The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - OU's Spencer Rattler joins, Preseason Top 10 & Heisman Contenders

Episode Date: September 1, 2021

Joel Klatt is back and ready to kick off the 2021 college football season. He breaks down his Top 10 preseason teams, shares who is at the top of his Heisman favorite rankings, and chats with special guest Oklahoma QB Spencer Rattler. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is this the year for new blood in the college football playoff? And I ask Spencer Rattler why this could be the year for Oklahoma. I'm Joel Klapp. This is Breaking the Huddles. All right, this show, as always, is brought to you by Dr. Pepper. Remember, it is the official drink of Fansville. Today on the program, I'm going to give you my preseason top 10, even though I know I get it in the past. I've been against preseason rankings.

But listen, we're going to give them to you anyways because that's what you want. So my top 10 teams in the country. We're going to go through my top five Heisman favorites to begin the year. And then a guy that's probably on that list, Spencer Rattler is going to join the program a little bit later before we get to all of our interaction on social media. But let's dive in. We don't have a lot of time. Here we go. The top 10 teams in the preseason, as I see them right now, we're going to start with number 10.

And by the way, you should note that I group these in fives. Okay, so the top five kind of clearly separated from the next five. And then within those two groups, I'm going to talk about the trustworthiness of the rankings. Cincinnati is going to come in at number 10. Listen, I love what Luke Fickle has been able to do at Cincinnati. This is a team that has won a lot of football games over the last couple of years. And when you look at their quarterback, this is what I'm most excited about. Luke Fickle has himself a bona fide veteran star at the quarterback position.

And for me, Desmond Ritter puts them on par with some of these power conference teams. So they're going to start at number 10. That might be some of the new blood we see. in the playoff. At number nine, I'm going to go out to the West Coast. Oregon is going to be my number nine team in the country. Mario Cristobal has recruited at an exceptionally high level. That's really one of the things that I look at for me is they're not Cincinnati in an A5, and yet they've got this great chance to potentially win a third straight Pack 12 title. The only question for me is that quarterback. We're going to have the quarterback conversation with

them and competition with them, and we'll see them in week two when they go see Ohio State. By the way, Kavon Thibodeau, dude is absolutely unreal. I love him on the edge. Notre Dame is at number eight for me. And I know this is a little bit higher than most people might have Notre Dame. But the bottom line for me with Notre Dame is this. Brian Kelly has built a program that I trust. They're great on the offensive line, regardless of how many guys that they lose.

They've just continued to build and build and build. And Kyron Williams, they're running back. I really trust him a lot. I think that they'll be fine at quarterback with Jack Cohn. Can't wait to see what he. Remember, this guy led the Big Ten in efficiency before Graham Mertz kind of came in after the injury. So I think Notre Dame is in there in the top ten. Like I said, I'm a little higher on Notre Dame than most.

At number seven, I'm going to go with Iowa State. Guys, experience, experience, experience. Maybe not at the high end of the playoff conversation. But what Matt Campbell has done at Ohio State is he's built this culture that supersedes their recruiting rankings. It's quite amazing. They've got their quarterback Brock Purdyback. They've got the Big 12's offensive player of the year. And Breece Hall, he returns.

Mike Rose, the defensive player of the year. He returns. I really love what Matt Campbell and Iowa State have. This is a year that I think they could win the Big 12. I think this is a year that they could go to the playoff. And you're talking about that new blood. That's potentially some of the new blood. And number six, Texas A&M.

I'm really high on Texas A&M. We'll see what they get out of their new quarterback. But they're going to be great on. defense. They can run the absolute heck out of the football. Jimbo Fisher has recruited at a very high level. This could be a big year for Texas A&M and possibly a chance to unseat Alabama at the top of that West Division and the SEC. Now let's get into the top five, all right? Ohio State at number five, and I'm going to unveil them all here right away. So I've got Ohio State at five. I've got Clemson at four. I'm going to have Georgia at three. I'm going to have Oklahoma at two,

and I'm going to have Alabama at one. And the reason I just wanted to put them all out is because their position on this board is determined by what I trust most. Okay? I trust coaching and I trust quarterbacks. Most. Who's the most trustworthy coach right now in the game?

