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Alabama has its quarterback, and it's not who was expected
Alabama entered Saturday’s season opener against USC with a quarterback controversy between Blake Barnett and Cooper Bateman.
After hotly contested summer camp, it was anyone’s guess who was going to get the start.
It turned out that Barnett, the redshirt freshman, became the youngest quarterback to start for Nick Saban since he arrived in Tuscaloosa.
It also turned out we needed to keep guessing.
Barnett lasted only two series and six pass attempts before he got the hook — only it wasn’t Bateman who came into the game.
The Tide instead turned to an even younger quarterback — true freshman Jalen Hurts — with USC leading 3-0.
The Hurts era didn’t start well — he fumbled his first collegiate snap and USC recovered.
The next time out: punt. The following drive: punt. Would the Tide, still scoreless and trailing by a field goal, go back to Barnett or move to Bateman?
Before that question could be fully asked, Hurts revved the engine and started the boat race. The young quarterback found his groove and Alabama went on a 38-0 run to blow out the Trojans by the eventual score of 52-6.
Hurts became the first player in 20 years to beat USC for multiple passing and rushing touchdowns and the first Alabama player to go two-and-two since Tyler Watts in 2001. Nothing the quarterback out of suburban Houston did was particularly spectacular, but he showed a full grasp of the offense and a dual-threat ability that will make defensive coordinators’ lives nightmares for the rest of the season.
That steady but dynamic play, paired with Alabama’s immense talent on offense and possibly generational defense — USC had 194 total yards and was held without a touchdown for the first time since 1997 — is more than enough for the Tide to feel as if they have their man for the rest of the season.
The scary part is that Hurts is only going to get better. USC isn’t a bad team — the box score might tell you that, but the reality is a bit more complicated — they were just manhandled by a dominant Tide. Hurts’ first job is to hand the ball off to Alabama’s unreal stable of running backs, and when the going gets tough, make some throws or make a play.
He did just that Saturday, throwing for 118 yards on 6-of-11 passing while rushing for 32 yards himself.
His mistakes were few — an interception and that fumble — and the potential evident to all who watched.
Here’s the scary thing to anyone who isn’t rooting for the Tide — young quarterbacks, when put in positive situations, should see their confidence grow with every snap.
Eventually, the interception that he threw will fall out of the box score. The introductory fumble will be a thing of the past, and offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin’s confidence in the true freshman will be such where he’ll let him take some risks in the passing game.
Alabama entered Saturday’s game with a question at quarterback. It left with an answer. Now the nation is asking the question: "How are we going to stop these guys?"
