Lincoln Riley: Spencer Rattler threw a bad INT, but it was 'just bad football all the way around'

Rattler's growth since the Texas game continues, but he'll need continued support from his teammates as the Sooners prepare to host Oklahoma State in two weeks

Lincoln Riley used Spencer Rattler’s interception Saturday against Kansas as a teaching moment.

Not just for Rattler, but for the entire OU offense.

“It was just bad football all the way around,” Riley said Monday on the Big 12 coaches teleconference. “We didn’t do a very good job on the blitz pickup. We had a receiver totally in the wrong area; the defender that ended up intercepting the pass should not even have been anywhere in the vicinity.”

The interception was Rattler’s first since the first half of the Texas game. He was benched in that game, came back after halftime and hadn’t suffered a turnover since. He also fumbled against KU on a sack from behind during a scramble, although Austin Stogner — the blocker who let his man escape and clobber Rattler from behind — was able to pounce on the ball.

After all the growth Rattler has displayed since his Texas benching, it looked like his interception was a bit of a step back, a careless throw in a low-percentage situation to a player that wasn’t on the same page.

On OU’s second possession, Rattler got pressure from a blitzer around the left edge. He flushed out to the right, drifted toward the sideline waiting for someone to get open, and then — instead of either stepping out of bounds for a nominal loss or throwing the ball away for an incompletion — Rattler threw the ball at an angle across the field to his left, away from his body, away from his momentum.

It looked like a textbook bad throw. Throwing opposite the direction you’re moving, even with a golden arm like Rattler’s, is almost always a bad move. Without setting one’s feet and using almost all arm to release the football, it diminishes accuracy. Most of all, it decreases the velocity of the throw and allows defenders an extra tick to react.

Kansas DB Kenny Logan simply slid into open space behind Charleston Rambo and in front of Jeremiah Hall and caught the wayward throw from Rattler.

(WATCH SPENCER RATTLER'S INTERCEPTION BELOW)

It’s ultimately Rattler’s interception because it’s ultimately his decision to take care of the football there and not make a dangerous decision and a risky throw. But Riley examined the play from all angles and comes away with a broader conclusion.

“It was actually a pretty conservative throw — probably too conservative because I don’t know if Hall could have been able to make a play on it,” Riley said.

The whole thing began to break down when left guard Marquis Hayes missed a block on a linebacker blitzing up the middle and running back Rhamondre Stevenson stepped up too far to take on the nickel back blitzing from the outside.

That pressure caused Rattler to bail out.

Hall, on the left side of the formation at his H-back position, ran his diagonal route across the field, but when he saw Rattler in trouble, he first curled back toward Rattler, then suddenly released deep downfield.

Meanwhile Rambo, from his slot receiver position on the left, broke off off what looked like a deep post and also started coming back to Rattler.

Hall and Rambo were in the same line of vision for Rattler, but at the same time, Hall changed direction and Rambo stopped his route, and Rattler’s throw went right to Logan for an easy interception.

“So, you know, when you make a bunch of mistakes across the board, those things happen,” Riley said, “and we’ve got to all do better.

“We’re pretty detailed about where we should be (as receivers) when we scramble. And we didn’t … we just … it was just poor execution all the way around. Line, receivers, quarterback. There was just a lot of bad football on that play, and when you have that many groups make mistakes, then it’s not going to look real pretty.”

Riley reiterated that Rattler has been “pretty good” since coming off the bench against the Longhorns.

He’s currently 19th in the nation at 288.3 yards per game (2,018 total), tied for seventh nationally with 18 touchdowns (just four behind the leaders), 16th in passer efficiency rating at 172.1 (just off Sam Bradford’s OU freshman record of 176.53), 18th in yards per completion at 14.31 (which leads the Big 12 Conference), and 20th in points-responsible-for per game at 18.3 (second nationally among freshmen QBs).

“He’s played pretty good since (Texas),” Riley said. “You know, he closed that game strong, he had a couple big road wins where I thought he played really well, and did a lot of good things here the other day — actually, probably played a little bit better the other day than I thought leaving the game, after watching the tape. So he’s progressing nicely.”

Rattler left the Texas game on a path to growth. Now he continues on that path with a weekend off before the No. 18-ranked Sooners host No. 14 Oklahoma State on Nov. 21.

Against one of the top defenses in the Big 12, which won Saturday’s game at Kansas State with two key takeaways (OSU now has six on the season), Rattler — and everyone around him — needs to be on point for the Sooners to have a chance to win a sixth straight Big 12 championship.

“I mean, each week’s still a challenge and always will be,” Riley said. “Still new situations, new things come up every week. But he’s making a lot of plays and seeing the things he needs to see and I think doing a good job of leading our group.”

To get the latest OU posts as they happen, join the SI Sooners Community by clicking “Follow” at the top right corner of the page (mobile users can click the notifications bell icon), and follow SI Sooners on Twitter @All_Sooners.