It's this guy. It's Alabama's Nick Savan. He's the greatest college football coach in the history of our sport. So regardless of who they lose, they go to the number one spot. They're the defending national champion. I understand they lost the, you know, everybody, Heisman Trophy, Doak Walker, O'Brien, Outland Trophy,

Blitnikov, like all of them. They lose all those guys. Yeah, I understand it's still Alabama. Nobody recruits better than Alabama, and they get the number one spot because of that. And then here's, you're going to notice a theme right here. Trustworthy quarterbacks in order from two to five. Trustworthy quarterbacks in order. I trust Spencer Rattler, a great deal.

And OU's got some things on the defensive side, in particular their defensive line that make me think that this could be their year, right? This is the most, I would call it, balanced, complete. This is the most complete OU team since probably, guys, 2008. That's the Gerald McCoy, Sam Bradford team that lost to Tebow in the National Championship game. So they've got balanced and a great quarterback.

Then you go down to J.T. Daniels. You're going to have a great defense. for Georgia and Kirby Smart and a quarterback that I really trust. Remember, this was the number two scoring offense in the SEC after J.T. Daniels was inserted into that lineup. So you've got J.T. Daniels. Then you've got a guy that played meaningful football, DJ Uiongolele. So he was out there. He was facing Notre Dame on the road. I know what I'm getting in some degree, even though they've got to replace Travis E.T.N., that you know they're going to have a very good defense. I think they're going to take a step up defensively from what they were a year ago when they

step back just a little bit. A lot of inexperience on the defense side last year. They'll be very good this year, Clemson. And then Ohio State, a guy we haven't seen. C.J. Stroud is going to get the nod at the quarterback position. So that's why they're here. You know, I've had some people say, like, well, why aren't you higher on Clemson? You know, they've been so good. Well, because I trust Spencer Rattler and J.T. Daniels more so than I do, DJ Ojunga Laleigh. Ohio State sitting there saying, hey, our roster is better. We just hammered Clemson. I get it. I get it. And yet, at the most important position on the field, you're a complete unknown.

These five, I believe, has separated themselves out from the next five. You can argue that Texas A&M clearly is the top of that next group and maybe can get into that conversation of the playoff. But right now, you have to put Alabama at number one. I don't care what they lost. They have Nick Saban. Then you've got quarterback trustworthiness after that. Folks, that's my top 10. And let's just quickly note the new blood in the playoff.

This is who I think is going to go to the playoff. So do I think there's going to be new blood? No. But what are your most likely spots to get somebody in there? Texas A&M, Iowa State. Those are the two teams that I think have a legitimate chance. Because Texas A&M could even lose one, maybe even two games. If they're the SEC champion, can get out of the West, they're going to be in the

playoff. Iowa State. They're going to probably have to play Oklahoma twice. They would only have to beat them in one of those games. One of them would be in neutral. They were close. Last year, remember, they split last year. They beat them in the regular season, and then they lost in the Big 12 championship game.

So those are your two new bloods that I think could potentially have a chance to go to the playoff. So there you have it. There's my top 10 teams going into this college football season. Cannot wait. Hey, welcome back, Joel Klatte with you. Let's get into my top five Heisman Hopefuls going into the season. First of all, there's some guys out there that didn't make the list, but I do want to mention guys like, I don't know, Bryce Young from Alabama, the new quarterback there. How about DJ Uyongolele?

