SEC teams rely on young QBs with varying results

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS » The Southeastern Conference is filled with young quarterbacks this season, with many teams putting their offenses in the hands of freshmen or sophomores.

Some of these players have had immediate success, others struggled and some showed flashes of brilliance but ultimately made too many rookie mistakes to keep their jobs.

Perhaps the best example of immediate success is sophomore Jalen Hurts of top-ranked Alabama. The dual-threat quarterback is in his second season as starter after helping the Crimson Tide to the national title game last season.

Hurts has undefeated Alabama eyeing a return to the title game after throwing for 1,648 yards and 11 touchdowns and running for 656 yards and eight more scores this season. He’s cut down on his mistakes in his second year and has just one interception in 10 games after being picked off nine times as a freshman.

He shined late in Saturday’s game against Mississippi State with a 26yard touchdown pass with 25 seconds left to lift the Crimson Tide to the 31-24 victory. Coach Nick Saban raved about his poise after the win.

“He doesn’t get affected by a whole lot in the game,” he said. “Most of the time, the bigger the situation the bigger he is ... the players really believe in his leadership, and I think that’s really critical in tough situations at the end of the game like we had.”

No. 6 Auburn’s Jarrett Stidham is another sophomore star in the SEC, but he’s a bit older than some of the other players on this list after sitting out last year following a transfer from Baylor. Stidham threw for 1,265 yards and 12 touchdowns in 10 games for the Bears as a freshman before a season-ending ankle injury.

Healthy after his yearlong layoff, Stidham has had a great season, throwing for 2,210 yards and 14 touchdowns to help the Tigers contend for the SEC West title. He’s thrown three TD passes in each of the last two games and added a scoring run on Saturday as Auburn downed then-No. 2 Georgia 40-17 to set up a showdown with Alabama next week.

He believes his decision-making has improved his performance this season.

“I feel comfortable,” he said. “Obviously each week it’s something I want to work on. As a quarterback, you can never be too comfortable. So just trying to get better every week and hone in on those skills and get better.”

While two of the top teams in the SEC have succeeded with sophomores, No. 7 Georgia has raced out to a 9-1 record behind a backfield led by freshman QB Jake Fromm. He has thrown for 1,643 yards with 16 touchdowns and four interceptions. Fromm didn’t make any major mistakes in last week’s loss to Auburn, but had trouble making plays while working under heavy pressure for most of the day as he was sacked four times after only being taken down seven times combined in the first nine games.