Alabama’s Jalen Hurts is trying to become the first true freshman starting quarterback to win the national title since Oklahoma’s Jamelle Holieway in 1985, but Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said Tuesday that Hurts really isn’t a freshman.
“He’s not a freshman anymore,” Swinney said on a teleconference setting up the national championship game. “The guy has played, what, 14 games? I mean, heck, he’s well on his way into his junior year. I mean this guy has played a lot of football, more football than some of the guys that start as a junior in college.”
Hurts has started 13 of the Tide’s 14 games; Blake Barnett started the opener against USC, and Hurts came in on Alabama’s third possession.