You got guys like Derek King at Miami, Isaiah Spiller, maybe even C.J. Stroud. Guys that I'm definitely watching but didn't make my top five. Let's get into who I think the top five are. At number five, I'm going to go with J.T. Daniels, the Georgia quarterback. Remember now when he got inserted into the lineup, this offense took off. over 35 points per game, 310 passing yards per game. He's got talent all around him. I think J.T. Daniels could have a monster year for Georgia,

and that's a team that's going to threaten for a playoff spot, maybe even a national championship. So he's certainly on my radar. And number four is Breece Hall, the running back at Iowa State. Guy's a monster. He's the returning offensive player of the year in the Big 12. 1,500 yards, 21 touchdowns a year ago. If he puts up those numbers,

and Iowa State is a one loss, maybe an undefeated in November. He's absolutely going to be in the conversation. I mean, what a story that would be if Iowa State could be one of these teams that was forcing the issue for the playoff and these postseason awards. He's a guy that I'm very much high on, but he's not the highest running back I have in the Big 12. What? You say that's going to go to Bijon Robinson. This dude's a monster, folks.

Okay? So he was a true freshman last year. So they brought him along slowly. And then all of a sudden in the back half of the year, like three of the last four games, he just went for 150 yards. Just like, bam. Dude is, he's as good of a back as there is in the country. And if Steve Sarkesian knows how to use him, which he does,

and he touches the ball 20 and 25 times, he's going to do things like this. This was late in the year against Kansas State. Okay, nondescript stretch play to the right side. He's just going to be like, you know what? to get what I can get. I'm going to run this and kind of force the issue into the line of scrimmage. He runs into a big pile, puts his hand down, doesn't stop his feet, and then he's gone and shows you the speed. So he's got vision, power, balance, and speed. It's unbelievable. Listen, Texas fans, if this guy gets the ball 20 to 25 times, you may find yourself in the Big 12 championship game,

and you may find yourself rooting for another Heisman trophy winner there at the University of Texas. This dude's unbelievable. All right, number two for me, it's going to be Sam Howell, quarterback at North Carolina. The dude's a veteran. He knows how to win. We know that Mack Brown has told us they're ahead of schedule in large part due to the way that Sam Howell plays. And this is what he does.

He just manages the game efficiently. This is kind of an air raid style, RPO style of system. Here he's reading an RPO, run pass option. And he's got a defender just sitting in the window. So he doesn't panic in the back end. And he just allows the second window to come open and Das Newsom is gone. So he doesn't panic. He just sits, boom, and then he throws a strike, allowing the wide receiver, on the frame of the wide receiver, allowing him to in stride take the ball of the house.

See how he doesn't panic and just moves to that second window? That's really above the X's and O's stuff because the defense actually had the proper defense called. Here, this is just a play action pass. You got a run block, or excuse me, pass blocking by the offensive line, a little token fake in the back end. He knows that all he's got to do is hold this safety. You saw that safety. He holds them on that side of the football. And then all he's got to do is beat a one-on-one.

He knows the matchup he wants, and he throws this ball well over 50 yards in the air from the 50, inside the 10, in stride for another touchdown. That's just like super efficient and explosive football from the quarterback for North Carolina. But he's not the top quarterback on my board. That's going to go to Spencer Rattler, the quarterback from the University of Oklahoma. Could Oklahoma have another Heisman Trophy winner at quarterback? Yes, they absolutely can because of his talent and also the year that they may have as a team. Remember that defense is better? Remember, he's got all those stars around him.

But it's what he does on the field that makes him so special. They're trying to run a little clear out here, and they're going to clear out this left side, and he keeps his eyes on that side knowing that if this corner follows, he's got to replace him with the overrout. So he's moving up to his right, and he's still on one foot, throws across his body, supposed to be a Cardinal Sin, not for Spencer Rattler, apparently, because he's got the armed talent to make this throw. Eyes left, comes up, throws off that foot, boom, right in stride for Theo. and it's a touchdown for Oklahoma. That's an above the exes and Os play.

