Alabama coach Nick Saban is happy one of his former players has found early success at a different school.
Jalen Hurts, who transferred away from the Crimson Tide in January, had a spectacular debut for No. 4 Oklahoma in its 49-31 win over Houston on Sunday. Saban was asked about Hurts' performance during a press conference one day later.
“I didn’t see the game last night — we work on Sunday nights — but I hear he played extremely well and (did) an outstanding job, and that doesn’t surprise me in the least bit,” Saban said. “And we’re really happy for him, not only in the way he handled himself throughout this entire process but now that he’s having success, as well.”
Hurts threw for 332 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Sooners to the victory. He also added another 176 yards and three scores on the ground.
20/23
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 2, 2019
332 Pass yds
176 Rush yds (career high)
6 Total TD
Jalen Hurts unleashed in his OU debut 🔥 pic.twitter.com/5orpi3dFGG
Hurts appeared in 42 games and accounted for 71 total touchdowns during his time with the Crimson Tide. But, he lost his starting spot to Tua Tagovailoa and served primarily as he backup last season before leaving the program.
“I think that Jalen set a great example when he was here,” Saban said. “He was a good leader. He was a good performer. And I also think when things didn’t go his way he showed a lot of character as a person to continue to try to improve himself and do everything he could to help his team. And, in this day and age, you don’t often see that.
"But I think it was a really, really great example on his part and because he did it that way when he got an opportunity he was able to do extremely well, and actually won the SEC Championship game for us.”
No. 2 Alabama cruised to an easy 42-3 victory over Duke in its season opener.
Watch all of Saban's press conference below: