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ANALYSIS: Inside Jalen Hurts' career passing game
Aaron Suttles | Beat Writer
Jalen Hurts had a career day passing with a dash of the old reliable throws heās made throughout the season mixed in with passes he hasnāt consistently delivered.
Alabamaās version of the jet sweep, pitched forward so itās recorded as a pass, was a heavy component early on with Hurts finding ArDarius Stewart for 13 yards on the gameās first play from scrimmage and later on again for a 67-yard touchdown in the second quarter. But Hurts also found Stewart over the middle of the field for touchdowns on consecutive drives in the second half, throws Hurts hasnāt made consistently this season.
Hurts went through his progressions on several throws, and when the throw wasnāt open down the field he checked it down to an underneath running back in the flat, which he did three times to Josh Jacobs for a total of 34 yards. He connected with a total of eight different targets on the day.
He finished the game with a career high in completions (38), attempts (47), passing yards (347), passing touchdowns (four), total yardage (447) and total touchdowns (five).
The true freshman accounted for more than 72 percent of the Crimson Tideās 615-yard offensive output, and he didnāt play that last 17:29 of the game.
He delivered what was missing from the offense the previous week against LSU: balance
ā(We worked on the passing game) Quite a bit,ā left guard Ross Pierschbacher said. āWe really wanted to have a balanced offense and not just run the ball all the time. I think the coaching staff and us took into perspective that we were going to throw the ball a little bit more this game. He executed so it was good to see.ā
It was a clean sheet for Hurts, though, as he missed open receivers, threw an interception on a deep ball to Stewart and fumbled once. Hurts, who opened the season with two interceptions in his first five games, has thrown at least one interception in his last five games.
There was a friendly disagreement between Hurts and Stewart on the interception about whether the ball was under thrown or Stewart ran the wrong route.
āI was telling him that he should throw it deeper. He was telling me that I need to cut my route off a little bit,ā Stewart said. āBut we finally got in the middle and said, āIf weāre even, we leaving.āā
Whether it was the coaching staff opening the play book more or Hurtsā ability to get through his progressions, he was able to work the perimeter passing game, which is what heās done for the majority of the season, along with working the middle of the field. Besides finding Stewart for two touchdowns over the middle, he also connected with Calvin Ridley over the middle for a 20-yard gain.
āI thought the explosive plays were huge in the game,ā UA head coach Nick Saban said.
Not to be overlooked, Hurts ran for 100 yards also. But the day belonged to the passing game, in which Hurts continues to progress.
TideSports.com - ANALYSIS: Inside Jalen Hurts' career passing game
Aaron Suttles | Beat Writer
Jalen Hurts had a career day passing with a dash of the old reliable throws heās made throughout the season mixed in with passes he hasnāt consistently delivered.
Alabamaās version of the jet sweep, pitched forward so itās recorded as a pass, was a heavy component early on with Hurts finding ArDarius Stewart for 13 yards on the gameās first play from scrimmage and later on again for a 67-yard touchdown in the second quarter. But Hurts also found Stewart over the middle of the field for touchdowns on consecutive drives in the second half, throws Hurts hasnāt made consistently this season.
Hurts went through his progressions on several throws, and when the throw wasnāt open down the field he checked it down to an underneath running back in the flat, which he did three times to Josh Jacobs for a total of 34 yards. He connected with a total of eight different targets on the day.
He finished the game with a career high in completions (38), attempts (47), passing yards (347), passing touchdowns (four), total yardage (447) and total touchdowns (five).
The true freshman accounted for more than 72 percent of the Crimson Tideās 615-yard offensive output, and he didnāt play that last 17:29 of the game.
He delivered what was missing from the offense the previous week against LSU: balance
ā(We worked on the passing game) Quite a bit,ā left guard Ross Pierschbacher said. āWe really wanted to have a balanced offense and not just run the ball all the time. I think the coaching staff and us took into perspective that we were going to throw the ball a little bit more this game. He executed so it was good to see.ā
It was a clean sheet for Hurts, though, as he missed open receivers, threw an interception on a deep ball to Stewart and fumbled once. Hurts, who opened the season with two interceptions in his first five games, has thrown at least one interception in his last five games.
There was a friendly disagreement between Hurts and Stewart on the interception about whether the ball was under thrown or Stewart ran the wrong route.
āI was telling him that he should throw it deeper. He was telling me that I need to cut my route off a little bit,ā Stewart said. āBut we finally got in the middle and said, āIf weāre even, we leaving.āā
Whether it was the coaching staff opening the play book more or Hurtsā ability to get through his progressions, he was able to work the perimeter passing game, which is what heās done for the majority of the season, along with working the middle of the field. Besides finding Stewart for two touchdowns over the middle, he also connected with Calvin Ridley over the middle for a 20-yard gain.
āI thought the explosive plays were huge in the game,ā UA head coach Nick Saban said.
Not to be overlooked, Hurts ran for 100 yards also. But the day belonged to the passing game, in which Hurts continues to progress.
TideSports.com - ANALYSIS: Inside Jalen Hurts' career passing game
