The Southeastern Conference road crowds keep getting bigger and bigger for Jalen Hurts.
Alabama’s true freshman quarterback passed his first two league road tests with flying colors, guiding the top-ranked Crimson Tide to a 48-43 win at Ole Miss on Sept. 17 and to a 49-30 victory at Arkansas last Saturday night. More than 66,000 fans attended the game in Oxford, setting a new Magnolia State record, and more than 75,000 were present last weekend in Fayetteville, but Hurts will perform before more than 100,000 energized folks Saturday when Alabama faces No. 9 Tennessee inside Neyland Stadium.
“He’s got to be the commander in chief out there pre-snap, and he’s got to be the field general after he gets the ball in his hands,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “He has to make good choices and decisions with what he does, because he’s always distributing the ball to somebody, whether he’s handing off or throwing it.
“He has shown pretty good poise in doing that, but this will probably be the most challenging situation he’s faced all year.”
Hurts, the first true freshman quarterback to play during Saban’s decade with the Crimson Tide, has blossomed quickly under third-year offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin and has been especially good in SEC road games.