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.
Hurts threw for 158 yards and rushed for 146 in the victory at Ole Miss and was the league's offensive player of the week. Against the Razorbacks, the 6-foot-2, 209-pounder from Channelview, Texas, completed 13 of 17 passes for 253 yards and two touchdowns and also had two rushing scores.
"He looks like a running back playing quarterback who can throw like a quarterback," Tennessee defensive coordinator Bob Shoop said. "He's got big legs. He's big and strong and looks very, very composed. There are examples on the TV copies of film and even on the coaches' copies of film of him pulling a guy to the side and kind of challenging him and getting on him.
"I think Coach Kiffin and the offensive staff have done a great job putting him in position to be successful, and certainly he can make plays with both his arm and his feet."
Hurts has completed 97 of 152 passes (63.8 percent) for 1,242 yards with nine touchdowns and two interceptions, and his passer rating of 149.4 ranks fourth in the SEC behind Chad Kelly of Ole Miss, Austin Allen of Arkansas and Auburn's Sean White. He also has 62 rushes for 296 yards (4.8 per carry) and five touchdowns.
More importantly, Alabama's offense leads the league with 44.8 points a game and is averaging 489.8 yards per contest after last season's unit, which had a graduate transfer at quarterback and a Heisman Trophy winner at tailback, averaged 427.1.
Alabama has won four of the last seven national championships, and such hardware can't be compiled without success on the road. The Crimson Tide are a staggering 20-2 in SEC road games since the start of the 2011 season, and even the most casual football fans can point to the two exceptions.
Auburn topped the Tide 34-28 in the 2013 regular-season finale with the "Kick Six" finish, and Ole Miss eked out a 23-17 triumph in 2014 when Rebels cornerback Senquez Golson intercepted Blake Sims in the end zone with 37 seconds remaining.
"Some of our teams have played very, very well on the road, while other teams have struggled a little bit," Saban said. "I think the biggest issue with this team in the two road games we've had in the SEC so far has been consistency. We've played very well at times in both of the road games we've had in the SEC, but we've also had not-so-good times in those same games.
"The big thing is you can't relax when you're on the road, because momentum is a big thing, and to control momentum you have to control your performance one play at a time. A 21-point lead has been overcome a lot of times this year, so you have to play for 60 minutes and not look at the scoreboard."
Saban showed some displeasure with his defense after a 25-point lead over Arkansas in the third quarter could not be maintained. After the win at Ole Miss, he was not happy with his special teams, because the Rebels made it a one-possession game with the help of an onside kick.
Hurts has yet to endure Saban's public wrath, and given the first six performances of his college career, why would he?
"He's done a nice job, and he's improved every week," Saban said. "I think his disposition as a player certainly enhances that to some degree. He doesn't seem to get too rattled by things, and even when he makes an error or mistake, he goes to the next play. That has been really, really helpful for him, and it will be important on the road again that he maintain that poise.
"It will certainly be necessary this week against Tennessee."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.