Rattler, who was benched at OU for eventual No. 1 pick Caleb Williams — coincidentally during next year’s Red River rivalry replay — went on to perform more heroics in South Carolina. In Beamer’s words, “He came here and in his first season as a starter, he did a lot of things that had never been done before.”

That includes becoming the first Gamecocks QB to beat Texas A&M and the first to win back-to-back games against top-10 opponents.

That’s what the Saints are hoping for today and next Thursday night when New Orleans hosts the Broncos in Week 7. It was a mild surprise for the crowd when head coach Dennis Allen made this decision, as Jake Haener started the season as a backup . QB to Carr.

Still, Rattler impressed in the spring, making New Orleans think it had gotten a steal in the fifth round. Preseason was more of the same for Rattler, who has significant upside. Allen described the past week of practice as positive, and Rattler was able to add an extra dimension to the offense with his running ability.

“He has a no-smile attitude,” Allen said. “That’s what we saw a lot during training camp as he grew every week and ultimately some of the reps we saw in the preseason reflected that.”

Beamer saw a lot of this in South Carolina and noted two more examples.

In 2022, his team lost 38-6 to Florida, a particularly brutal match. All Rattler did was throw six touchdowns in a stunning rout of No. 5 Tennessee the following week.

“Very few QBs can wash away a bad week from the week before and really go into the next week with the idea and belief that they’re going to throw for six touchdowns and his team is going to score 63 points,” Beamer said. “He played crazy.”

Against rival Clemson the following week, Rattler threw an early pick-six to Tigers star linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr., now with the Eagles.

“He runs away and winks at me,” Beamer said, laughing. “Like, ‘My bad.’ He knew he made a mistake. He came back and made some big throws that led us to the win.”