Here early in the year, watch this arm talent. Back foot, just kind of stutter steps and throws an absolute missile to Theo Weiss down the field. When you take a look at it from another angle, you're going to see he throws this ball from the 33-yard line and it's caught at the 15. That's insane. You know how many times even Patrick Mahomes

throws the ball over 50 yards? Very few times. Okay, this guy's got a monster. arm, and that's one of the reasons why he is my top candidate in the preseason for the Heisman trophy. So there you have it. Spencer Rattler at number one. Welcome back. And without further ado, let's get to the guy who I had at the top of my preseason Heisman list. That is the Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler. Spencer, what's going on, man? Thanks for joining us. Oh, yeah. Thank you for having me. Just got out of practice, been a busy mock week,

getting ready for game one. We're excited. Listen, everybody's excited for the season. But, you know, as I just stated, I had you at the top of my list. You're at the top of a lot of lists for the Heisman Trophy. And I'm sure, you know, and we will talk about your team, but just from an individual perspective, how are you dealing with the monumental expectations that have kind of been heaped on you during this offseason? Yeah, I try not to deal with it. As a team and Coach Riley keeps it clear with us. All our personal goals will, you know, come to life if we win.

and not just for me, but everybody on the team. So, you know, it's nice seeing your name and all those things, but we're not really worried about expectations. We got to go out and just take a game by game and just have fun with it. You know, last year was so interesting watching you because I felt like there was a clear point where you turned the corner.

You know, you had those five interceptions early in the year. And then in the Red River game, late, you guys seemed to find a rhythm and then you just took off after that point. What did you learn early in the year? you know, playing real speed, game speed, that you were able to transition and become such a more efficient player late?

Yeah, I think the turnover is just learning from those mistakes and from that point on, just really limiting that makes it a lot easier for the team to win on both sides of the ball. So just limiting those mistakes and learning game by game, just getting the feel of everything. I think it went really smooth after that and, you know, still got stuff to improve on.

Been working on that throughout camp and mock week and all that stuff. So hopefully we can stay sharp from the beginning this year. All right. So who are the guys that we can expect to be stars for your offense? We know we're going to talk a lot about you. You know, you guys have historically had a great run game. You got to transfer in a lot of people high on. Obviously Kennedy Brooks back.

We're excited to see him back on the field. Great core of wide receivers. But take us into camp a little bit. In practice, who's shining right now? Yeah. Just to name a few guys, I mean, We got Mike Woods, Theo Weiss, Jaden Hazelwood, Austin Stogner, Braden Willis, Jeremiah Hall. I mean, I could go on and on.

It's in a very near Britches. Hey, I mean, I got to show love to everybody because everybody really contributes in a big way and makes my job a lot easier. Eric Gray, transferred from Tennessee. He'll be really good for us. And obviously Kennedy Brooks. So we got a lot of guys. Drake Stoops as well. And then obviously up front, those big boys protected for us.

I'm excited to see what this whole group can do. Yeah, you found Drake on that little seam route to basically put away Texas in that Red River game last year. That was an excellent play for the former coaches. By the way, his dad's now working with us. So I'm sure we're going to hear about Drake quite a bit. From your perspective, you know, the shoes at the quarterback position at OU are so big, right? I mean, so much success, even just recently. But the one consistent has been linking.

Lincoln Riley and his ability to put you guys in advantageous spots on the field. What is it like to play a game with him calling the place and finding that rhythm with your head coach, Lincoln Riley? Yeah, I think Coach Riley does a great job just, you know, kind of keeping it simple and making it easy for our whole offense just to really be efficient, attack it down the field, have a good run game and just even everything out. I mean, he definitely makes it easier at the quarterback position, going through your reads, coverages, teaches us a lot of great things. And, you know, it's been great so far. And I'm excited

to see what he dials up this year. Now, one thing that has been changing over the last couple of years for you guys, at least, is the quality of your defensive unit. You know, we've seen that progression over the last couple of years with Alex Grinch as a defensive coordinator, talking about speed D. I even saw Lincoln Riley with a Speed D shirt on. I was like, man, you know, that's definitely the tides have turned a little bit at OU. Led the Big 12 in Saxon turnovers a year ago, obviously playing such great defense. When you face them in camp,

what are you seeing and what should we expect to see out of that defensive side of the ball this year? Yeah, no, going against those guys is fun every day. I mean, we're going to get one of the best, if not one of the best defenses in the country, in my opinion. I mean, up front, you know, it's always tough to handle with those guys.

