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South Carolina

Spencer Rattler continues to take hits but believes it's more than an offensive line issue

imageby: Jack Veltri10/22/23jacktveltri
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Spencer Rattler (C.J. Driggers/GamecockCentral)

South Carolina had Missouri on its heels early. It moved the ball well but ran into a big third down play.

On the 11th play of the drive, Xavier Legette ran in motion to the right. Spencer Rattler took the snap and looked for an open receiver. But no one was open.

As he spun to his left, it was too late. Missouri brought the pressure and sacked Rattler for a 13-yard loss. Afterwards, Rattler sat on the ground as a host of Tigers celebrated around him.

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It was another long day at the office for Rattler, filled with constant pressure. He took six sacks in a 34-12 loss on Saturday.

“I’m fine, honestly,” Rattler said. “My job is easy, body-wise, than what (the offensive line) have to do, running backs have to do, defense has to do. I’m all right. I’ll keep playing as hard as I can, and I’ll protect myself.”

It’s been that type of year for Rattler. Despite playing pretty well, he’s been facing pressure nearly every snap this year. As a result, he’s been hit in the backfield 30 times in seven games.

“The kid gets the living crap beat out of him out there today. And he just keeps coming back,” Shane Beamer said. “Proud as heck of him and proud of all of our guys as well, but Spencer’s tough.”

On the surface, the hits he’s been taking would be the fault of the offensive line. But Rattler believes that’s not entirely the case.

“I don’t want the narrative to be, oh, the o-line this, the o-line that. Some of those sacks are my fault, some of those sacks are our receivers fault not getting open,” Rattler said.

“It’s a team thing truly on this offense. We do not point fingers, we do not do none of that.”

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Four of the sacks Rattler took were in third down situations, three of which were inside the Missouri 25-yard line.

“I think at the end of the day, a lot of the sacks were us not playing with the right technique and the right strain and the right finish. I think we were protected and lost key one-on-ones. Can’t lose one-on-ones as an o-line in those crucial moments,” Nick Gargiulo said.

With five games to go, it’s hard to fix the problem that’s been there all year. It might be something Rattler and South Carolina have to deal with the rest of the way.

“He’s a warrior and I applaud him,” Debo Williams said. “We have to keep coming along, whether it’s the offensive line or a running back or a wide receiver or someone blocking. We have to get that corrected because he shouldn’t be getting hit that much.”

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