Tanner Mordecai (born November 8, 1999) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin). They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivisi ...

High school career

Mordecai attended

Midway High School Midway High School is a public high school located in the city of Waco, Texas, Waco, Texas, United States, USA and classified as a 6A school by the University Interscholastic League, UIL. It is part of the Midway Independent School District (McLen ...

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the ...

. During his career he passed for 4,797 yards and 51 touchdowns. He committed to the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

to play college football.

College career

Oklahoma

Mordecai played at Oklahoma from 2018 to 2020. In his first year he appeared in two games as a backup to

Kyler Murray Kyler Cole Murray (born August 7, 1997) is an American football quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). Following a stint at Texas A&M University, Texas A&M, Murray played college football at University of Okl ...

and took a redshirt. In 2019 he competed with

Jalen Hurts Jalen Alexander Hurts (born August 7, 1998) is an American football quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played his first three seasons of college football at Alabama, where he was part of the team t ...

to be the starter but lost the job and was the backup to Hurts for the season. In 2020 he again competed for the starting job, this time with

Spencer Rattler Spencer Michael Rattler (born September 28, 2000) is an American football quarterback who plays college football for South Carolina. Rattler began his college career with Oklahoma before transferring to South Carolina in 2021. High school caree ...

, but again lost the job and spent the year as his backup. Overall he played in 12 games at Oklahoma, completing 50 of 70 passes for 639 yards and four touchdowns.

SMU

In 2021, Mordecai transferred to

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

. In his first year at SMU, he was named the starter. In his first start, he threw for a then school-record seven passing touchdowns in a 56–9 victory over Abilene Christian. Following the 2021 season, Mordecai was selected to the American's All-Conference Second Team. On November 5, 2022, against the

Houston Cougars The Houston Cougars are the athletic teams representing the University of Houston. Informally, the Houston Cougars have also been referred to as the Coogs, UH, or simply Houston. Houston's nickname was suggested by early physical education instr ...

, Mordecai threw for a school-record 9 touchdowns, 7 of which came in the first half. The Mustangs won the game 77–63, breaking the FBS record for highest-scoring regulation game. For his performance, Mordecai was named The American's offensive player of the week.

Wisconsin

On December 30, 2022, Mordecai announced his intent to transfer to the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

Statistics

''As of October 14, 2023:''

References

External links

Oklahoma Sooners bioSMU Mustangs bioWisconsin Badgers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mordecai, Tanner 1999 births Living people Players of American football from Waco, Texas American football quarterbacks Oklahoma Sooners football players SMU Mustangs football players Wisconsin Badgers football players