ANALYSIS: Inside Jalen Hurts' career passing game
Jalen Hurts had a career day passing with a dash of the old reliable throws he’s made throughout the season mixed in with passes he hasn’t consistently delivered.
Alabama’s version of the jet sweep, pitched forward so it’s recorded as a pass, was a heavy component early on with Hurts finding ArDarius Stewart for 13 yards on the game’s 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 hasn’t made consistently this season.
Hurts went through his progressions on several throws, and when the throw wasn’t 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 Tide’s 615-yard offensive output, and he didn’t play that last 17:29 of the game.
He delivered what was missing from the offense the previous week against LSU: balance
“(We worked on the passing game) Quite a bit,” left guard Ross Pierschbacher said. “We 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.”
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.
“I was telling him that he should throw it deeper. He was telling me that I need to cut my route off a little bit,” Stewart said. “But we finally got in the middle and said, ‘If we’re even, we leaving.’”
Whether it was the coaching staff opening the play book more or Hurts’ ability to get through his progressions, he was able to work the perimeter passing game, which is what he’s 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.
“I thought the explosive plays were huge in the game,” 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.
Reach Aaron Suttles at aaron@tidesports.com or at 205-722-0229.