2. Scarbrough shines for Alabama:

Crimson Tide tailback scores twice to help Alabama overcome a shaky performance by freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts.

How to size up Jalen Hurts’ puzzling debut performance in the College Football Playoff ? Two words came to mind when watching the Alabama quarterback struggle during Saturday’s sloppy semifinal bout. True freshman. But two more words remind why that didn’t matter, as the Crimson Tide convincingly outmuscled Washington 24-7 to emerge victorious in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl: Bo Scarbrough. For most of the afternoon, Hurts and his offense looked out of sorts. Alabama had uncharacteristic problems with penalties that stalled drives. The Huskies manhandled the offensive line at times, flushing Hurts from the pocket and forcing him to make errant or ill-advised throws under duress. Some running plays were negated by the Huskies’ D-line penetrating between the tackles.

And the play-calling. Oh, yes.

Lane Kiffin continued to be Nick Saban’s foil — or perhaps nemesis — on the sideline, dialing up first-down, play-action passes and keeping the ball in Hurts’ hands as a runner when Scarbrough was destined for a big day.

At one stretch, the Crimson Tide punted on six consecutive drives while gaining a total of 84 yards.

But Scarbrough ended that lifeless streak by busting out on scoring runs of 18 and then 68 yards, giving Alabama a commanding 17-point advantage that held up with ease. There was no secret recipe, no trickery, none of the flashiness Kiffin might have liked. The same power-running formula that won Saban titles Nos. 1-4 put this game away in familiar fashion.

Scarbrough emerged just when his quarterback needed him most, finishing with 19 carries for 180 yards and both of Alabama’s offensive touchdowns.

Hurts, frankly, played like what he is: a first-year quarterback facing an elite defense in an elimination game. A couple of delay-of-game penalties and a costly intentional-grounding call all hurt. Three plays — a fumble recovered by Alabama and a pair of passes that were nearly picked off — could have made this game a nail-biter had they gone the other way.

The end result didn’t look pretty on paper: 7-of-14 passing for 57 yards. It was, statistically, the quietest game of his Crimson Tide career.

But in Hurts’ defense, he also could have used more of a pick-me-up from his offensive teammates. Few quarterbacks have been asked to do as much under Saban as the native Texan was in 2016. Entering Saturday, he had carried the ball 30 more times than leading rusher Damien Harris and accounted for 40 total touchdowns, three fewer than Clemson’s Deshaun Watson.

Most other quarterbacks who’ve led their teams to the playoff have been big-time talents. Marcus Mariota, Jameis Winston, Cardale Jones and Connor Cook all play in the NFL. Watson and Baker Mayfield both are well on their way.

The outliers belong to Alabama. Jake Coker and Blake Sims were never required to shoulder the load on offense. In that sense, Hurts didn’t exactly fit the mold of his predecessors.

He lived on the edge at times Saturday, much as his chief play-caller does. His lack of development as a passer as the season has worn on could be a concern with the national title game looming.