Kelly Bryant at Clemson (2018-19).
*Jalen Hurts led Alabama to the natioal championship game a season before as a freshman and lost at the end in a thriller to DeShaun Watson and Clemson. Then was benched his sophmore year at halftime in the national championship game versus Georgia. Tua replaced Hurts and the Tide won the national championship.
Jalen and his father decided he should stay at Alabama and was Tua’s backup for another season before he played his last season of college football at Oklahoma.
The second situation was when Trevor Lawrence as a true freshman replaced Kelly Bryant as the starter at Clemson six games into the season. Clemson went on to win the national championship.
Trevor Lawrence led Clemson to the College Football Playoff the next two seasons and was the No. 1 pick in the past NFL draft class.
Kelly Bryant transferred to Missouri and it didn’t work out for him.
Trevor is now struggling with the 0-5 Jacksonville Jaguars while Jalen Hurts is actually exceeding the expectations of some as the starting QB with the Philadelphia Eagles.
So who was Bobby Reid?
Bobby Reid was one of the best high school quarterbacks in America in 2004. He played in the Houston area and was thought of as a can’t miss college quarterback. A dual threat QB who could be the next Vince Young or maybe even better.
Mike Gundy and Oklahoma State eventually won the Bobby Reid recruiting battle.
Bobby Reid broke his shoulder as a freshman then played at O State in 2005, 2006, and some of 2007 before he was benched before a road loss to Troy State.
This is when the infamous Jenni Carlson story created such a furor with Mike Gundy that it caused him to rant his iconic, “I’m forty, I’m a man…come after me.” What a postgame that was with Mike Leach from Texas Tech basically calling his own defense and offense a group of pussies in the other interview room. Leach actually fired his defensive coordinator the next day. Since he calls his own plays I guess he couldn’t fire himself as offensive coordinator.
I love Leach. He has an undergraduate degree from BYU and is a law school graduate from Pepperdine. Never played football. His Mississippi State Bulldogs host Alabama down the road in a game I have to watch.
After his famous incident of locking the son of ESPN’s Craig James in a an equipment shed at Texas Tech because of bad practice habits….Leach went on to write…Swing Your Sword: Leading the Charge in Football and Life.
Bobby Reid eventually left O State and played one season for Texas Southern.
So there are multiple examples for Spencer Rattler as to how to handle his future…especially in the day of the transfer portal.
I’ll be interested to see if Spencer Rattler takes the Kelly Bryant or Jalen Hurts route.
Archived from Mullet King: The Boone Pickens-Mike Gundy Saga
- Correction from yesterday. Yes…even I do occasionally go back and somewhat proof read. As a freshman Jalen lost at the end in a thriller to DeShaun Watson and Clemson. His junior season was when he sat the bench as Tua’s backup. BTW…Paul Finebaum is in agreement with me that perhaps Lincoln Riley will give Spencer Rattler another look at some point like Auburn did with Bo Nix after his horrific game versus somebody who calls themselves Georgia State.
- Lo and behold Bo Nix was getting a helmet sticker from yours truly in the win at LSU the very next Saturday. Sometimes…if the colt isn’t listening you have sit him for a race or two.