College Football 2019: 5 bold predictions for Week 1 action
By Shelbie Warr
3. Jalen Hurts’ Heisman campaign begins vs. Houston
It wasn’t a sure thing that former Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts would be the starter for Oklahoma in 2019, but now the announcement has been made and it is as official as it can be. His teammates are high on his leadership abilities as well as his natural athletic gifts and seem to be pretty excited about him being the starting quarterback.
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The question now is can Lincoln Riley produce yet another Heisman-winning quarterback?
First it was Baker Mayfield and then it was Kyler Murray — is Jalen Hurts next? At Alabama, he put up a 63 percent completion percentage with 5,626 yards passing and 48 touchdowns. Throw in nearly 2,000 rushing yards and 23 rushing touchdowns and you have a potentially great quarterback who Riley has been able to add to his system.
Hurts begins his Heisman campaign against Houston with a big Monday night game. Houston’s defense has been a liability for quite a few years as they rely on their offense to back them up. In fact, the Cougars finished 126th out of 130 FBS teams in terms of total defense in 2018 and it doesn’t look like it’ll get much better.
Look for Hurts to throw for three touchdowns and rush for two more in an absolute blowout over Houston to kickstart his Heisman campaign.