For what it’s worth, Nick Saban’s contention that any quarterback controversy is solely in the eyes of the media appears to be taking a hit — from Jalen Hurts.
Not sure how much it matters, though, seeing as ‘Bama can probably win ten games this season without a quarterback. Although it’s interesting to get confirmation that Saban may not be as deft handling stuff like this as he likes to project.
Get The Picture 
Every coach would like to be 3 deep at QB with guys who can all win a game. The fear is splitting the team and fans in this age of instant communication. “Narrative” is the correct word. Is it best just to recruit one stud QB every third year? When you have 2 QBs you have none is not true at Bama and UGA.
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Truth
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While entitlement among the underclassmen seems to be the primary internal challenge Bama has faced in recent years, I’m wondering whether we’re seeing signs that player character may be another. Some players – the headhunter who shoved assistant coaches during the NC and QBs talking publicly about transferring – straying from Saban’s programming indicate they have undervalued temperament in their recruiting. While we haven’t won the big one yet to be truly tested on entitlement/rat poison like Bama has, Kirby seems to take great care thus far in his recruitment scouting and leader development to avoid divas no matter what their talent and sprinkle in high character, academically-inclined players. We’ll see how the team cohesion thing goes for the 2 programs in 2018.
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I hope the locker room splits over the QBs just like Tom Luginbill and Donnie Davis.
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That was a racial thing–Luginbill was white and Davis was black. I don’t think the Bama situation is anywhere like the Tech situation was.
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Hurts may as well get used to it. If he were to transfer I’m not sure he’d end up as a starter for a P5 power – unless he intends to bring that O line and at least one of those RBs with him.
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Disagree Westy. Hurts is a damn good QB who really can hurt a D with his feet. The interesting question is: when does he leave? He’s scheduled to graduate in December. He could then be a graduate transfer with one more year of eligibility if he played the 2018 season or he could have 2 seasons left if he sat out the 2018 season (i.e. played in no games). If he’s not the starter on opening day that is a viable option for him. Of course he could just play out the season either on the field or on the bench and go to the NFL, too. I’m betting on the last one.
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Watched whole interview and I’m shocked that Hurts would vent like this to the media (partly because The Process is usually so buttoned up, but also because it seems to work against Hurts’ self interests). If he had any chance to be named the starter, surely it’s gone now.
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Prediction: Hurts sits out and/or redshirts this season, graduates from Bama, and transfers to the Barn to run the Gus Bus.
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Damn, that’d be fun to watch.
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I’d have to Barn pretty hard for the Iron Bowl if that goes down.
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Yes, yes it would
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I think he’d fit well in Mullen’s system.
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Also true
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I get the feeling, from a few tidbits I read, that Jalen Hurts has his own mind in a good way.
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Saban may find out that he has to make time for this shit.
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I’m betting Mr. Hurts finds out what “processed” means.
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Not Saban’s finest moment, with all his endless pontificating about setting up these kids to be successful in life, and not just on the football field. Jalen speaks eloquently and seems like a smart kid that got the cold shoulder from his coaches. I wonder if this will divide the locker room.
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Accounts I saw last year confirmed that he was nothing but positive about the NC game and how he related to and helped Tua all season leading up to that.
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“…no one axed me what my future inhaled…”. Double entendre??
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Your handle is “Ole Dokes.” You’re going to give someone crap about their accent?
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Lighten up Francis. Has nothing to do with accent. I like JH’s accent.
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Message:”Come to Bama and be disrespected.”
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I had a feeling this was his it would end with Hurts. I feel for him because he seems like a good kid and it was like it was decided as soon as Th a three that pass. Nothing g against Tua. But this is all mostly based on that one pass. The media has to create news. Mike Griffith or whatever his name is was trying to do the same thing in that video with Chip Towers.
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While the sports media is certainly looking to stir the pot on this, the media hasn’t exactly created the Hurts-Tua transfer talk. Tua talked about it after the NCG, Tua’s family chimed in, Hurts chimed in, Hurts Dad chimed in . . .
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it’s not all based on one pass. Their offense was completely stymied with Hurts, because he wasn’t a good enough passer. Tua made the mistake that should have killed them on the pick by Baker, but he still got their offense going.
None of that is to excuse the staff seemingly leaving Hurts in the wind, assuming he’s not being melodramatic.
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Well, Saban was right. The QB controversy was a media narrative that didn’t really exist. Every year every team has a competition as to who will win the starting QB job. As Saban said back in the Spring, some one will win the team in Fall Camp. If he wants to be the starting QB, he needs to go compete and win over his team mates. Apparently, he isn’t doing that.
