Freshman guiding the Tide
QB Jalen Hurts 2 wins from national title
NORMAN, Okla. — Jamelle Holieway dazzled the college football world as a true freshman who mastered Oklahoma’s wishbone attack and led the Sooners to the 1985 national title.
The 5-foot-11 field general stepped in after Troy Aikman went down with a broken leg during a loss to Miami early in the season. Oklahoma won seven straight to close out the regular season, then beat Penn State in the Orange Bowl, making Holieway the only true freshman quarterback to lead a Bowl Subdivision team to a national title.
Redshirt freshmen QBs have won it all — including Jameis Winston just a few seasons ago — but Holieway stands alone as the only true frosh to pull it off.
Alabama’s Jalen Hurts is two wins from joining Holieway. The top-ranked Crimson Tide play No. 4 Washington in the Peach Bowl on Dec. 31 in a national semifinal.
Holieway, now 49 and living in Quinton, Okla., has enjoyed watching Hurts from afar and sees similarities in their skills and situations.
“It’s amazing that he has the same initials,” Holieway said. “It’s amazing that he’s a true freshman. And three, black. So we’ve got three things going.”
Holieway likes the intelligence Hurts brings to the game. He remembers the knock on black quarterbacks in the old days — that they weren’t smart enough to lead. Now, he sees Hurts using his brains and athleticism at the highest level of college football, and he’s proud. He expects Hurts and the Crimson Tide to claim the championship.
“I’m very fond of the young man,” Holieway said. “He keeps his composure when the game is really tough, and they win. Thirty-one years ago, that was us.”
In a way, Holieway says Hurts’ winning a national title would be a greater accomplishment that his leading the Sooners to the championship.
“I think of how hard it is for any quarterback to do it (win a national title),” Holieway said. “Now, because of the parity, because of the equality across the board — back then, you might have had six powerhouses. So you can basically weed them out and figure out who’s going to win the national championship. But now, it’s a coin toss.”
Armed Forces Bowl
FORT WORTH, Texas — Jonathan Barnes kicked a game-ending 32-yard field goal and Louisiana Tech beat Navy 48-45 in the Armed Forces Bowl on Friday.
The Bulldogs (9-5) drove for the winning score after Navy freshman quarterback Malcolm Perry ran 30 yards for a touchdown on his only play with 3:46 left.
Ryan Higgins threw for 409 yards and four touchdowns, two each to Trent Taylor and Carlos Henderson. Taylor, a 5-foot-8 senior, set an Armed Forces Bowl with his 12 catches for 233 yards. Henderson had 10 catches for 129 yards.
Navy (9-5), which was trying for its first consecutive 10-win seasons, instead ended with its third straight loss. The Midshipmen lost the American Athletic Conference title game before its first loss to Army since 2001.
Bahamas Bowl
NASSAU, Bahamas — David Washington threw three touchdowns passes, Ray Lawry ran for 133 yards and Old Dominion beat Eastern Michigan 24-20.
Old Dominion (10-3) won in its first bowl appearance in school history. The Monarchs didn’t play football for 69 years before restarting the program in 2009, and made the transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2013.
Eastern Michigan (7-6) lost in its first bowl appearance since 1987.