Nick Benito, Isaiah Thomas, pairing on Winfrey, just to name a few. Jalen Redmond, those guys are always getting after you, making it tough to get the ball out. And then we got a lot of good young corners coming up, a lot of corners in my class doing well. And obviously, we got a veteran safety group and linebacker group. So going against those guys, you know, Speed D is a perfect definition for them. They're all fast, swarm to the ball. Their mentality is just, it's next level. So I'm excited to be on the same sideline with those guys, finally.

and have them get us the ball back so we can go score some points. And Spencer, one of the biggest differences from that side that I see is length. You know, a few years ago, a lot of short players in the back end, sub six foot. The difference between OU's defense and places like LSU and Ohio State and Clemson and Alabama was the length, the 6-1, 6-2 corner and safety. Now you guys have that. Yeah, no, that's another thing that makes it difficult for, you know,

not just me in practice, but other quarterbacks they'll be going against. makes tough on those back shoulder throws going over the top, fitting it in those close windows because, yeah, that length is a big factor at that position. And, you know, that helps us, you know, at the QB position because we'll be playing, I'm sure we'll be playing guys that got length at those positions and we'll have to get used to that. All right, man.

Last one for me is, is how would you define a successful season for the Oklahoma Sooners and Spencer Rattler? A successful season for us would just be going out every game, dominating every game, winning every game, and see where that takes us, hopefully takes us to the national championship and win that one. That's been our goal since we won our last one in 2000,

and we've got to get another one. That's our goal. Spencer Rattler, hey man, I appreciate the time. Go out there, ball out. We will see you when Nebraska comes to town. Gus and I will be into town to see the palace on the prairie kicking at noon. I know you love the noon kick, so I don't even going to ask about that.

Oh yeah, I'm ready to go. I know it. All right, bud. Thanks for your time, man. Appreciate it. Yes, sir. Have a good one. Welcome back in to breaking the huddle.

It's our favorite time of the day. It's a chance for me to yell at people on Twitter. So let's get into it. Ask for your responses this week. Questions for the college football season. We got a few. Pawan Kanchey comes in and says, talk about any teams other than Bama, Clemson, and OSU.

Please, praying for Oklahoma to win it all this season, just for a change. One, we just talked to Spencer Rattler. I have them ranked number two. I've got Georgia ranked number three ahead of both Clemson and Ohio State. I don't know what you want for me. And I can't just lie and tell you that I think some other team is better than the ones that are clearly at the top. I understand it's been a tough winter longingly looking over.

I don't even know what Great Lake. You're a Michigan fan. You don't want to hear about Ohio State. I understand. I really do. I understand. But the fact remains. Oklahoma, Spencer Rattler, probably the best chance to unseat one of those other teams as a team that can win a national championship.

The time for talking, however, is over. It is time for football. All right, folks, Thursday night, we kick things off at Minnesota, Ohio State, the Buckeyes, traveling to visit the gophers who are rowing their boat all the way to the 2021 season and PJ Fleck. Our coverage is going to begin at 730. Our pregame guys are going to be there on. on-site, Bob Stoops, hope he's not nervous. I mean, it's a big stage for him the first time he's going to be out there on the pregame show. But Reggie, Matt, Brady, Rob Stone, they're going to be there. Gus, Ginny, I, we will have the call Ohio State on the field against Minnesota to kick things off. It's college football time, folks. Are you ready?

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