TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Freshman Jalen Hurts passed for 287 yards and two touchdowns in his first career start to lead No. 1 Alabama to a 38-10 victory over Western Kentucky on Saturday.Hurts likely nailed down the quarterback job with a 23-of-36 passing performance. The Crimson Tide (2-0) started slow and then piled it on with big plays from the defense and receivers Calvin Ridley and ArDarius Stewart.Hurts is the first true freshman quarterback to start at Alabama since Vince Sutton started four games in 1984. He also had two likely touchdowns dropped.Blake Barnett got the nod in the opener against Southern California and completed 2 of 6 passes for 64 yards in this one.Western Kentucky (1-1) was outgained 475-239 in total yards against a defense that has allowed 16 points in the first two games.Ridley had nine catches for 129 yards and Stewart gained 90 yards on five receptions. Both also logged carries.Western Kentucky quarterback Mike White left late in the third quarter. He was 10 of 24 for 135 yards with an interception after racking up 517 yards in the opener against Rice. The Hilltoppers converted a turnover into a touchdown in the final minute.THE TAKEAWAYWestern Kentucky: The winners of 13 consecutive Conference USA games trailed just 10-3 midway through the second quarter. Receiver Taywan Taylor continued his trend of big games against teams from the Power 5 conferences, with 121 yards on nine catches. He averaged 113 yards against Vanderbilt, Indiana and LSU last season.Alabama: The Tide didnt look spectacular but got the job done with another strong defensive effort and a smattering of big plays. Stewart had a 52-yard catch, Ridley a 51-yarder and Gehrig Dieter a 40-yarder. The defense had four sacks and held the Hilltoppers to 23 rushing yards.POLL IMPLICATIONS:Alabama should comfortably hold onto the No. 1 spot, especially since No. 2 Clemson struggled to put away Troy.PICK SIXSafety Eddie Jacksons 55-yard interception return in the first half gave some breathing room in a 10-3 game and was his third of the past two seasons. Cornerback Marlon Humphrey scored on a pick six against USC.UP NEXTAlabama visits No. 19 Mississippi, which has handed the Tide its only regular-season loss in each of the last two years.Western Kentucky travels to Miami, Ohio. Scarpe Jordan Uomo Scontate . Ferrer, trying to win his fourth title on Mexican soil, will next play South Africas Kevin Anderson, who eliminated American Sam Querrey,7-6 (2), 6-4. Also Wednesday, Gilles Simon (6) of France beat Donald Young of the United States 6-4, 6-3, Ukraines Alexandr Dolgopolov downed Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4 and Croatias Ivo Karlovic defeated Dudi Sela of Israel 7-6 (4), 6-2. Air Jordan Scarpe Saldi . - Connor McDavid scored 53 seconds into overtime as the Erie Otters came from behind to defeat the visiting Guelph Storm 4-3 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. http://www.airjordanscontate.it/ . 8 Kansas to a 64-63 win over Texas Tech on Tuesday night. The freshman from Vaughan, Ont. Scarpe Jordan Uomo Saldi . The Oilers come in having lost five in a row (0-4-1) and 16 of their last 20 games, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. Scarpe Jordan Ingrosso . Clarkson had been dealing with an elbow injury in early January and will be out of action for at least one week. He has three goals and five assists through 36 games with the Leafs this season. The SEC is perceived as the benchmark in college football. The league has won eight of the past 10 national championships. Its produced 47 first-round picks over the last five years, nearly twice as many as any other conference. And yet, when it comes to quarterbacks, the SEC has fallen behind the curve.Of those 47 first-round picks, guess how many were quarterbacks? One. Johnny Manziel was the lone SEC signal caller to be taken in the first round since 2011. In that same time period, the Big 12 and Pac-12 each have had three chosen in the first round.Cam Newton, last years NFL MVP, is an obvious success story. And Matthew Stafford has carved out a solid career. But for every Newton and Stafford, there seem to be more who havent translated to the next level.Why hasnt the SEC produced more elite quarterbacks?Im not sure, Florida coach Jim McElwain said. I know those two you mentioned [Newton and Stafford] - theyre pretty damn good.But that doesnt really answer the question. And this year, outside of a couple spots, there is more uncertainty at the position than ever.When ESPN ranked the top 100 players in the country earlier this month, only two SEC quarterbacks -- Chad Kelly and Joshua Dobbs -- made the cut. And neither Kelly nor Dobbs made Mel Kiper Jr.s most recent Big Board or Todd McShays Way-too-early 2017 NFL Mock Draft.It was also telling that there were only three quarterbacks - Kelly, Dobbs and Texas A&Ms Trevor Knight - at this years SEC media days. Compare that to 2013 when nine quarterbacks attended the leagues media days.Again, where are the elite quarterbacks in the SEC?Thats a great question, Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. Im really not for sure.Good is good enoughDo SEC teams really need elite quarterbacks to succeed? Alabama has won four of the last seven national championships, and not of one those title teams had a quarterback that was taken in the first three rounds of the NFL draft.Nick Saban has found a way to win without a star under center.The quarterback is not the centerpiece of the offense, former Alabama signal caller Greg McElroy said. The quarterback is a