San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
QB Hurts comes off bench, leads Tide to league title
ATLANTA — Jalen Hurts spent most of the season watching from the sideline, cheering on the guy who took his job and hoping for one more chance to lead the Alabama Crimson Tide.
He didn’t pout. He didn’t gripe. He didn’t transfer.
On Saturday, Hurts got the call.
Boy, did he respond. Hurts threw for one touchdown, then ran for the winner with just over a minute to go as No. 1 Alabama rallied for a 35-28 victory over No. 4 Georgia in the SEC championship game. It was a stunning twist on the scenario that played out less than 11 months earlier on the same field.
“I’ve probably never been more proud of a player than Jalen,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said.
In last season’s national title game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium between these same two teams, Tua Tagovailoa replaced an ineffective Hurts at the start of the second half with Alabama trailing Georgia 13-0. The replacement threw three touchdown passes, including a 41-yarder in overtime that gave the Tide a 26-23 win.
Tagovailoa won the starting job outright heading into this season and performed brilliantly before Saturday, throwing 36 touchdown passes with only two interceptions.
The SEC title game took a different path. Georgia put quite a beating on Tagovailoa, who threw two interceptions, spent much of his spare time in the medical tent and was largely ineffective as the Bulldogs built a two-touchdown lead twice.
Finally, with just over 11 minutes remaining, Tagovailoa went down for good after one of his linemen stepped on his right foot as he attempted to throw.
Enter Hurts, who posted a 26-2 record as the starter before Tagovailoa claimed the job.
Hurts calmly guided the Crimson Tide (13-0) to a gametying touchdown with a 10yard pass to Jerry Jeudy, capping a 16-play, 80-yard drive that consumed more than seven minutes.
After Georgia (11-2) was stuffed on a fake punt near midfield, Hurts took matters into his own hands for the winning score. Spotting an opening up the middle, he took off on a 15-yard TD run with 1:04 remaining.
“It’s unprecedented to have a guy that won as many games as he won ... start as a freshman, only lose a couple of games the whole time that he was the starter, and then all of a sudden he’s not the quarterback,” Saban said. “How do you manage that? How do you handle that? You’ve got to have a tremendous amount of class and character to put team first, knowing your situation is not what it used to be.”
Hurts completed 7 of 9 passes for 82 yards, to go along with five carries for 28 yards in less than a quarter of action.
“It kind of feels like I’m breaking my silence,” Hurts said.
He spoke loud and clear against the Bulldogs. And when he trotted off the field after the winning touchdown, Tagovailoa was one of the first teammates to greet him. Afterward, they stood side-by-side on the podium in the middle of the field while Alabama received its SEC championship trophy.