Did Jalen Hurts Made The Right Decision To Leave Alabama And Join Oklahoma?

Jalen Hurts was a man amongst boys in his performance as a Oklahoma Sooner against the Houston Cougars on Sunday Night. The senior had a monster game throwing 20/23 for 332 yards and three touchdowns. In addition, he also ran for a career-high 176 yards and three touchdowns.

Hurts joins Johnny Manziel as the only quarterbacks to throw for 300 yards and three touchdowns, along with running for 150 yards and three touchdowns in a game.

Last January, Hurts announced that he was leaving Alabama to join Oklahoma from a essay he wrote from the Players’ Tribune. The main reason why Hurts decided to move on from Alabama was because of losing the quarterback job to Tua Tagovailoa.

Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban praised Hurts on his sensational performance and how he handled losing the job to Tagovailoa.

“I didn’t see the game last night — we work on Sunday nights,” Saban said. “But I hear he played extremely well, did an outstanding job, and that doesn’t surprise me in the least bit. We’re really happy for him, not only in the way that he handled himself throughout this entire process but now that he’s having success as well.”

“Jalen set a great example when he was here when he was a player,” Saban said. “He was a good leader. He was a performer. And I also think when things didn’t go his way, he showed a lot of character as a person to continue to try and improve himself and do everything he could to help his team.”

Before Tagovailoa became the starter, Hurts had a 26–2 record as a starting quarterback in Alabama. In the SEC Championship against the Georgia Bulldogs, Hurts stepped in for Tagovailoa after Tagovailoa suffered a serious injury in the second half. While Alabama was down 28–21, Hurts helped the Crimson Tide scored 14 unanswered points to win the championship and help the Crimson Tide reach a appearance in the college football playoffs.

Hurts is in the ideal position to not only put up astronomical numbers, but win the Heisman. Currently with head coach and quarterback guru Lincoln Riley, as well as great weapons like CeeDee Lamb and Charleston Rambo.

Riley, who worked with Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray, both became Heisman winners and No. 1 overall picks. Maybe a reason to believe it might happen with Hurts,despite the fact it’s too early to tell.

What was impressive with Hurts was how he was able to throw to football. Quite often, Hurts was criticized for his passing skills. He was well-known for his running ability. So far, he’s made progress. With the team as presently constructed, fans and critics should anticipate more dominant performances from Hurts.

What’s also interesting about Hurts is that he proved players can transfer to different universities and can bring contributions to their programs. Other examples are Washington’s Jacob Eason and Ohio State’s Justin Fields.

Even though there’s still plenty of football left to play, it appears Hurts made the right decision.