Jalen Hurts didn't see it coming. Around the right edge, Ole Miss' Marquis Haynes arrived like a heat-seeking missile, making direct impact with the Alabama true freshman's upper body.
Hurts dropped to the turf, as the ball tumbled out of his arms before being picked up by the Rebels' John Youngblood and carried 44 yards to the opposite end zone for a touchdown.
It was the second quarter of Alabama's 48-43 victory Saturday, and the Rebels just increased their lead to 21 points. All seemed lost for the top-ranked Crimson Tide.
Hurts retreated to the sideline, and the quarterback would have been forgiven if he were rattled or even dazed. But running back Damien Harris studied Hurts' reaction following the devastating hit.
And, as Harris put it, he was "no different than he was before."
Not even a little bit?
"No," Harris affirmed.
Hurts wasn't the least bit shaken by a physically and emotionally jarring play Alabama coach Nick Saban explained was the result of a "missed execution of a line call."
As center Bradley Bozeman said, the quarterback, who was later named SEC offensive player of the week, didn't seem angry after being rocked because of a blown assignment.
"He was just like, 'I still got y'all's back. Y'all got mine. Let's keep rolling,'" Bozeman recalled. "He didn't let it affect him at all. He got back in the game and kept playing. Lot of maturity out of Jalen."
More of Ranier Sabin's article at the link: How Jalen Hurts won over team after his worst moment vs. Ole Miss
Hurts dropped to the turf, as the ball tumbled out of his arms before being picked up by the Rebels' John Youngblood and carried 44 yards to the opposite end zone for a touchdown.
It was the second quarter of Alabama's 48-43 victory Saturday, and the Rebels just increased their lead to 21 points. All seemed lost for the top-ranked Crimson Tide.
Hurts retreated to the sideline, and the quarterback would have been forgiven if he were rattled or even dazed. But running back Damien Harris studied Hurts' reaction following the devastating hit.
And, as Harris put it, he was "no different than he was before."
Not even a little bit?
"No," Harris affirmed.
Hurts wasn't the least bit shaken by a physically and emotionally jarring play Alabama coach Nick Saban explained was the result of a "missed execution of a line call."
As center Bradley Bozeman said, the quarterback, who was later named SEC offensive player of the week, didn't seem angry after being rocked because of a blown assignment.
"He was just like, 'I still got y'all's back. Y'all got mine. Let's keep rolling,'" Bozeman recalled. "He didn't let it affect him at all. He got back in the game and kept playing. Lot of maturity out of Jalen."
More of Ranier Sabin's article at the link: How Jalen Hurts won over team after his worst moment vs. Ole Miss
