Rapid Reaction: Hurts, Alabama waste little time in putting away Fresno State
By Chris Wright
Published:
Jalen Hurts’ first pass went for 18 yards. His first run went for 55 more and a score.
Florida State hangover? Hardly.
Hurts was great out of the gate and No. 1 Alabama rolled past Fresno State 41-10 Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
The opening drive — 73 yards in two plays — took all of 39 seconds.
Bama’s second drive — 62 yards in 10 plays — was more methodical, more Bama-like, but ended with seven more points and another handoff to the back judge when Hurts hit Hale Hentges on a perfectly scripted 23-yard seam route.
Hurts capped the Tide’s third drive — 75 yards on 11 plays — with a shifty dance through the line for a 3-yard touchdown run and 21-3 lead.
To that point, three plays into the second quarter, Hurts was 10-for-11 passing for 91 yards and a score, and added 81 yards rushing and two more scores.
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Hurts’ early work allowed Nick Saban the luxury of handing off the offense to 5-star freshman Tua Tagovailoa.
His first career pass went for 9 yards. His second moved the chains. His third snap, however, showed the difference in the skill sets. On a rush Hurts would have escaped, Tagovailoa was sacked for a 7-yard loss. The drive ended three plays later with Alabama’s first punt.
Hurts returned on the next possession, and so did Alabama’s hunt for the end zone.
He started the drive — 77 yards, 6 plays — with a 10-yard designed run. He added a 28-yard burst and completed his only two attempts. Damien Harris finished it with a 5-yard touchdown run.
Boom, bang, Bama.
It was that kind of first half, that kind of day as Saban improved to 11-0 in home openers.
Hurts stayed long enough into the second half to set a career-high for rushing yards with 154. The defense forced a turnover for the 29th consecutive game (though it has yet to score this season).
The only remaining drama centered on the Tide’s ability to cover the spread — they entered the game 0-6 ATS in Week 2 games after facing a Power 5 team in an opener.
The spread was 44.
Alabama fell short. Saban couldn’t care less about about a points spread. But he won’t be happy that the Tide allowed a long kickoff return to set up a touchdown pass. Regardless, on a day Hurts dominated and Tagovailoa threw his first TD pass, not covering was about the only thing that didn’t go as planned Saturday.
Managing Editor
A 30-time APSE award-winning editor with previous stints at the Miami Herald, The Indianapolis Star and News & Observer, Executive Editor Chris Wright oversees editorial operations for Saturday Down South.
