Quarterback Jalen Hurts transferred from the University of Alabama to the University of Oklahoma and led the Sooners to both a Big 12 championship and a spot in the college football playoffs. Through it all, he has never lost his humility and perspective.
“This is not about me,” he said during a postgame news conference after Oklahoma defeated Baylor in overtime. Hurts is known for his faith. His profile picture includes a graphic reading, “Be who God called you to be.”
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Hurts was the starting quarterback for Alabama his first two years there before being benched the final game his sophomore season in favor of his then-backup, Tua Tagovailoa, who threw the game-winning touchdown pass in the national title game against Georgia. Hurts was a backup his junior season but still had a flash of heroics when he came off the bench to help the Crimson Tide win the SEC Championship game against Georgia.
He’s An On Time God!#Chosen1 pic.twitter.com/vTMrYtP7Qi
— Jalen Hurts (@JalenHurts) December 5, 2019
Hurts then transferred to Oklahoma, where he completed 71 percent of his passes this year for 3,634 yards, 32 touchdowns and seven interceptions. A dual-threat quarterback, Hurts also rushed for 1,255 yards. Statistically, it was his best season yet.
Earlier this fall, he told ESPN he wouldn’t change anything about his career. Referencing the day he was benched at Alabama, he said, “That day made me who I am. I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
Hurts said if someone had told him during his freshman year at Alabama that he’d win a Big 12 championship as a senior at Oklahoma, “I’d have thought he was lying. But God works in mysterious ways, and I’m blessed to be here with these guys.”
On December 5, he tweeted a picture of himself kneeling in prayer with the message, “He’s An On Time God!” He often tweets Bible verses, too. When he was a second-team quarterback as a junior at Alabama, he posted a message reading, “Jesus replied, ‘You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand’ — John 13:7. Just let God work his magic.”
Oklahoma and its quarterback Hurts will play No. 1 LSU in the semifinals.
Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand”
– John 13:7
Just let God work his magic 🤗
— Jalen Hurts (@JalenHurts) September 16, 2018
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice