2017 – 18-yard touchdown pass to Josh Jacobs vs. Ole Miss
The Crimson Tide were well on their way to crushing the Rebels 66-3 with a 21-3 advantage in the second quarter. Hurts faked a handoff and carried out a bootleg to the right before getting contained to the outside by the Ole Miss pass rush. With his running lane cut off Hurts planted his feet and scanned the field through all his available options before finding the running back from the play fake on a backside wheel route. With the entire defense flowing right, it was an easy touchdown for the Tide. The throw itself wasn’t high on the difficulty meter, but the execution of the play was nearly perfect. It honestly looked like (and may very well have been) taken directly from the Lincoln Riley playbook. You can’t tell for sure if the play was designed to go backside or Hurts checked all his reads before going there with the ball, but either way it’s a great play and one that translates well to what Hurts will be asked to do at Oklahoma.
2017 – 34-yard pass to Irv Smith Jr. vs. Tennessee
The Tide was up 7-0 in a third-and13 from the Tennessee 36-yard line. In an obvious passing situation Hurts dropped back, trusted his pocket and sailed a pass through a tight zone to Irv Smith Jr. for a 34-yard gain. The play helped jump start what had been a lethargic Alabama offense and pointed the way to a 45-7 domination of the Vols. Poise, patience and precision were all key for making this play work. The Vols were in a two-deep zone with tight coverage centered around the first down marker. Hurts had to wait for his receiver to clear the underneath coverage and look off the safeties to keep them from jumping the route. He did it and looked like a pro in the process. It’s a case of a quarterback making something difficult look extremely easy.