The attempts to remind Jalen Hurts that teenagers are supposed to be brittle bundles of insecurities began well before he was even given his learner’s permit to play quarterback at Alabama.
Before Hurts had to run the gauntlet of a thus-far 14-0 season, before he was to face a Clemson defense determined — defensive tackle Carlos Watkins’ words — to “rattle him up,” first he had to face his ‘Bama initiation.
An early enrollee from Houston, Hurts, then 17, was on campus barely a day in late 2015 when he was given a quick physical and hustled to the practice field. His job: Run the scout team in advance of the national championship and mimic an opponent who, like Hurts, represents a multiple choice test for any defense: Clemson’s Deshaun Watson.
Granted, practice is not supposed to offer the kind of live fire seen in a game. But, as Hurts soon noted, “Sometimes on the defensive side, everything is live.”
“I came in to give them a look (approximating Watson’s run-pass package),” he recalled during Saturday’s national championship media day. “I came in, you got (noted defenders) A’Shawn Robinson, Jarran Reed, Reuben Foster and a lot of guys who were like, ‘Who is this guy?’ They didn’t have any clue who I was.
“When I got there, I started breaking them off, throwing nice passes or whatever. They were like, he’s running around here and doing all this stuff, we got to end this. So they started hitting me. But I got right back up.”
The result? “That made them want to hit me some more,” Hurts said. And he kept getting right back up.
Nick Saban said this week he had more trouble finding someone to play the role of Watson in preparation for Monday’s championship rematch against Clemson. That Hurts kid has other responsibilities now, running with the first team.
Per that first impression, Hurts has shown himself to be quite rattle-resistant while taking over the tiller of college football’s dominant program.
A true freshman shall lead them …
“The quarterback is not a freshman any more. The guy has played 14 games. You got some juniors who haven’t started 14 games in their career,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said.
“This guy has started at Alabama for 14 games. He ain’t a freshman no more. This is a good football player who is well prepared, he’s played on the big stage, he’s performed. And they do a great job in how they use him, especially from early in the season to where he is at this point.”
Hush, Dabo, you are messing with a good storyline here. As we were saying, a true freshman shall lead them Monday, trying to become only the second of his kind to win a national championship. Way back in 1985, true frosh Jamelle Holieway, having replaced the injured Troy Aikman, started behind center for Oklahoma’s championship wishbone.
“I love his poise,” Holieway recently told USA Today, which pretty well sums up the impression Hurts has left with everyone.
The truth about true freshmen is that they are green wood, strong in some respects but in need of seasoning.
You can get the good: Hurts holds Alabama’s single-season quarterback rushing record (891 yards). His total offense average (252.9 yards per game) is second best in school history. Against Mississippi State, he became the first Alabama quarterback to throw for more than 300 yards and rush for at least 100 (347/100). That’s how you become the first freshman Nick Saban has ever allowed to run his offense.
And the not-so good: Included in his young-career passing line of 227-of-351, 2,649 yards, 22 touchdowns and nine interceptions are multi-interception games against Texas A&M and Auburn. Hurts saved his least effective performance for Atlanta and the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl semifinal against Washington, throwing for only 57 yards and running for 50 in a game that helped spell the departure of offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin one game early.
With Hurts, the constant has been his strength.
Both physical: A former competitive power lifter, this quarterback is, to quote Clemson linebacker Ben Boulware, “a thick dude and he can fly.”
And internal: You can’t make the guy blink. His first play as the Crimson Tide quarterback — after replacing Blake Barnett in the third series of the season opener against Southern Cal — was a lost fumble. He went on from there to lead a 52-6 thrashing of the Trojans.
From that kind of attitude stemmed this reaction to his most recent outing at the Georgia Dome: “I’m not the type to dwell on the past. If I’m 7-of-14 and have 57 yards and we still win (Monday), I’m OK with that.”
How an 18-year-old will cope with playing the most demanding position in the most intense game Monday would seem a reasonable concern.
With a new offensive coordinator, Steve Sarkisian, atop it all. “I’ve got a really good relationship with Jalen,” Sarkisian assured. “He’s a kid who loves football, he’s a gym rat, he works at the game. Those are the kind of guys I like to be around. They make my job easier.”
Hurts is very good at minimizing just about any worry. “There’s no anxiety,” he said flatly. “Like all the other games, we just got to go out there and play.”
Cam Robinson is Bama’s 21-year-old tackle with an Outland Trophy in his collection and a bright professional future. Was it difficult, he was asked, for someone of his standing to accept a callow freshman as a leader? “Not at all because of his presence. He commands your respect the way he carries himself on and off the field, the way he works on and off the field. You have no choice but to respect him, the way he plays. How do you not want to follow a guy like that?” he asked.
There apparently is no need to card Hurts to show proof he belongs at the party Monday. He had provided all the ID necessary even before Alabama-Clemson I.
