Blown coverage led another touchdown from Hurts to Stewart for 71 yards just over a minute into the half.
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As the game waned on, the Trojans inability to capitalize on excellent field position caught up to them in the second quarter as Alabama freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts entered the game and opened up the playbook with his tremendous playmaking ability. The Crimson Tide won the 2015 National Championship with Kiffin calling the plays.
Whenever Saban has had to pick a new quarterback at Alabama, he has always gone with the guy who has the most experience in his system. So next year we wouldn’t make any money, this year we would. “We’re going to give every ounce of energy to show who we are”. His tenure at the helm of the Trojans came to an unceremonious end after leading the team to a 28-15 record in a little more than three years, which isn’t necessarily bad, but at a school like USC, that won’t cut it.
Blake Barnett had the helm for the first two uneventful drives against the Trojans, and then Saban skipped over Cooper Bateman and went right to Hurts, whose style doesn’t match the typical Alabama profile. It took a couple of series before the offensive big plays started coming for Alabama, but the defense had imposed its will on the game. “We played a very good team”, said Helton.
Towles, a graduate transfer from Kentucky making his first start for the Eagles, threw an interception and lost a fumble in the first half.
Hurts threw his first career touchdown pass with 7:46 remaining in the first half, finding ArDarius Stewart for a 39-yard touchdown that put Alabama ahead 7-3. The quarterback who at this point past year was playing high school ball in Texas, and not in the Dallas Cowboys’ NFL stadium, added touchdown runs of 7 and 6 yards to make it 38-3 before he exited late in the third quarter.
Barnett grabbed the title of Saban’s youngest starting quarterback ever to begin the game. Alabama is reloading on defense but returns a quartet of senior standouts in strong safety Eddie Jackson (six interceptions for 230 yards and two touchdowns), defensive end Jonathan Allen (12 sacks), and linebackers Reuben Foster (73 tackles) and Tim Williams (10.5 sacks). In total, the Alabama defense only allowed 176 total yards despite nearly even marks in time of possession. The last time Alabama was held scoreless in the first half was against Florida State Sept. 29, 2007.
Alabama improved to 7-0 under Saban in neutral-site openers with a suffocating performance.
“When the first quarter was over, I was wondering to myself, ‘Was this a good plan or a bad plan?'” Saban said of the decision to play the freshmen quarterbacks.
Kiffin is holding the top spot for my favorite offensive coordinator that’s passed through Alabama and we still, at least, got him through this season.
“I think the biggest thing is to reevaluate yourself and you look at all aspects of your life”, Sarkisian told TMZ Sports last month.
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Texas Christian’s Kenny Hill accounted for five touchdowns after a shaky start in his team debut, and the Horned Frogs pulled away late to beat South Dakota State 59-41.
