Who am I to question the judgment of Alabama Crimson Tide football head coach Nick Saban? However, who is Saban not to trust the talent of QB, Jalen Hurts?
Saturday during his first collegiate game, against 20th, ranked USC, Hurts looked more poised than any other player on the field. Hurts passed for 118 yards and 2 TDs on six completions while adding another 32 yards on the ground and two more TDs.
If the choice was not clear before Saturday’s game, it’ clear now. The National Championship will not only go through Alabama, but all challengers must find a way to contain Hurts if they wish to accomplish their goal. Okay, 11 attempts are nothing to write the Heisman voters about but playing for Saban is not about the Heisman anyway. In Alabama, there is one goal, and that’s team orientated a National Championship.
If Hurts can improve his attempts, which I know Saban will be after his performance, then things just may have gotten worse for the rest of college football. How do you defend a QB that plays like an RB, or an RB that throws like QB? Watching Hurts play reminds me a lot of Charlie Ward when he ran the most prolific offense in college while at Florida State.
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The Tide are loaded on both sides of the ball and with the offensive weapons, Saban has it his disposal Hurts will not need to throw 30-35 times a game. Hurts can look in the backfield and audible to Damien Harris or hit Ardarius Stewart for a post route and let him take it to the house. Today’s game is about exploiting the defense and what better way than with a dual-threat QB.
He’s young and will make mistakes along the way; that’s a given, but there is no way Saban can or should take this moment away from this kid by not letting him loose on the collegiate world.