facilitator. And thats not to water down what the quarterbacks job is. The quarterbacks job is to make every other one of the 10 guys on the field with him better. That is the job of the Alabama quarterback.A lot of people say, They dont put up numbers. Anybody can play there. Thats not really true because some people dont maximize the talent of the people around them.The other key stat that stands out about all three of Alabamas championship-winning quarterbacks is the amount of interceptions they threw. McElroy threw only four in 2009. A.J. McCarron threw five in 2011 and just three the next year in 2012. Jake Coker threw eight last year, but he only threw one in the teams final seven games.SEC quarterbacks might not always have the perfect builds or the strongest arms. But on almost every one of the leagues best teams over the years, there was a Connor Shaw or an Aaron Murray or a James Franklin who knew how to take care of the football.If every drive ends in a kick then you have a real chance in winning the game, McElroy said. Whether that be a punt, an extra point or a field goal, as long as the other team has to go the length of the field, then you have a chance.The game is changingIs Nick Marshall an elite quarterback? In terms of NFL ability, he wasnt even close. He went undrafted, and eventually made the Jacksonville Jaguars as a cornerback.But ask any SEC coach, and hell sing a different tune. Thats because most of those coaches were shredded by Marshall and the Auburn offense. He could beat you with his arm. He could beat with you his legs. And when the play broke down and you thought you had him, thats when he was at his best.Sometimes, thats exactly what SEC teams need at the quarterback position.I know that week in and week out in thhis league, youre going to play against the best defenses, the best defensive lines, Malzahn said.dddddddddddd In this league, things break down probably more than other leagues, maybe more than all [other leagues] combined. And youve got to have a guy that can make plays on his own when things break down and protect the football.Look around the SEC. How many true pocket-passers are there? Every team is looking for more of a dual-threat quarterback. Kelly and Dobbs, the leagues top two players at the position, can both make plays with their feet. Brandon Harris has that ability at LSU. And so do all three of the quarterbacks competing at Auburn. Even Alabama is giving a hard look at true freshman Jalen HurtsThe only problem is that dual-threat quarterbacks dont always translate to the NFL level, at least not yet. Jared Goff and Carson Wentz werent taken No. 1 and No. 2 in Aprils NFL draft because of their ability to run. They were taken because theyre 6-foot-4 or taller and they can make just about every throw on the field.Regional differencesWhere do the SEC quarterbacks from? Kelly hails from New York. Jacob Eason, the freshman phenom who is competing for the starting job at Georgia, arrived in January from the state of Washington. And the three quarterbacks in the mix at Alabama - Hurts, Cooper Bateman and Blake Barnett - come from Texas, Utah and California, respectively.Now thats not true of every school in the conference, but more times than not, teams have to go outside their region to grab a quarterback.Just look at the numbers. Since ESPN expanded its recruiting rankings to 300, there have been 120 quarterbacks ranked in the ESPN 300. Of those 120, only 38 played high school football in the Southeast.Of the 38 from the Southeast ranked in the ESPN 300, 20 were pocket-passers. California alone has had 18 pocket-passers ranked in the ESPN 300 since 2013.Some of that goes back to style of play. In the Southeast, more so than anywhere else, high school coaches tend to take the best athlete on the team and make him the quarterback. Its why ESPN scouts had to create the athlete position when it came to evaluating recruits. But in almost every case, these quarterbacks end up playing a different position at the college level.So while the Southeast might have the best overall athletes of any region, other states like California and Texas typically produce the best quarterbacks.What does the future hold?At first glance, it doesnt look good. The QB play across the SEC has been trending in the wrong direction for a couple years now, and this years crop of quarterback doesnt elicit much confidence that its going to be any different in 2016.It also doesnt help that a handful of the SECs promising young quarterbacks transferred out of the league this offseason. Texas A&M alone lost two former ESPN 300 signal callers in Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray. And Florida (Will Grier), Kentucky (Patrick Towles) and South Carolina (Connor Mitch) all saw former four-star recruits leave the school as well.But lets not forget that Alabama won a national championship just last year with a transfer (Coker) at quarterback. Plus, both Knight at Texas A&M and recently-named Florida starter Luke Del Rio transferred in from other schools.Incoming transfers arent going to change the narrative, though. If anything, it highlights that SEC havent been able to develop elite quarterbacks.The conferences best hope might be in the form of two freshmen - Eason at Georgia and Shea Patterson at Ole Miss. Both were highly sought after coming out of high school, and both have shown abilities that could translate to the NFL. Its still way too early to say for sure, but theres potential there. And maybe that means theres potential for the SEC. 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