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Photo Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
alen Hurts lost a fumble on his first college snap.
What’s weird is that Alabama coach Nick Saban gave the true freshman a second chance Saturday night against USC.
The offseason conventional wisdom was that Hurts would be running fourth in a four-man spring quarterback race, because Saban wouldn’t give the reins to the nation’s No. 1 team to such a young, untested quarterback.
Whenever Saban has had to pick a new quarterback at Alabama, he has always gone with the guy who has the most experience in his system.
But Saban is an older dog who can learn new tricks.
Blake Barnett had the helm for the first two uneventful drives against the Trojans, and then Saban skipped over Cooper Bateman and went right to Hurts, whose style doesn’t match the typical Alabama profile.
The dual-threat dash brings the zone-read to Alabama’s offense, and Hurts settled in nicely Saturday night in a rousing 52-6 win. Hurts’ first three possessions failed to result in points, but he ended up accounting for four touchdowns — two on passes to receiver ArDarius Stewart, including a deep ball for a score that will make opponents respect his arm, not just his legs.
“Each series he played he got more and more comfortable,” Saban said of Hurts after the game. “He adds a dimension with his athleticism. His ability to run is very effective, and I think that actually opened up the running game.”
Hurts completed 6 of 11 passes for 118 yards. He ran nine times for 32 yards.
Alabama has found its quarterback of the future.
File Barnett and Bateman under “game managers.” File Hurts under “game-changer.”
“A lot of maturity out of him,” said center Bradley Bozeman. “Cool and collected, and he commanded the offense exactly how he is supposed to. He acted like a senior out there.”
Saban can fiddle with his quarterback position in a home game against Western Kentucky on Saturday, but that’s all the kicking-the-tires time allowed. The Tide play at Ole Miss on Sept. 17, and the Rebels are riding a two-game winning streak against Alabama in what figures to be a key SEC West battle.
Freshman quarterbacks will be freshman quarterbacks, which means they often try to do too much, leading to turnovers. If Hurts is smart enough to just take what the defense gives him, make plays when presented, and let his talented supporting cast do the rest — then Saban has exceeded even his own high standards.
The thing about Alabama quarterbacks under Saban: He might not have had a great one, but he never has a bad one.
Hurts looks like a great one.