“So we made a decision for today”.
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“Ronnie let it emotionally get to him that these other guys were talking”, Saban said.
Sarkisian was accused of showing up to practice and drunk on multiple occasions and once attended a school fundraiser intoxicated where he grabbed the microphone and went on an expletive filled tirade in front of boosters, donors and alumni.
Sarkisian was sacked by Southern Cal last October, one day after he was asked to take an “indefinite leave of absence”.
Steve Sarkisian, who was sacked from USC in 2015, will join the Alabama staff as a special offensive assistant.
“When the first quarter was over, I was wondering to myself, ‘Was this a good plan, or a bad plan?'” Saban said of his hopes to start Barrett or Cooper Bateman and feature Hurts in spot duty, beginning with the third series, when he promptly fumbled.
“We’re going to continue to help him in his program as an organization and we’ll support him when he has an opportunity”, Saban said. His teams played in four bowl games. On Alabama’s next possession, Hurts capped a short drive with a 7-yard touchdown run.
John Ross caught two scoring passes and returned a kickoff for another score in his first game since the end of the 2014 season as the Huskies raced to a 24-0 first-quarter lead and were never threatened by the rebuilding Scarlet Knights. After all, WKU did beat USM 45-28 in the C-USA title game in Bowling Green, Ky., last year. Hurts, if he gets the first start in Week 2 against Western Kentucky, will be in the same boat as Oklahoma’s Jamelle Holieway, the last true freshman to lead a team to a national championship in 1985.
Hurts went 6-of-11 for 118 yards and an interception and rushed for 32 yards on nine carries.
Hurts replaced Barnett after Alabama started the game with consecutive three-and-out series. “We can’t take them for granted”.
USC started quarterback Max Browne, but pulled him in favor of Sam Arnold when the game got out of hand. Southern Cal was held without a touchdown for the first time since 2007 in its most lopsided loss in a half-century.
Alabama improved to 7-0 under Saban in neutral-site openers with a suffocating performance.
“Look, I’m happy that we won”, Saban said. “So my focus with our team right now is what can we do better?” “We don’t want to get any dumb penalties or anything like that from doing the talking”. “And I’m proud of our team for beating a good team”. The Tide play at Ole Miss on September 17, and the Rebels are riding a two-game winning streak against Alabama in what figures to be a key SEC West battle.
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Clemson’s Deshaun Watson passed for 248 yards, including 174 to Mike Williams in his return from an injury, and the Tigers escaped with a 19-13 victory over Auburn.