I find it really odd that he would think that the coaches should talk to him about his feelings about being benched for not playing well. o me, this is just compelling evidence that he doesn’t have the metal makeup to be a big-time QB.
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JTIII, Joe Cox, and Hutson Mason beg to differ with your second sentence. Not that I don’t love ’em, but there was definitely reward for loyalty in past administrations ’round here.
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2006 could be called a QB controversy during the season. JTIII won the job in camp as he knew the offense the best. Stafford wasn’t ready yet; evidenced as to why Cox had to come in and save the Colorado game. Eventually, talent won out and Stafford grabbed the job. Three QBs started a game that year. None were for injury. That isn’t “loyalty”.
Joe Cox was fine as QB in 2009. Murray and Mettenburger were redshirting as a true Freshman. Who else should have been starting? Who wasn’t given a chance to win the job? The fair-catch specialist turned WR, Logan Grey?
Hutson Mason???? What the fuck, dude? Hutson Mason lead the highest scoring offense in the history of Georgia football. The idea that Brice Ramsey or Faton Bauton should have started over Mason is beyond stupid.
The “Richt Loyalty” meme is a meme. Why do you people insist that memes are real and that reality was fake?
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Hutson Mason “managed” the highest scoring offense in program history. The stable of running backs lead it. But you are correct, Mason was the best option on the team. I wouldn’t have minded if we had recruited better options, but Mason was the best that we had. No disputing that.
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Mason was a damn good QB who suffered by comparison to the previous 2 starters, Stafford and Murray. He didn’t have an NFL caliber arm but how many do? Mason had great stats and ran the team really well. If not for a bad call by the OC compounded by a bad call by the refs on the same play at South Carolina and Richt’s brain cramp at the end of the Tech game the 2014 UGA team would have won 12 games and been one of the very best teams of the Richt era. Hutson Mason was a DGD.
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Mason had two red zone turnovers to seal two losses against rivals and Todd Gurley completed the longest pass from scrimmage that season. Mason also passed for less yards and less TD’s than Joe Cox in 09. Mason had the higher completion percentage with less int’s, but it’s a toss up for me between the two YMMV.
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Yes, Hutson was a damn good QB that that did all of the non-throwing things of being a QB at an elite level. The South Carolina game wasn’t lost because of a bad call by Bobo. That game was lost because Pruitt’s Defense gave up 38 points. Same thing with the Florida game… Pruitt’s D gave up 38. The Tech game was basically the same as well. Hutson did his part to take the lead with less than 20 seconds left. All Pruitt’s D had to do was not let Tech get 25+ yards and get out of bounds.
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100% this. Maybe 1000%. And besides all that, it’s ancient history now, but some folks like yo pick scabs rather than enjoy the current trajectory of UGA.
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“did all of the non-throwing things of being a QB at an elite level”
LOL I can’t tell if this is a compliment or a criticism. Throwing is a pretty big part of playing QB in a pro style offense.
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You have to wonder if all of this leads to a split in the Tide’s locker room. I can see the upperclassmen saying Jalen played a poor half but is a team leader, and the young kids saying Tua earned the job in Atlanta. If so, Little Nicky has a problem on his hands.
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Hurts just made Sabans decision even less of a controversy” “Hey Tua, you are now the starter in case you didn’t believe me the first time.”
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There was a moment in the first quarter of the championship game, after the opening drive, when Minkah Fitzpatrick went over to Jalen to motivate him. It was pretty emphatic. And I remember thinking at that moment, “This team is cracking.”
I feel for the kid. He’s by all accounts really disciplined in his preparation, a good leader, a quality human being with a sense of humor and the ability to give of himself to others. But he has real issues against elite defenses. Kirby often had 10 his defenders lining up within 10 yards of the LOS, the 11th within 15, and all of them were coming downhill at the snap. I’ve never seen anything like it at that level.
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”Life ain’t fair and the world is mean.”
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Russ, in too of everything else you’re a Sturgill fan. I like you.
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He seems like a good kid, best of luck to him.
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I just hope we don’t have some version of this in 2018. Justin probably feels he is the next Lamar Jackson. ( I would feel the same if 18 and had his talent.) Hope he can handle it when he is sitting behind the great Jake Fromm. These guys are all ultra competitive and think they would win the job if just given the chance. Not meant as a knock on Justin, it’s just human nature.
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