MEET THE QUARTERBACK
Hurts named Oklahoma's starting quarterback
Expectations are already high for Jalen Hurts
NORMAN — The last time Jalen Hurts started a football game, it ended with him watching from the sideline as Tua Tagovailoa led Alabama to the national championship as Hurts' replacement.
The last time Hurts saw significant time in a game that was still in doubt, he led the Crimson Tide to the SEC Championship and a spot in
the College Football Playoff — against Oklahoma.
Monday, in a move that was not unexpected, Sooners coach Lincoln Riley officially named Hurts as OU's starter.
“I'm stronger, I'm wise, much more mature,” Hurts said recently of him now compared to when he lost his starting spot at Alabama.
“I've seen it all. I've kind of always been a stoic guy, don't let much get to me. But I think taking those things, those learning experiences, as opportunities to learn and get better. Think about all the losses you have in your life, whether it's on the field, off the field, at your job, whatever it is. You've got to think about it and use it to your leverage. Think about it as an opportunity.
“We have a lot of opportunities here at Oklahoma to do great things as a team.”
Hurts a nd t he Sooners open the season Sept. 1 at home against Houston.
During his time in Alabama, Hurts developed a reputation as a gritty quarterback with powerful running ability who lacked the arm strength to be a dynamic down-the-field thrower.
Hurts threw for 5,626 yards during his three seasons with the Crimson Tide — 4,861 of those as a starter — with 48 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
Hurts has thrown for more than 300 yards just once — against Mississippi State in 2016. By comparison, Sooner quarterbacks Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield have thrown for 300 or more yards in a game a combined 24 times over the last three seasons.
According to Pro Football Focus, Hurts' throws averaged just 9.7 yards during his time at Alabama.
Going into the bowl game last season, Murray's averaged depth of target was 11.8 yards.
The year before, Mayfield had a quarterback rating of 127.9 on throws at least 20 yards downfield. The closest among the other first-round quarterback picks in the 2018 NFL Draft was UCLA's Josh Rosen at 102.3.
But though Hurts struggled with the deep ball as a starter at Alabama, t here were signs of improvement last season in limited action.
In that SEC Championship Game, a come-frombehind win over Georgia, Hurts came off the bench in the fourth quarter. While on t he run, he put a pass right in the hands of Jaylen Waddle on the sideline 23 yards downfield to convert a third-and-5 with Alabama trailing by a touchdown.
A few snaps later, with the play breaking down, Hurts scrambled to his right and found Jerry Jeudy for a 10-yard, game-tying score.
On the next drive, Hurts threaded a pass to Irv Smith for a 19- yard gain — once again converting a key third down — before hitting Waddle again for a 16-yard completion on the very next play.
One play later, Hurts showed off his running ability with a 15-yard draw for a touchdown to lift Alabama to the lead.
While these weren't the long bombs that Murray and Mayfield had at times — though the presence of Marquise Brown on the Sooners' roster certainly helped those quarterbacks with deep targets—they showed an improvement from Hurts as a sophomore in 2017.
“It's not like starting over with a blank slate,” Riley said of Hurts. “He has played a lot of football. Even if he hasn't done exactly what you're doing, a lot of times he can relate it back to something he's done before.”