SAN JOSE, Calif.– When Alabama played Clemson in the College Football Playoff semi-finals last year, the two starting quarterbacks for the Tide and the Tigers were Jalen Hurts and Kelly Bryant.
Neither one will be at center stage when the same two teams play for the national championship at Levi’s Stadium in nearby Santa Clara.
Hurts, who led the Tide to the 2017 and 2018 national championship game, started against Georgia last season, but was so ineffective at halftime, Bama coach Nick Saban felt compelled to make a change, turning to a relatively untested true freshman, Tua Tagovailoa. Tagovailoa energized the Tide, hitting wide receiver DaVonta Smith for a 41-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter as Alabama rallied from a 13 point deficit to defeat the Dawgs, 26-23, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
Tagovailoa, who completed 69 percent of his passes for 3,671 yards and 41 touchdowns, went on to finish second in the Heisman balloting and won both the Walter Camp and Maxwell Awards as the best college player in the country this season. But after the 20-year old sophomore star suffered a high ankle sprain and floundered in the SEC championship game against Georgia this year, Hurts got a rare second chance. He entered the game with 11 minutes left and the Tide trailing by seven points. Hurts threw for a touchdown and ran for another with little more than a minute left, clinching a dramatic 35-28 victory in the Georgia Dome.
Tagovailoa, who grew up in Hawaii, is healthy again and his legend continues to grow. He is expected to have over 400 family members from the Islands or the parts of the West Coast make the pilgrimage here.
Hurts has no plans to leave the program.
Bryant opted to go in another direction, deciding in mid-September to transfer after highly publicized, gifted freshman Trevor Lawrence took his place. Bryant decided to transfer to preserve his final year of eligibility and will attend Missouri, where he will likely be a starter.
While Hurts was praised for hanging in, Bryant, who led Clemson to a 16-2 record as a starter and lead the Tigers to a CFP semi-final, was castigated for taking advantage of a new NCAA redshirt rule that allows a player to compete for four games while retaining their year of eligibility. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney has come out strongly against the rule, claiming there should be consequences for young people, “who need to learn to hang in there a little bit.’’
But, given the fact coaches like Manny Diaz, who left Temple after 17 days as head coach to take a similar position at Miami, have been able to move without any consequences, players should have every right to do what they feel is in their best interest.
We’re seen this on a growing basis, especially at the quarterback position where the two most recent Heisman winners, Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray, were both transfers who landed at Oklahoma, Gardner Minshew left East Carolina for Washington State where he became a star, Shea Patterson received a get out of jail free card when he left scandal plagued Ole Miss for Michigan.
Just today, it appears Justin Fields, the No. 1 ranked prospect in the class of 2018 who completed 27 of 38 passes for 328 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions in 12 games, did not want to be a backup to Jake Fromm, will reportedly transfer from Georgia to Ohio State, where he will apply to the NCAA for a hardship waiver which, if granted, could make him eligible and give him a chance to become an immediate starter now that Dwayne Haskins—who threw for 4,831 yards and 50 TDs, will likely declare for the NFL draft.
Bryant wanted to ride the long shot dream of becoming an NFL player.
Hurts, on the other hand, understood he needed to improve as a passer and wanted to spend a year working with new offensive coordinator Mike Locksley and new quarterback coach Dan Enos before taking his shot at the NFL, even if it meant coming off the bench.
Both players will have a chance to write their own stories on their own terms.
