Caleb Williams starts second half at QB for Oklahoma, Spencer Rattler benched

It appears that Oklahoma has benched starting quarterback Spencer Rattler in favor of Caleb Williams against Texas. Rattler was eight of 15 for 111 yards and an interception in the first half. He also had a rushing touchdown. Williams was two of six in the first half, and he also broke off a 66-yard rushing touchdown.

Sideline reporter Holly Rowe said that Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley made the quarterback switch due to “turnover related” issues. Rattler did not look his best in the first half, leading to Williams coming in a couple of times late in the half. Texas led Oklahoma 38-20 at halftime.

Rattler came into the year as a leading contender to take home the Heisman. He had thrown for 1,260 yards, ten touchdowns, and four interceptions entering Saturday’s game. Williams has played sparingly so far on the year. Entering Saturday, he had completed six of 11 passes for 102 yards, adding 61 rushing yards and a score on five carries.

Some Oklahoma fans have wanted to see Williams to replace Rattler

Two weeks ago against West Virginia, Oklahoma barely survived with a game winning field goal to win 16-13 at the last second. During the game, Rattler was underwhelming at times, leading to Oklahoma fans beginning “We want Caleb” chants across the stadium after an interception.

After that incident, Rattler said that he didn’t pay attention when Oklahoma fans chanted for Williams.

“I don’t worry about that at all,” Rattler told ESPN’s Holly Rowe. “I don’t listen to it. They’re not on the field.”

Lincoln Riley defended Rattler after those chants, saying that he was going to turn it around.

““You know you evaluate the whole game and thought there were a couple of things he missed, but I thought several things we didn’t play good around him. I was proud of him. I thought he hung in there and trusted it the whole way, gave us a chance right there at the end. He’s going to get better. He’s going to get coached better,” Riley said.

While Rattler had massive expectations entering the year for Oklahoma, Williams was the consensus No. 1 quarterback in the country in the 2021 class and was a consensus five-star prospect. In his junior year of high school, Williams threw for 1,770 yards and 19 touchdowns, adding 838 yards and 18 scores on the ground.