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Nick Saban says Jalen Hurts is one of his all-time favorite players not because of how he played, but because of how he responded to being benched during the national championship game after going 26–2 as a starter “Yeah, well, Jalen’s one of my all-time favorites. Not because of how he played, but the guy was 26–2 as a starter, gets taken out of the national championship game at halftime. Tua goes in, he supported Tua. He stayed there the next year as a backup just so he could graduate.” “Worked on becoming a better passer, reading, processing better, more accurate, all that, because that’s what he needed to do. And when he graduated, he needed to go someplace else for a fifth year. Came to see me. We decided for him to go to Oklahoma.” “But the thing that I love about Jalen the most is how he handled the disappointment as a great competitor. Getting taken out of the game and then becoming a 26–2 starter that was a backup for a whole year. And when Tua got hurt, went in and won the SEC championship game the next year. So the way he handled that, man, I’m telling you, that’s class and it’s character.”