With just over 10 minutes left in the second quarter, the Hawaiian five-star quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, saw his first college football game action. Fortunately for Tua, Jalen Hurts already had the Tide up 21-3. The two quarterbacks split time for most of the rest of the game, but Hurts had already put up impressive numbers.
On 14-of-18 passing, he had 128 yards and a touchdown. That is just over seven yards-per-attempt on a smooth 77.7% completion rate. He broke his personal record for rushing yards in a game and led the team on the ground with 154 yards – highlighted by this 55-yard scamper on the first drive:
55-Yard Rush TD Alabama QB @JalenHurts #BamavsFresnoSt #espn pic.twitter.com/pEv2PVs2Qh
— InsideBamaRecruiting (@RTRnews) September 9, 2017
As far as technique goes, Hurts was given a few chances to show off his arm. One exciting sight for fans of the Crimson Tide was a 23-yard touchdown pass to tight end, Hale Hentges. It appeared as though he was able to go through his reads, found the tight end rumbling free towards the end zone, and lofted it into his hands. True freshman, Tagovailoa, also had a memorable day as he threw his first career touchdown to Henry Ruggs III.
The defense, as Nick Saban pointed out during the post game interview, did not have as good a day as was expected. Once again, the rushing defense was spectacular as they gave up just 58 yards on the ground. The pass defense was iffy, though. The Tide gave up 218 yards through the air to the Bulldogs and a late-game touchdown pass was the cherry on top for Fresno. The deficiencies can be attributed to a massive lack of a pass rush due to the injuries suffered a week ago.
The biggest highlight for Jeremy Pruitt’s defense was shutdown corner, Anthony Averret’s first career interception which he came just a few yards short of returning for six points.
Overall, it was a solid outing. The impressive offensive outing helped to quell worries of a stagnant offense. What remains to be seen, though, is if the Tide will have an answer to the lack of sacks.
